Tour Description

Discover the essence of New Zealand. Cruise Milford Sound or Piopiotahi, cross Cook Strait by ferry and travel through the Southern Alps on the TranzAlpine. Enjoy a private visit to Transport World, walk Napier’s Art Deco streets and connect with Māori culture in Rotorua, with coastal Punakaiki, vibrant Nelson and the Bay of Islands along the way. This trip is accompanied by a Travel Director and Driver.

Priced From:

$ 11765pp ^*

From: 2026-11-19

To: 2027-03-18

Start Location: Christchurch (Nz), New Zealand

End Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Trip Type: Small Group

Tour Advisors

Beccy Hayes

Travel Specialist

Tiffany McCrea-Lennon

Managing Director

Russell Mein

Travel Specialist

Caitlin Lennon

Travel Coordinator

Gaylyn Murdoch

Administration Manager

Holly Skene

Travel Co-ordinator

Kim Thomas

Broker

Itinerary

Welcome to Christchurch

Day 1

Duration: 1

Welcome to New Zealand. Kick things off in Christchurch, buzzing with community spirit that runs deep. Spend time at leisure getting to know the city your way before meeting your Travel Director and fellow travellers this evening for a briefing and welcome drinks.

Canterbury Plains and a Taste of Geraldine

Day 2

Duration: 1

See the highlights of Christchurch this morning, including the innovative Cardboard Cathedral and the Botanic Gardens, loved for their landscaped beauty and tranquil riverside setting. Then watch the scenery shift as you travel across the Canterbury Plains to Geraldine. Stop in at historic Barkers Store to sample local cheeses and regional produce before continuing along the East Coast into the Waitaki Valley with its winding rivers, rolling farmland and mountain backdrops near Lake Benmore. Arrive in Omarama this evening, a quintessential country town and your home for the night.

Discover Clyde and Invercargill

Day 3

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Distinction Invercargill

Clyde is sure to keep your camera busy with its big personality. Wander its historic precinct where gold mining era buildings have been transformed into cafes and shops. Later, you’ll roll into Invercargill, a city with a real passion for wheels and speed legends. Visit Bill Richardson Transport World for a guided tour, exploring more than 300 vehicles and the stories behind them, from rare finds to classic favourites.

Journey to Fiordland

Day 4

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Distinction Luxmore Hotel

Travel through the rolling farmland and lush pastures of Southland to Templeton Flax Mill. On a guided visit with Nathan Templeton, mill curator and grandson of the founder, you’ll hear how flax helped shape the local economy on a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, with proceeds supporting the mill’s future as a living museum. Continue to Riverton, a charming seaside town, before heading into Fiordland National Park and on to Te Anau, set on the shores of the South Island’s largest lake. Breathe it in, this is serenity at its best.

Spectacular Milford Sound

Day 5

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Distinction Luxmore Hotel

From the moment you step outside, nature takes the lead. Journey through Fiordland National Park where beech forests, open flats and mirror-like lakes set the scene. Crystal-clear rivers will carve through the landscape as you make your way to Piopiotahi (Milford Sound). Then take to the water on a sightseeing cruise into the pristine fiord, soaking up towering cliffs, tumbling waterfalls and the chance to spot wildlife along the way.

Meet a local farmer

Day 6

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown Lakefront

Get a taste of country life and classic southern hospitality at Real Country as you meet a local farmer and step into day-to-day farm living. Watch horse communication in action and see working sheep dogs muster with skill and speed on this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Later, you’ll have the chance to wander the heritage streets of Arrowtown, a gold rush village lined with trees and character-filled boutiques before arriving in Queenstown for a two-night stay in New Zealand’s adventure capital.

Queenstown, Your Way

Day 7

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown Lakefront

Today is yours to soak up Queenstown and its surroundings. Grab lunch at leisure at cult favourite Fergburger, known for its gourmet burgers and buzzing atmosphere. You might choose to dial up the thrill with an Optional Experience, like a high-octane jet boat ride tearing along the Shotover River. Prefer something smoother? Head out to nearby vineyards for a tasting or take it easy with an afternoon cruise on Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue dinner.

Queenstown onto Christchurch

Day 8

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Ibis Hotel Christchurch

This morning, pick up a sweet taste of the region at the Jones Family fruit stall, then settle in for one of the South Island’s most scenic drives. You’ll cross the alpine sweep of Lindis Pass between Otago and the Mackenzie Basin, with big sky views and rugged peaks, with the majestic Aoraki/Mount Cook among them. Stop in Tekapo on the shores of turquoise Lake Tekapo, where the stone Church of the Good Shepherd sits in a picture-perfect setting. Later, continue across the Canterbury Plains back to Christchurch.

Great Rail Journey to Punakaiki

Day 9

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Scenic Punakaiki

All aboard the TranzAlpine train for one of New Zealand’s greatest rail journeys. Travel towards Arthur’s Pass, through tunnels and over soaring viaducts as snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests and deep gorges roll past your window. Stop in Greymouth, known for its mining history, before continuing to Punakaiki to see the famous Pancake Rocks and blowholes.

Wild beauty, Kahurangi

Day 10

Duration: 1

Accommodation: The Rutherford Hotel

Today is made for sitting back and taking it all in. Follow the Heritage Highway towards Nelson as your journey winds through the dramatic Buller Gorge, a deep canyon that’s home to New Zealand’s longest swing bridge. Continue alongside the wild beauty of Kahurangi National Park, where rivers, high plateaus, alpine herb fields and coastal forests set the scene for a relaxed arrival into Nelson.

Top of the South

Day 11

Duration: 1

Accommodation: The Rutherford Hotel

Sleep in or get moving, today is completely at leisure. If you feel like getting out on the water, you can choose an Optional Experience to Abel Tasman National Park for a cruise and walk. This corner of the island is pure calm, with golden beaches, sculpted granite cliffs and one of the country’s most loved coastal tracks, so make the most of it.

Cruise Queen Charlotte Sound

Day 12

Duration: 1

Accommodation: James Cook Grand Chancellor

All aboard for a voyage that’s a must on any Kiwi adventure. Today, you’ll cruise through Queen Charlotte Sound, glide up the Tory Channel and cross Cook Strait from the South Island to the North, weaving past a maze of arms and inlets before arriving in Wellington, the country’s cool little capital.

Wellington onto Napier

Day 13

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Scenic Hotel Te Pania

First, you’ll get to know Wellington on a highlights tour, then you’ll travel on to Napier, a city with a story you can see in every facade. After a massive earthquake in 1931 destroyed the commercial centre of Napier, rebuilding began almost immediately in the architectural styles of the times - Striped Classical, Spanish Mission and Art Deco.

Discover Art Deco Icons

Day 14

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Scenic Hotel Te Pania

This morning, join a Local Specialist from the Art Deco Trust for an easy stroll through Napier’s compact Art Deco Quarter on a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience that brings the city’s fascinating design history to life. The afternoon is yours. You might choose an Optional Experience sampling Hawke’s Bay wines, or head out on an overland safari to the gannet nesting colony at Cape Kidnappers.

Culture Capital Rotorua

Day 15

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Sudima Lake Rotorua

The scenery opens wide as Lake Taupo comes into view, the country’s largest lake and one of its bluest. Not far away, you’ll hear Huka Falls before you see it, thundering and powerful. Then Rotorua sets the senses alight, where mud pops, steam rises and the land’s geothermal heartbeat is impossible to miss. In the afternoon, you’ll visit a traditional Pounamu workshop to learn about jade carving, a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Later, delve deep into Māori culture with the Te Pō Indigenous Experience at Te Puia. Enjoy a powerful cultural performance in the carved meeting house Te Aronui a Rua, see the Pohutu Geyser and finish with a buffet dinner of hāngī-inspired flavours.

Rotorua, It’s All Yours

Day 16

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Sudima Lake Rotorua

Today is yours, with your Travel Director on hand if you want tips to match your mood. Ease into the steamy thermal springs at Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa, chase movie magic with an Optional Experience to the Hobbiton Movie Set, or even take to the skies on a scenic flight for a fresh, bird's-eye-view of the scenery.

Auckland, the City of Sails

Day 17

Duration: 1

Accommodation: Adina Apartment Hotel Britomart

Today, follow the Waikato River as you make your way to Auckland, the ‘City of Sails’, where yachts glide across two harbours and the skyline meets the sea. Then it’s time for something truly Kiwi. Dive into the country’s national game at the interactive All Blacks Experience, exploring the team’s remarkable history through displays and presentations, before a traditional haka performance brings it all to a thrilling close.

Farwell from Auckland

Day 18

Duration: 1

How do you pick a favorite adventure from the last 18 days? You don't have to - let them all shine in equal measure in your memory.

Dates & prices

Start Date: 2026-11-26

End Date: 2026-12-13

twin

Child Price: 12062

Adult Price: 13367

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13367

triple

Child Price: 12699

Adult Price: 12699

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17687

Start Date: 2027-01-21

End Date: 2027-02-07

twin

Child Price: 11079

Adult Price: 12384

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 12384

triple

Child Price: 11765

Adult Price: 11765

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 16386

Start Date: 2027-01-28

End Date: 2027-02-14

twin

Child Price: 11800

Adult Price: 13105

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13105

triple

Child Price: 12450

Adult Price: 12450

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17340

Start Date: 2027-02-04

End Date: 2027-02-21

twin

Child Price: 12154

Adult Price: 13499

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13499

triple

Child Price: 12829

Adult Price: 12829

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17864

Start Date: 2027-02-18

End Date: 2027-03-07

twin

Child Price: 12424

Adult Price: 13769

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13769

triple

Child Price: 13086

Adult Price: 13086

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 18221

Start Date: 2027-03-04

End Date: 2027-03-21

twin

Child Price: 12154

Adult Price: 13499

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13499

triple

Child Price: 12829

Adult Price: 12829

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17864

Start Date: 2027-03-18

End Date: 2027-04-04

twin

Child Price: 12154

Adult Price: 13499

twinShare

Child Price:

Adult Price: 13499

triple

Child Price: 12829

Adult Price: 12829

single

Child Price:

Adult Price: 17864

Essence of New Zealand – Small Group

Tour Advisors

Itinerary

Dates & prices