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Looking for a tour to the South Island of New Zealand

Looking for a tour to the South Island of New Zealand

Old Aug 8th, 2010, 06:05 PM
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Looking for a tour to the South Island of New Zealand

Looking for suggestions for a 9 to 10 day escorted tour to the South Island of New Zealand. Prefer under 30 people but willing to go larger if it's a good tour. 9-10 days.
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Old Aug 8th, 2010, 06:14 PM
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New Zealand is a really safe and easy to get around. Why do you want to be escorted?

No idea about escorted visits. Sorry.
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Old Aug 9th, 2010, 09:25 AM
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www.newzealand.com is the official tourism board website.

I agree with peterSale, NZ is a very easy country to self-plan travel. Find an itinerary you like and book your own intercity transport and hotels. Towns will all have i-sites which can book you for excursions such as whale watching, wine tours, etc, etc. You do not have to drive, there are flights, busses, minishuttles, and taxis.

There is also tons of info here on the Fodors trip reports.
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Old Aug 9th, 2010, 02:13 PM
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If you would prefer a touring company I can highly recommend Grand Pacific Tours - many options, costs etc. They also have smaller groups i.e 20 for some areas.
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Old Aug 19th, 2010, 05:46 AM
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Thanks. I'm traveling with a relative who really wants an escorted trip. Like one with not too many people and at great hotels.
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Old Sep 7th, 2013, 05:03 PM
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Seems that Andrew may work for the company he is recommending.

And he just joined.
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Old Sep 14th, 2013, 05:07 AM
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Most escorted tours do not stay at upscale hotels. To make the trip affordable, they stay in lower price ones. I do not see why anyone would insist on a package tour to NZ. Do your own research and you can easily do an itinerary that will fit your needs. If you are self driving, there are plenty of rooms in NZ.
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Old Sep 15th, 2013, 04:35 AM
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We had our travel agent assist us (2 senior citizens) in setting up a "self driving tour" of both the North and South islands. Stayed 2, 3 or 4 nights in upscale hotels and lodges in each location, drove no more than 3 to 4 hours to reach the next destination and in each location we had one day with a private driver/guide to show us around, usually one day on our own and one day doing some type of planned "group activity" like whale watching, train excursions, wine tasting tours, flight seeing tours, overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound, cave exploring, etc.

It was by far the most enjoyable trip we've ever taken. The best part was it was all planned out for us and we didn't have to give very much thought to where we were going and what we should do once we got there. As I said, we stayed in some of the finest lodges in NZ, had some truly fabulous meals (this coming from a real "foodie") met some of the friendliest people you could ever imagine, and, for the most part, we moved along at our own pace and we never had to "wait for the slowest person on the bus" to finish their trinket shopping. AIt was a really great way to see NZ.
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Old Sep 15th, 2013, 06:08 AM
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RoamsAround - it sounds great, and the sort of thing that many of us might like to do, if only the budget would stretch that far.

how long was the trip, and, dare I ask, how much it cost?
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Old Sep 15th, 2013, 07:18 AM
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32 days and it was pricey but worth every penny. I suppose we could have done it for half the price if we stayed in basic hotels/motels and skipped the private tours and helicopter rides (we did 3 of those) but we wanted a first class trip and had no qualms about spending our children's inheritance.

I only mentioned it because OP wanted to do some type of "small group" organized tour that stayed in upscale hotels.
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Old Sep 15th, 2013, 08:12 AM
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Roamsaround - if it was what you wanted and fulfilled your expectations, then it was worth every penny. hope your kids agree!

Great to have so much time too - that's the real luxury.
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