NEW ZEALAND 18 DAYS ITINERARY
 

Day 1 Arrive AKL
Day 2 AKL
Day 3 BAY OF ISLAND
Day 4 BAY OF ISLAND
Day 5 ROTURA
Day 6 ROTURA
Day 7 ROTUA
Day 8 NELSON
Day 9 NELSON
Day 10 FRANZ JOSEF
Day 11 Franz Joseph
Day 12 MILFORD SOUND
Day 13 MILFORD SOUND
Day 14QUEENSTOWN
Day 15 QUEENSTOWN
Day 16 QUEENSTOWN
Day 17 QUEESNTOWN
DAY 18-BACK TO WORK

ALL BY SELF DRIVE.SHOULD WE DO BAY OF ISLAND.

MONTH 24 OCT TO NOV 10.

Auckland to Bay of Islands is about a three hour drive.

Bay of Islands to Rotoura is 486 km, about six hours.

Are you flying from Rotorua to Nelson?

Nelson to Franz Josef is a 459 km drive. Too long IMO. I'd break the trip up in Punakaiki.

Franz Josef to Milford is too long also - 625 km, well over eight hours - without stops.

Suggest you drive Franz to Wanaka, overnight there, then drive Wanaka to Te Anau/Milford the following day.

I guess you could drive Franz to Te Anau, overnight there, then spend the next day in Milford, but it's a very long drive day - 510km, about 6.5 hours, without stops.

Are you flying from Queenstown back to wherever work is?

It's a full on itinerary and not one I'd personally choose. Have you considered just flying to Queenstown and spending your SI time in that area? You've just not left enough time to give Nelson and the West Coast justice. It's basically a driving itinerary.

Too much driving - New Zealand is about 3000km long with a stretch of water in between the islands. There's a ferry across or you could fly.
Skip the Bay of Islands.
Go to Rotorua for a few days and then fly to Nelson.
From the West Coast there is no road south past Haast. you have to turn inland and drive to Wanaka. Take Mel's suggestions for Franz to Wanaka and then Wanaka to Te Anau.
If you take a bus tour then you can relax and enjoy the scenery and not stress about driving.

Thanks for reply .
Can you suggest 18 days itinerary-we prefer self drive .
We want to do all the adventure.our visa in under process and travelling month is oct 24 to nov.

We are not travel agents but comment on the itineraries and work you put into planning your holiday.
More detail would be good - where are you coming from, what do you like doing and seeing, etc.

Hi Roam,

we had the same amount of time as you, and started off with the same sort of itinerary, but thanks to Mel and the experts here soon realised that we were biting off more than we could chew.

This is what we did with 17 nights:

Auckland [just flew in, didn't stay] -

Coromandel 1 night
Napier 2 nights
Wellington 1 night
Nelson 3 nights
FJ 2 nights
Wanaka 3 nights
QT 3 nights
Oamaru 1 night
C/Church 1 night

in retrospect though we loved seeing the gannets at Napier this was too much driving in the NI and we should have gone straight to Rotorua for 2 nights and Wellington for 2 nights, or have flown to Nelson from Rotorua.

We are from india.and it will take atleast 24hr to reach auckland .so we gave two days to get acclimate.
We want to do all the adventure and wine to.
No bus.we love driving so will do with self drive .first we were thinking of covering bay of Island to but I think it's not possible to cover everything in 18days.we want adventours joureny but not tiring.coz I have searched a lot but no tour operator suggest to avoid bay of Island for 18days.
Our return flights are from queenstown .we don't want to go Christchurch.we will return from queestown only.

We'll I know you guys are not tour operators but your suggestion and experience is far better and practical..

Where are you flying into? Nelson?

Hii melnq ,
We will reach nelson on 31st oct.

Just a suggestion then based on your original above.
Day 1 and 2 - Auckland
Day 3 Waitomo Caves
Day 3 to 6 Rotorua plenty to do and a day trip to Taupo if you want to see the lake
Day 7 Fly to Nelson from Rotorua
Day 8 Nelson
Day 9 Nelson to Punakaiki - those pancake rocks are amazing
Day 10 Punakaiki to FJ Glacier
Day 10 Glacier trip
Day 11 Wanaka
Day 12 drive to Queenstown
Day 13 to 18 include a trip to Milford Sound leaves 4 days for Queenstown.
Lots to do there! And it's a great place to do something low key like the steam ship trip across the lake.
Cut out a night in Rotorua if you want more time in the South or don't go to Taupo. The SI lakes are more dramatic.

Tasman girl.thanks a lot.i think its far better than what we have planned .
We don't want to miss wine part and adventure any suggestion

if you were going to spend 6 nights in QT, you could extend your stay in Wanaka by a night.

Alternatively, to give yourselves as long as possible to explore milford sound, drive from Wanaka to Te Anau, and stay there for 2 nights before going to QT; that would give you a whole day to drive down to the Sound and back.

there are plenty of wineries around Nelson and QT.

Brilliant ideas.

When you are in Auckland head over to Waiheke Island for some wine. Ferries leave from the downtown area at the bottom of Queen Street.
Or if you have your car head out west for the Kumeu wineries.

HAWKE'S BAY OR MARLBOROUGH
WHERE CAN I HAVE BETTER WINE EXPERIENCE AND STAY THERE FOR 2-3 NIGHTS.

tasman girl-i think you can give better tips.
WHERE CAN I HAVE GOOD WINE EXPERIENCE IN NEW ZELAND.
WANNA SPEND 2-3 DAYS FOR WINE .
MARLBOROUGH REGION AND HAWKES BAY THE WAY.
OR I CAN DO BOTH IN 3 DAYS?
FROM THERE I HAVE TO LEAVE FOR FRANZ JOSEF.

Marlborough is world renowned for it's Sauvignon Blanc and its on the South Island so makes sense if you're headed to Franz Josef afterwards.

Blenheim, Nelson, Upper Moutere, even Picton - all options for visiting Marlborough

HI GUYS GOT MY VISA AND BOOKED THE TICKETS.
24 ARRIVE AUCKLAND
25 AKL
26 AKL TO WAITOMO-HOBBITON-ROTORUA
27ROTOURA
28 ROTORUA
29 NELSON
30 MALBOROUGH
31 ABEL TASMAN PARK
1 PUNAKAKI
2 FRANZ JOSEF
3 FRANZ JOSEF
4 QUEENSTOWN
5 MILFORD SOUND CRUISE
6 MILFORD SOUND TO QUEENSTOWN
7 Q TOWN
8 Q TOWN
9 Q TOWN
10 BACK TO HOME

DOUBTS
1-WE SHOULD DO ABEL TASMAN PARK FOR A DAY OR NOT
2-FROM ABEL TASMAN OR NELSON SHOULD WE STOP AT PUNAKAKI FOR A NIGHT.
3-IS MILFORD SOUND IS MUST

What are you doubts about Abel Tasman? One day will give you an opportunity to kayak and/or walk of section of the track. It's a beautiful part of NZ. Do outdoor pursuits interest you?

Punakaiki is the logical overnight stop between Nelson and the glaciers - you need to stop somewhere, as it's way too long a drive for one day. Westport is another option, but Punakaiki makes more logistic sense.

Milford is a must for most first time visitors, but whether or not it's a must for you st up to you. It's one of the most visited places on the South Island. I've been there about 10 times myself -although for me, the cruise isn't the highlight, the tracks on Milford Road are.

You've not left much time to see Nelson - what specifically do you
mean by Marlborough? The sounds? Picton? Blenheim?

Have you considered driving from Franz Josef to Wanaka, and then on to Te Anau, then Queenstown? This will prevent spending time in QT twice.

Well we are confused about nelson-as we don't know how to spend 2 days there.we will arrive at nelson early in the morning.
After fz we are staying one night at wanaka.
And one more confusion can we cover waitomo caves and hobbition movie set while driving to rotoura from Auckland

And 3day we will sepnd at Abel Tasman from there punakaki we will hold for a night.

I'm not understanding if you plan to use Nelson as a base for the entire region or do you plan to spend two days in Nelson and then head to Abel Tasman for one full day there?

You mentioned earlier that you're interested in wine - the Nelson and Marlborough region is full of wine - you could easily fill two days just visiting wineries alone.

http://www.newzealand.com/int/marlborough/

Have you arranged an early check in with your accommodation in Nelson? If not, you might look into it so you can get settled before you set out to explore.

You'll have no shortage of things to see and do in the Nelson area, with or without all those wineries, but we can be of more help if you tell us your interests. Knowing why you chose to visit Nelson in the first place would be a good start.

Take a look here for ideas:

http://www.newzealand.com/int/nelson/

I'll leave your questions about the North Island for those who know it better.

I have suggested a route in my earlier post.
Cramming them all into one day will be hectic but if that's your travel style go for it.
Drive 3 hours from Auckland, do a morning tour of Waitomo.
Head over to Hobbiton (1.5 hours)after lunch and do an afternoon tour then 1 more hour to Rotorua.

We ll be reaching nelson by flight by 9.30 in the morning.our interest is in wineries..but m bit confused abt nelson and Blenheim which is better place to stay on??

I ll be giving one day for abel tasman..which place I should stay and explore nelson or Blenheim for wineries..should I drop abel tasman??

See what the weather is like before going to Abel Tasman for the day? Weather here is pretty wet and changeable right now.
If you like sav blanc head to Blenheim. It's really up to you. Both have lots of wineries (25+) to explore.

okie

melq any suggestion

If your main interests are wine and Abel Tasman, I'd suggest you arrive in Nelson, pick up your rental car and head for Blenheim (90 minutes). Spend that afternoon
exploring the wineries around Blenheim (a wine tour perhaps), then spend that night in Blenheim (29).

The next day drive from Blenheim back towards Motueka (2:00), stopping en route to explore Nelson city, and then spend that night in Motueka or around Kaiteriteri or Marahau (30).

That leaves the entire next day for exploring Abel Tasman Nat'l Park. Then spend that night (31) at the same accommodation in Motueka, Kaiteriteri or Marahau.

These towns/villages/settlements all provide easy access to Abel Tasman Nat'l Park. Motueka is a proper town, with cafes, grocery stores, etc, whereas Kaiteriteri and Marahau are beautiful locations with limited services (Kaiteriteri is on a spectacular beach, Marahau is on the door step of Abel Tasman Nat'l Park).

The morning of 1the you cvan drive from your Abel Tasman base to Punakaiki.

Or, just spend a night in Nelson area, spend 1-1/2 days exploring the wineries in the area, and then head to Abel Tasman on the 30th.

melnq-thanks

There is really no need to go to Blenheim for wineries, there are plenty around Nelson, which is a great Sauvignon area also. A boat trip and a hike on the Abel Tasman is a must, especially if it is a nice day.

thank you nelsonian

This is a great eBay store to buy all the essentials for your trip in one bundle! The supplier is called hassle_3! See the link below:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=252565235068

Cheers
BartyB

Than you every one.finally in New Zealand .

Have a good time roam and be sure to report back to let us know how it all goes.

Hey guys-ur was beautiful journey.specially I love Abel Tasman .it just make my whole trip awesome.
Thanks for beautiful n very helpful suggestions.
Thank you .

Wow! how I wish I can join you, I love new zealand but have not be opportune to be there. Enjoy!



Joe
http://lissabon.xyz/en