sv

I have three days in New Zealand in July - Would welcome recommendations on where to spend it - Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch? Which cities have better sightseeing places nearby to see the typical NewZealand?

angelnot1

hello sv I can comment on Christchurch and Auckland having visited both islands on business and for holidays (see my recent trip report). Much depends on whether you want to stay put in the city of your choice or whether you are happy to venture out

Christchurch - good art centre and botanic gardens, although in July it will be chilly and lot of the deciduous trees will be bare. You could take a day trip on the Transalpine train. Also go to Akaroa which is a very pretty location.A day trip to Hanmer Springs for hot springs.
Maybe do a farm stay?

Auckland - wander around town and the docks- take a ferry across the bay. Day trip to the Coromandel area - see the kauri trees on the way

Jed

NZ is so varied that you can see only a small slice in 3 days. Between AKL and CHC, I would suggest AKL to see the city, and drive north to Bay of Islands or south to Coromandel or Rotorua and Waitomo caves (my choice).

sv

Thanks. Which city is a better base for a Day trip to see Glaciers and other typical NZ stuff. Forgive my ignorance.

Melnq8

The glaciers aren't near any city. Franz Josef is approximately a six hour drive from Queenstown, 3:30 drive from Wanaka and about 5:30 from CH.

mlgb

Can you stay in Queenstown? That's a better suggestion for what you want to do.

KathyNZ

I assume you are in transit on your way to somewhere else and will therefore be flying into Auckland. Wandering around the inner downtown of Auckland is not an exciting experience any more, except to see the Americas Cup harbour and to take a sail on one of the Americas Cup boats out onto our lovely harbour. After that take the ferry (about ten minutes) across to Devonport to see our oldest marine suburb, nice cafes and shops, fabulous views back to the city. Return to the city by bus over the harbour bridge. If you don't drive take a tour called Beach and Bush, goes to our wild west coast beaches and the beautiful native bush areas in the hills west of Auckland. You could also take a day trip over to Waiheke Island, it's a beautiful place with nice beaches and even in july it is fun to go over there, the fast ferry takes 35 minutes each way.
I wouldn't rush to Queenstown for three days but if you are not interested in staying in a big city then you could spend three days just seeing Rotorua and the Waitomo Caves.
Have a nice time.

twoflower

Like KathyNZ I'm assuming you're passing through, in which case you'll be arriving into Auckland. With only 3 days at your disposal, any other centre (or the Glaciers which is not near any centre) would be very rushed, unless you transferred immediately onto a domestic flight direct to, say, Christchurch or Queenstown. If staying around Auckland a good (quick) 3-day trip could encompass the Coromandel Peninsula & the Rotorua thermal area.

joybelles

Christchurch straight to queenstown spend the time there . Bungy jumping white water rafting helicopter over the mountains even fly to glacier but will be very hectic
Auckland straight to rotorua spend the time there Hot pools boiling mud geysers zorb white water rafting moari hangi concert rainbow springs gondola luge mt tarawera extinct volcano
wellington very windy has great museum and nations capital but nothing exciting
Definitly if you are limited to 3 days neither of the 3 cities mentioned are geared to the tourist trade so suggest if you want mountains and adventure and scary stuff queenstown or adventure and native culture rotorua (3 hr drive from auckland )
suggest you try the NZ govt tourist bureau site just google