i am just starting to plan a 2+ week trip to NZ around this time of year, next year. Can anyone give me hints of the best guide books, web site, and other boards. Any first or second hand advice also welcome. You'll be hearing from me<BR><BR>PS We are from Northern California on the coast 280 miles (500km)north of San Francisco<BR><BR>Thanks<BR>GP

I really like the Lonely Planet Guide to NZ. It never steered us wrong, and pointed us to some interesting off-the-beaten-path places as well. If you like B &amp; Bs, I would also get 'The New Zealand Bed and Breakfast Book' (http://www.bnb.co.nz/content/indexstart.html), which is updated annually. You can also do online B &amp; B searches from that Web site.<BR><BR>For boards, I like Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ca...s.cfm?catid=10), although it can be extremely juvenile/sophomoric, and it tends toward low-budget travel advice. <BR><BR>Overall advice: Rent a car, don't book accommodations in advance. My preference would be to rent a small campervan, then stay in Holiday Parks instead of hotels. If you are a hiker, consider placing a reservation to 'free-walk' the Milford Track. Few foreign tourists do this, because it requires placing a reservation at least 6 months prior.

A really helpful website for NZ is www.purenz.com<BR>This has all sorts of helpful information and lots of links.<BR>

Hi GP~ I highly recommend that you stay in B and B's. The locals are so friendly and give you so much fantastic advice way beyond the tour guides. Friar's can be found on the internet for better B and B's and with our exchange rate advantage it is really not bad. PureNZ is also very helpful. Auckland and Christchurch can be missed, this is a place for nature lovers!

Hello. <BR><BR>My husband and I are from Seattle and are currently in New Zealand in the middle of our year long trip around the world. We love New Zealand and have been very busy. Feel free to read our journal and look at our photos on www.browndogdaily.com. Maybe it will give you some ideas. Feel free to email me any questions.<BR><BR>For planning ahead, we use Lonely Planet and the Thorn Tree as well. Also you can usually find web sites for the various NZ cities. For example we booked our Nelson accomodation through http://www.nelsonnz.com/ which we found through a google search on Nelson New Zealand.<BR><BR>I hope that helps. Good luck<BR><BR>Katherine<BR>[email protected] om

We've used The Lonely Planet Guide on each of our four trips to NZ. I think it's especially helpful for first time visitors.<BR><BR>www.purenz.com (mentioned previously) is also very helpful.<BR> <BR>If you're interested in unique lodging, you might want to visit the following site: www.cottagestays.co.nz. On our last trip to the South Island, my husband and I stayed at a wonderful privately owned cottage that we found on this site (The Old Schoolhouse - located between Motueka and Nelson).<BR><BR>I highly recommend www.rentacar-newzealand.com (Nova) if you're interested in booking a rental car online. Their site provides instant quotations and all inclusive prices (no surprises). We've booked our car with them on our last two trips and we've been completely satisfied with their prices and service each time.<BR><BR>We also recommend the following places to stay if you're in these areas on the South Island:<BR><BR>Hanmer Springs - The Settlers Inn - www.settlersinnmotel.co.nz<BR><BR>Queenstown - Villa Del Lago - www.villadellago.co.nz<BR><BR>If you find yourself near Mapau (east of Motueka - South Island) you might want to try Mapau Nature Smoke (aka The Smokehouse - my husband claims he had the best smoked salmon of his life at this restaurant, so we ate there three times!) We also loved Flax, located right next door.<BR><BR>These were the best two restaurants we found in the three weeks we spent on the South Island. <BR><BR>If you're a wine drinker and find yourself near Nelson or Blenheim, be sure to try the local Sauvignon Blanc!<BR><BR>I hope this helps - happy planning!<BR><BR>

In addition to the regular tour books, I STRONGLY suggest you find a copy of: 'explore New Zealand: over 60 scenic driving tours'. I only found this book over the holidays. If you want to really explore NZ, you have to drive. This book is made of 61 driving tours that include pictures and directions. <BR><BR>I'm going next month for my second visit to NZ next month and this book has definitely made my planning much easier.