Hello,

My wife & I are starting to talk about a trip to NZ next January. Normally, we do all our own planning, booking, etc. but given the distance & cost involved, not to mention our unfamiliarity with the region, we think we need some help putting it all together.

We're looking primarily for some recommendations of a particularly good travel agent with whom you've had personal experience - that's our first choice since we generally don't like traveling with groups... but we'll take the latter if you have some *really* good recommendation.

We're very active, middle-aged folks who prefer being outdoors rather than in but who like to retreat to a nice B&B or hotel in the evening and have a good meal. In other words, no camping.

If you can provide some up-front help in guiding us through the early phases of planning this trip, it would be greatly appreciated!

I'd encourage you to consider doing it yourselves since that's how you normally go. There are many great internet resources and it's easy to book over the internet (or even a phone call). No language problems to deal with. On line resources that I've used include Auto club: aa.co.nz or aa.travel.co.nz; B&Bs: bnb.co.nz; and NZ tourism: www.tourism.net.nz. Every city and major town has an Info center (i) with staff that can provide booking and information help. You should be able to find sample itineraries and of course there are folks on fodors who will be happy to answer specific questions.

I'd especially recommend reading the trip reports available here.

We always book our own trips, so I have no first hand experience on this topic, but a friend recently recommended the following company and said they had a wonderful time:

http://www.activenewzealand.com/

Hi Moonstone,

Suggest that you go to www.newzealand.com, the official site of Tourism New Zealand. You'll find lots of helpful information there.

If you run your mouse over "Getting There" you'll see an entry for "Travel Agents" which will show you a number of certified agents in your area.

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Kiwi Specialist

We spent 3 weeks in NZ in December and also normally book on our own. Our interests were lots of outdoors stuff, a bit of adventure, nice places to stay with a mix of B&Bs and hotels (but not high end luxury). We rented a car on the north island, flew down to the south and rented another one. I used an Auckland travel agent that I was extremely happy with, had her book some of the stuff and booked other parts on my own because I could get some good discounts thru the internet, AAA, etc. I posted a trip report here. You can also email me for more info if you'd like - [email protected].
NZ is absolutely FANTASTIC!!