I'm planning a holiday in New Zealand from 1st - 19th December. I'm not sure whether I really need to pre-book accommodation in advance. There seems to be conflicting advice and this is also what I'm getting from people who've travelled to NZ before. What's the best thing to do? I don't want to get there at the busy pre-Christmas holiday time to find difficulties in finding somewhere to stay?<BR><BR>Any help will be greatfully received.<BR><BR>Val.

If you have an itinerary established & know where you will be each night then I would pre-book. If there is any doubt in your mind about being able to acquire accommodations in a particular location, pre-book, otherwise you will be worrying about it throughout your trip.

Hi Val<BR>You are bordering into the school holidays so maybe book towards the 10th of december onwards.

I think December is a busy time with school holiday and all. In addition to that thee are few places to stay around the south island unless you're in Christchurch or Queenstown. even when we were there in March there were a number of places that were booked.<BR><BR>Me - I hate to be without a room cause it happened once in Italy and my friend thought we'd easily find room. We didn't and we paid a small fortune when we finally found a place to stay.

If you have a rough idea of itinerary, book the smaller towns in advance.<BR>By small I mean Nelson, Picton, Gisborne, Queenstown etc.<BR>The main centres shouldn't be a problem, pick up some of the free booklets at the information centres around the place, it gives you a good range of motels, hotels, B&B's etc with prices and reservation numbers.<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip.