dreamon

I plan to visit the north of the South Island next year. I have 5 days to walk the Queen Charlotte Track and another 5 days to visit Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park and the vineyards around Renwick. Not much time but hopefully enough to enjoy the area.

I can hire a car but this can get a bit expensive for a solo traveller. After lots of internet searching, I have come to the conclusion that I can see something of Abel Tasman using a day tour (cruise and walk) and do a vineyard tour from Picton, supported by the Intercity buses where needed. I don't need a car while hiking and probably shouldn't be driving while sipping! However, how practical is it to explore Nelson and surrounds for a day or two without a car and still visit places like Hoglund art studio and the museum of wearable art.

Would I have a better time if I just hired a car for the time I'm there? Is this the sort of place where you miss out if you don't have wheels? I'm happy to hire one if that's the case. Also, the hire car companies list their pickup/dropoff as the airport. Do you know if they fine to do this is Nelson city? Lastly, if I can I will try to visit Nelson on a Saturday market day. Any advice? Thank you!

Melnq8

Blenheim is only about 25 minutes from Picton and there are many wine tours on offer, so no worries there.

I've been to both WOW and Hoglund, but I had a car.
You can certainly see a lot of Nelson on foot, but WOW is near the airport and Hoglund in Appleby.

Hopefully Nelsonian, a Nelson local, will chime in with some ideas.

To me, a car is essential in NZ, but certainly doesn't make sense while you're tramping.

APEX, my rental company of choice in NZ, has at least one city location in addition to the airport location in Nelson. They also have a depot in Picton, near the ferry terminal.

If it were me, I'd rent a car for the time in Nelson/Abel Tasman, as there's just so much to see and do in the area and you'll have a lot more flexibility with your own wheels.

Keep in mind that Abel Tasman is about 45-60 minutes drive from Nelson. If the park is your main focus, I suggest you stay closer to it. Personally, I prefer the area between Nelson and Motueka - fewer people, less traffic, interesting accommodation options, easy park access.

annhig

Hi Dreamon,

we stayed in Nelson for 3 nights and had 2 full days there - one day we did our own tour of the wineries in our own car, when we kept coming across people on a guided tour who were being transported by minibus, and the second day we did a full day's trip to Abel Tasman by coach and boat which we arranged through our motel, so to that extent, no car would be needed at all.

To get around the immediate area you might also see if you could rent a bike - I seem to remember that they were mentioned by quite a few of the B&Bs/motels that we looked at, and quite a lot of the area is reasonably flat.

tasmangirl

Hire a car at least while you are in Nelson - you can then visit the beautiful beaches of Rabbit Island and Tahunanui and the Mapua wharf complex.
Hoglund Glass is at Appleby and WOW at Annesbrook about 12 km apart. IMO public transport would be slow and frustrating to get to places like these. A car means you can stop at some of the wineries, craft places or the fruit orchards. The world's best boysenberries are grown in Nelson and the sav blanc is pretty good too (but Marlborough sav is the best).
I guess you have to weigh up holiday frustration against expense/car sitting there while you go tramping. Try and be in Nelson on a Saturday morning for the fabulous market in the city.
www.winenelson.co.nz
www.arttrails.co.nz

dreamon

Thank you so much for your information. It makes me wish my holiday was sooner and that I had longer! It sounds like a car may be the way to go but need to decide whether to keep it and drop it off in Picton or leave it in Nelson and take the bus. I don't usually do much in the way of organised tours but maybe a tour of the Marlborough vineyards with company could be more fun than doing it on my own (and having to be careful about how much I drink). I also normally prefer to stay longer in each place rather than move on frequently. For that reason am considering staying in Nelson rather than breaking into two stops at Kaiteriteri and Nelson. One of the pleasures of holidays is in the planning and looking forward to it. Thank you for your advice.

dreamon

annhig, do you remember which company you did the day tour (bus and boat) to Abel Tasman with? Would you recommend them? Do you remember how long the bus ride took? There is one online with Abel Tasman Travel but not sure how they compare. Thank you!

annhig

Hi Dreamon - i think that it was probably Wilsons:

https://www.abeltasman.co.nz

they picked us up from our hotel and deposited us back there which was very welcome as we'd had a pretty hectic couple of days.

dreamon

Thank you, annhig. I'll check them out. I'm not a big fan of moving on every night if I don't have to so thinking of basing myself in Nelson for a few nights, even if that means missing out on experiencing other areas. With so little time compromises have to be made.

I've also found a cycling tour around the vineyards near Renwick so will try to suss out how strenuous that might be.

dreamon

Have just returned from our trip to NZ and am happy to say we had a fantastic time. A friend decided at the last minute to come with me which was fantastic. We ended up staying near the Abel Tasman National Park (where we did some walking), had a couple of days exploring in and around Nelson (a town which we really liked), had the best lunch and tastings at Saint Clair near Blenheim, a few days roaming around Wellington and hiked the fabulous Queen Charlotte Track. A wonderful holiday! Thank you for all your advice.

Melnq8

Glad to hear you had a good time dreamon! Trip report please!