surich

Arriving in Auckland and looking to spend 3 days there (is this enough)before touring rest of New Zealand ending up in Christchurch. Do you need a car to explore both these cities, otherwise we would start car hire on the 4th day and drop off a couple of days before we leave. Is 2 days enough in Christchurch.
Many thanks

Jed

We spent 3 days in AKL and 2 in CHC without a car. Didn't need it. In AKL we took the bus and walked all over, and in CHC we walked. Between the 2, we drove. 2 days was enough for us in CHC, but some will recommend day trips out of town.

GBZ

I would hire a car in Auckland as the public transport is not the best for a large city.There are lots of things to see around Auckland
Christchurch is smaller, flatter and easier to bus and walk. Most stuff is in the city.
www.newzealandatoz.com

GBC

We visited NZ in March and did just the reverse of your plan. We were very impressed with CHC and would not want less than two very full days there. We had more but that was partly flight recovery and also trips out of town.

We ended in Auckland - actually stayed in Devonport which was VERY nice and handy with the ferry service, and left the car parked for three solid days. The ferry, combined with walking and the bus system worked fine for us. But remember, it is a trade off - without a car you will have to get from the airport (seriously out of town) to your hotel and then to the car rental place. Three days is plenty for the city.

Jed

We also started at CHC (after connecting from AKL), and left from AKL. When we got back to AKL I dropped off the car in center city, and walked a few blocks to the hotel, Quay West, where we stayed 3 nights.

Taxi to airport was NZ$55.