New Zealand Touring Holiday Reviews

Thank you so much for organising our NZ trip, Jane and I are still buzzing. Our first week in Queenstown where our daughter got married couldn’t have gone better. Our second week was spectacular, Milford Sound was my highlight and Jane loved Wanaka all finished off with the scenic rail trip what an amazing country not long enough we will be back! We would like to thank you for the choice of hotels some very nice and the smaller ones were clean and very close to all amenities. All our booked trips were great and no problem we were expected by the tour company. Thank you once again Louise for organising our wonderful holiday I would not hesitate to recommend you to any future travelers to NZ.

Chelsea did a great job facilitating the planning and booking of our South Island self drive holiday. We enjoyed the trip very much. The itinerary covered the key areas of interest given the time we had there. Motels chosen were clean and conveniently located. Pick up service was punctual and friendly. SUV provided was relatively new and more than adequate for our group of four, though an alert to service the vehicle popped up half way through our journey. The mobile app for the tour was an excellent idea. It served us well.

Excellent trip. The best part of it was the Milford Sound Cruise and coach tour from Queenstown. Excellent accommodations and unique landscapes, wich you don't see anywhere else in the world. The hole trip organization and guided tours were also excellent. Congratulations to the travel agency (Discover New Zealand) and especially to Louise Barrett who organized it and was always happy to answer any questions I had.

The trip was fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed the itinerary with excellent accommodation along the way. The sprinkling of activities were also fabulous. The lead up and planning went seamlessly. At one point I was wondering when it would go wrong because nothing had, and nothing did go wrong. Since my return I have recommended the services of Discover New Zealand to a number of friends and colleagues. It was a wonderful experience at every point, from the first online contact, when collected at Auckland airport and then at every point along the way. Thank you to Louise and everyone involved in this.

We count our getaway in New Zealand as an absolute Godsend. It has enabled us to survive these extra months of lockdown, rejuvenated. Thank you. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our long-anticipated 18 day getaway in Zealand in July 2021. Christina Brockie, our consultant, was not just an absolute gem in rescheduling our self-drive tour due to lockdowns, several times, but she was like a guardian angel for the duration of our trip. The day inclement weather forced the cancellation of the TranzAlpine rail journey from Greymouth to Christchurch, she rang us immediately she had the news, and gave us brilliant advice - "drive now before the Pass is closed to all traffic". We did so and reveled in a dramatic, but safe trip. She had our back all the way, checking that we had made each stage safely. This was one of the many highlights of the trip. As Christina was so conscientiously looking at weather forecasts, we started our time with an idyllic weekend at Mt Cook, in perfect winter weather. She knew which tour operators were working, and which weren't (due to pandemic closures), so we got to enjoy South Island with Kiwis: for example - stunning flight over Mt Cook, engaging tour of Lake Te Anau glow worm caves and a very satisfying Lord of the Rings Glenorchy tour where we were the only passengers with a fifth-generation local South Islander as driver and guide! We were immersed in local history both there and on the tour bus to Milford Sound. Little walks along the route, for example to Blue Pools, evoked both our senses and Narnian imaginations. The accommodation at each of our destinations was very suitably chosen, the descriptions for each leg immensely interesting, and Christina was flexible at every turn, when our itinerary was changed of necessity. She also took care of the little hiccups that arose, expertly without fuss. She knew her stuff! This left us stress-free. She understood our interests and knew our needs better than we did, thanks to the communications leading up to our tour. We thoroughly recommend Discover New Zealand with the New Zealand Fine Touring group, and applaud Christina for her expert, thoughtful care. We have not stopped talking to our family and friends about our memorable, de-stressing, and thoroughly interesting holiday in New Zealand.

Thank you so much for organising the trip, we had a fantastic time! Everything ran really smoothly and we had no issues at all. We lucked out with the weather and we loved our trip to Milford Sound. The transfers were always on time and all of our bus drivers were lovely. The accommodation in each city was central to the town centre and it was really easy to get around. For two non-drivers, it was a great way to see the South Island.

Just a quick note to thank you for organising such a wonderful tour for Heather and I. We thoroughly enjoyed everything and had a fantastic time. All the accommodation was very comfortable and we felt very special to be collected by personal drivers so many times we were really beginning to feel like royalty!! All our pickups were exceptional, the most outstanding being Ann from Iconic who went above and beyond expectations and such a lovely person to spend the long drive with on that leg of our journey. All our arrangements were straight forward and went without a hitch thanks to your very professional expertise. Certainly one for the memory book Louise.

It was a memorable and well arranged tour for us. Your pick up drivers are all punctual and we are happy with their services. Only towards the end, it was an unexpected quarantined for us.

Thanks, Jo- it's a pity we left early and thank you for helping us with cancellations. We loved NZ and New Zealanders and will come back. Loved the Distinction chain of hotels and we missed it at Te Anau where we had to stay at another hotel (which was lovely, but not as swish) It worked out fine without breakfast included in our hotel rates as it was easy to find great cafes for the early risers while the others just dined ala carte in the hotel. Great cafes around the Distinction hotels. The drive from Dunedin to Te Anau was long and we couldn't go via Invercargill and get to Te Anau in time for the glow worm tour. It was fine, and if we had more time, would add an extra day in Invercargill as the short drive in and out of The Catlins was very scenic. A highlight of our short trip was Fleur's Cafe in Moeraki- such a surprise to find such fresh cooking and seafood. Wishing you all the best- be safe and healthy

Thank you very much, Vickie, for seeing so promptly and effectively to my various requests/changes. I was very confident that the arrangements for my holiday were well looked after as I could sense your enthusiasm during our initial interactions, and it was borne out. My family had a wonderful time in New Zealand and I would certainly recommend you should I know of anybody planning a similar holiday.

This was an amazing tour with lots of beautiful sites and activities. Everything was great and went smoothly for the entire trip until it was time to come home. This is when things went horribly wrong with 9 airline delays, re-routes, cancellations and rebooking on another airline due to countries closing down borders for the CoVid-19 virus outbreak but we made it home with hours to spare before New Zealand closed its borders. A big thank you to all for the trip and a thank you to all New Zealanders for being gracious and accommodating.

Chelsea Lodge arranged a 9-day tour for us that met all of our requests. We started in Christchurch, spent a day there, took the scenic TranzAlpine train to Moana and back, went by train to Kaikoura, then by train and ferry to Wellington where we also spent a day before taking a train to Auckland, spent a day there, and then flew back to Los Angeles. She arranged lodgings for us each night with breakfasts included and contracted for transportation to and from airports and train or ferry stations to and from our lodgings. She contracted for hop-on-hop-off tours at Christchurch, Wellington, and Waiheke Island near Auckland plus a visit to the Antarctic museum at Christchurch Airport and a three-course dinner at the Sky Tower Restaurant in Auckland--all paid for in a surprisingly low itinerary charge. This allowed us to see both the north and south islands and much beautiful scenery as well as to meet many friendly and helpful New Zealanders. We really appreciated her attention to detail and her expert knowledge of New Zealand and would recommend her to anyone wanting an individualized trip in this lovely island country.

Your itinerary gave us a beautiful experience of NZ's expansive geography and peoples. We appreciated the selection of accommodation (with a couple of exceptions) which met our requests. The cars were suitable. All reservations were smooth and welcoming. Excursions were also efficient, friendly and satisfying with the exception of the Middle Earth tour. The development of the Covid-19 crisis and its anxieties reduced our tour minimally. The responses to our requests for help and changes by Christina and Jamie-Lee were exceptional. We are grateful for the overall tour and experience made possible by your company.

We had a great trip! It was, however, cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic and the need for us to travel home while we could. We were sorry to miss the last 5 days of our trip; we are betting those days would have been just as awesome! Jo did a great job of understanding what type of trip we wanted - bits of adventure every day, with lovely accommodations and amazing food to top off our stays at various places in both the north and south islands. We feel like we saw a little bit of the best of everything in New Zealand. We used our downloaded app every day to guide us and prepare us for each day's activity. Thanks for all the help in planning this wonderful trip!

We loved our NZ trip. Both Louise and I enjoyed travelling to your beautiful country. I think the self-drive tour was a fantastic way to travel and witness the scenery as we went. It allowed us to stop at our leisure and not be cramped on a coach. We particularly enjoyed the areas of Lake Taupo and Huka Falls, where we had a jet boat ride and hiked to see the thermal springs. The ferry trip was very underrated, and I would even suggest skipping the Milford Sound outing in its stead. The views from our Mt Cook accommodation were breathtaking and was a highlight for us. As well as the journey to arrive there with the beautiful waters of Lake Tekapo. We had an amazing time and thank you for organising this wonderful trip for us.