New Zealand Touring Holiday Reviews

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.

We LOVED the 19-day Showcase trip! We believe we saw very much of New Zealand - land, culture, towns, etc. Booking it was easy - it was great to work with you and to be able to talk with you from the US directly to NZ. One area for improvement would be to touch base with us (email) during the trip to just check-in and make sure we're doing okay. This was especially important as the COVID-19 shutdowns were starting during our trip and we had quite a bit of uncertainty and needed to change our return plans. Thanks for ALL your help - it was a trip of a lifetime!

Louise was always there to discuss our emails, phone calls or whatever. Happy to oblige in any way with a great manner. Therefore when Louise asked if we could change our Franz Josef Glazier 3 hr walk from morning to the afternoon, I didn't feel I could refuse. Though we had booked it maybe July/Aug 2019 for March 2020. Supposedly there was a large group who wanted the morning. While this didn't matter in the end as no one got to go on this walk because of track flooding days earlier. But we noticed on the day that the weather was great in the morning but very overcast and raining in afternoon, which would not have been pleasant. I also had planned on having a hot tub after the walk and probably would not have if in the afternoon. Don't think I'll change any plans if I ever book again, even for the lovely Louise. Also very prompt in refunding our 3hr valley walk fee. When home I checked and there was the refund thanks heaps.

This was a great tour! I was able to see so many of the iconic sights and learn about the Maori culture. Having Discover New Zealand set the itinerary saved me effort and time as well as gave me peace of mind that I had reputable tours and accommodations booked. All of the representatives were responsive and helpful, even when I accidentally gave the wrong date for my arrival and needed last-minute changes. The variety of activities also added to the quality of the trip. The only hitch was that I expected to be dropped off at the hotel when arriving in Wellington but I needed to order a separate Uber because the bus only stopped at the train station. Overall I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone else hoping to see the Lord of the Rings locations and experience the best of New Zealand!

The trip you organised for us was fantastic - we just loved every minute touring New Zealand. All the arrangements you made together with the other recommendations in our planned itinerary worked perfectly for us. We used the app every day and tried to follow the driving directions but we kept making little detours and found lots of other interesting places en route, too many to mention! A 21-day adventure and we have barely scratched the surface of such a beautiful country. Hopefully, we'll be back to pick up where we've left off but meantime, thank you.