New Zealand Vista Escorted Tour [LAAC] - About New Zealand
 
 
14 Days: New Zealand Vista Escorted Tour [LAAC]
Starting at
$3,525

Available Tour Dates

2017

Dec 12*

2018

Apr 3, 24*
May 1
Jun 5*
Jul 3, 31
Aug 14, 28
Sep 11*, 18
Oct 2*, 9, 16*, 23, 30*
Nov 6, 13* 20
Dec 4, 11*, 18, 25*

2019

Jan 1, 8*, 15, 22*, 29*
Feb 5*, 12*, 19*, 26*
Mar 5*, 26*
*Seasonality supplements apply

Highlights

  • All inclusive
  • Luxury coach travel
  • 3 – 4 star accommodations
  • Hotel porterage (we’ll handle your luggage for you!)
  • Welcome Reception

Inclusions

  • Accommodation – Auckland – VR Queen Street Hotel & Suites (1 Night), Rotorua – Ibis Rotorua Hotel (2), Wellington – Travelodge Wellington (1), Picton – Picton Beachcomber Inn (1), Christchurch – Ibis Hotel Christchurch (1), Omarama – Heritage Gateway Hotel (1), Dunedin – Scenic Hotel Dunedin City (1), Te Anau – Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas (1), Queenstown – Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown (2), Franz Josef – Scenic Hotel Josef Glacier (Graham Wing) (1), Christchurch – Ibis Hotel Christchurch
  • Meals – 13 Full breakfasts, 2 Highlight dinners, 7 dinners, 1 Farewell dinner
  • US Domestic Flights – (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
  • International Flights – Los Angeles to Auckland, Christchurch to Los Angeles (Not included, but can be added to your quote)
  • Day Tours – Auckland: City Sights tour; Waitomo Glow Worm Caves tour to Rotorua; Rotorua: Agrodome; Wellington: City Sights Tour, Te Papa Museum; New Zealand Wildlife Encounters; Dunedin: City Sights Tour; Milford Sound Cruise; Queenstown: Cruise on TSS Earnslaw across Lake Wakatipu; Hokitika Greenstone Factory
  • Transfers – Airport to Hotel and Hotel to Airport
  • All Taxes and Fuel Levies (Except where noted)

Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Auckland

Welcome to Auckland Transfer from the airport to your hotel for check-in, then you’re free to see Auckland for yourself. An evening welcome reception is followed by dinner with your Travel Director and fellow travelers.

Hotel VR Queen Street Hotel & Suites

Dinner included

Day 2: Auckland – Rotorua

See Auckland on a city sights tour. Later, tracing the Waikato River travel to Waitomo Caves to tour the amazing Glow Worm Grotto. At Rotorua, you’ll take in views of Lake Rotorua and more on your orientation tour. Tonight enjoy a Maori Hangi feast highlight dinner and concert for an insight into Maori culture at the Tamaki Maori Village.

Hotel Ibis Rotorua Hotel (2 nights)

Breakfast & Highlight dinner included

Day 3: Rotorua

Watch the Agrodome Farm Show to gain an insight into agriculture in New Zealand. Then the afternoon is at leisure. Perhaps visit Rainbow Springs Nature Park, abundant with Rainbow Trout and native fauna including the kiwi, or Te Puia where you can join a tour of the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve with a local guide.

Breakfast included

Day 4: Rotorua – Wellington

Heading south, you’ll view the Huka Falls. Visit Taupo and drive along the shores of New Zealand’s biggest lake through the alpine scenery of Mt. Ruapehu, Tongariro National Park and the dairy farms of Manawatu. Then it’s along the Kapiti Coast to Wellington for a city sights tour.

Hotel Travelodge Wellington

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 5: Wellington – Picton

It’s a morning at leisure in Wellington, then visit Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand, where you’ll have time to explore New Zealand’s nature, art, history and cultural heritage. There’s time for a photo at Parliament House. Then cruise across the Cook Strait and meander down the maze of inlets of Queen Charlotte Sound. Later you’ll travel to the seaside village of Picton for an orientation tour.

Hotel Picton Beachcomber Inn

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 6: Picton – Christchurch

It’s your chance to get up close and personal with some New Zealand fur seals at Ohau Point and watch whales at Kaikoura (optional scenic whale-watching flight is available). Travel along the rugged Pacific Ocean coast and across the colorful Canterbury Plains to Christchurch.

Hotel Ibis Hotel Christchurch

Breakfast included

Day 7: Christchurch – Omarama

After a free morning travel over the patchwork countryside, where the spectacular sightseeing begins. Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki are first up. Next you’ll visit the Church of the Good Shepherd before soaking up the sensational alpine landscape of Mt. Cook National Park (optional scenic flight is available).

Hotel Heritage Gateway Hotel

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 8: Omarama – Dunedin

Your day starts along the Waitaki River with the Waitaki Hydro Power Scheme and Benmore Dam. Travel through Oamaru with its famous white limestone buildings, to Dunedin for a city tour. Then you’ve got the afternoon to yourself – perhaps take a Wildlife Cruise, visit the Cadbury Chocolate Factory or ride the historic Taieri Gorge Railway.

Hotel Scenic Hotel Dunedin City

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 9: Dunedin – Te Anau

It’s a morning at leisure, during which you might like to tour New Zealand’s Larnach Castle. Head off across South Otago’s fertile sheep-filled farming land en route to Te Anau, on the shores of the largest lake in the South Island. Tonight you may choose to travel by boat through the Te Anau Glowworm Caves (own expense).

Hotel Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 10: Te Anau – Queenstown

You’ll be awestruck by great sights from Fiordland National Park to Milford Sound, where you’ll cruise on the waters of this natural wonder. On the way to Queenstown see the Mirror Lake, Cleddau Valley, the Chasm, Mitre Peak, Bowen Falls, then travel along the Devil’s Staircase and the shores of Lake Wakatipu. In Queenstown, an orientation tour on arrival will complete your highlight day.

Hotel Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown (2 nights)

Breakfast included

Day 11: Queenstown

Explore exciting Queenstown your way, all day – from wine tours to jet boat rides and white water rafting – Queenstown will surprise and exhilarate. This evening cruise across Lake Wakatipu aboard New Zealand’s oldest steamship, the TSS Earnslaw, to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue highlight dinner at the Colonel’s Homestead. An entertaining after-dinner farm show provides a glimpse into high-country farm life.

Breakfast & Highlight dinner included

Day 12: Queenstown – Franz Josef

First stop is historic Arrowtown, an old gold mining settlement, on the Arrow River. Second stop is Cromwell and its sensational stone fruit. Then discover a trio of lakes – Dunstan, Hawea and Wanaka. After crossing over the Haast Pass, view Thunder Creek Falls and enjoy a rainforest walk. Your final destination for today is the extraordinary Franz Josef Glacier.

Hotel Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier (Graham Wing)

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 13: Franz Josef – Christchurch

Visit Hokitika, home of the native greenstone (jade), for a factory visit and jewellery demonstration. Travel to Arthur’s Pass to board the TranzAlpine, one of the top six train journeys in the world. This spectacular journey takes you through the Southern Alps and across the Canterbury Plains to Christchurch. This evening celebrate your holiday at a farewell dinner with your Travel Director and new-found friends.

Hotel Ibis Hotel Christchurch

Breakfast & Farewell dinner included

Day 14: Farewell Christchurch

Your holiday concludes this morning after breakfast. You’ll be transferred to Christchurch Airport for your onward flight.

Breakfast included

  • a) All prices are USD$/person (including all Taxes). Subject to availability. Other Conditions Apply (see Terms and Conditions).
  • b) Land Content Only represents the pricing for the full itinerary as detailed, except the International Flights from the USA (and return) are NOT included.
  • c) An Infant (Lapchild) must be less than 2 years old on the date of departure. Infant must travel with at least one adult. An infant with a seat pays the price of a Child.
  • d) A Child must be aged between 2-11 years on the date of departure. Child must travel with at least one adult.