Highlights

• All inclusive
• 19 Days/18 Nights
• Fully escorted luxury coach travel
• 4.5 star accommodations
• Hotel porterage (we’ll handle your luggage for you!)
• 4 cruises included
• 1 rail journey included
• Personalized meet and greet on arrival

Inclusions

• Accommodation – Auckland – Crowne Plaza Auckland (1 Night), Bay of Islands – Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands (2), Auckland – Crowne Plaza Auckland (1), Rotorua – Regent of Rotorua (2), Napier – Scenic Hotel Te Pania (1), Wellington – InterContinental Wellington (1), Kaikoura – Sudima Kaikõura (1), Christchurch – The George (1), Fox Glacier – Distinction Fox Glacier (1), Queenstown – Heritage Queenstown (2), Te Anau – Distinction Te Anau Hotel & Villas (2), Dunedin – Distinction Dunedin (1), Mt Cook – The Hermitage Hotel (Aoraki Wing) (1), Christchurch – The George (1)
• Meals – 18 cooked breakfasts including a specialty breakfast: Stratosfare Restaurant, Rotorua; 15 sumptuous dinners including 3 specialty dinners: Maori Hangi & Concert – Rotorua, Walter Peak Homestead – Queenstown, Farewell Dinner with selected beverages – Christchurch; 2 lunches: Shire’s buffet lunch – Hobbiton, Milford Sound Cruise lunch; 1 Ultimate High Tea – Larnach Castle
• 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: Kauri Museum, Waitangi Treaty Grounds; Bay of Islands: Hole in the Rock Dolphin Cruise; Auckland: City Sights Tour, Sky Tower; Hobbiton Movie Set Tour & Lunch; Rotorua: Skyline Rotorua Gondola & Luge Ride, Agrodome, Thermal mud pools and geysers, Te Puia, Maori Hangi & Concert; Napier: City Sights Tour; Wellington: City Sights Tour, Te Papa National Museum; Cruise on the Interislander Ferry; Blenheim: Cloudy Bay Wine Tasting; Christchurch: Christchurch City Sights Tour; TranzAlpine Rail Journey; Queenstown: TSS Earnslaw Cruise on Lake Wakatipu; Arrowtown: Lakes District Museum; Milford Sound Nature Cruise & Lunch; Dunedin: City Sights Tour, Larnach Castle
• Transfers – Airport to Hotel and Hotel to Airport
• All Taxes and Fuel Levies (Except where noted)

Tour Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive Auckland

On arrival into Auckland you will be met by your tour representative who will transfer you to your hotel. Meet your traveling companions over a complimentary pre-dinner drink.

Hotel Crowne Plaza Auckland

Dinner included

Day 2: Auckland – Bay of Islands

Board the luxurious Ultimate Coach, depart Auckland and travel to the Parry Kauri Park to see a magnificent Kauri Tree. Enjoy a visit and informative talk at the Kauri Museum in Matakohe, then travel via Whangarei to Paihia, situated in the heart of the beautiful Bay of Islands. Enjoy a guided tour of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the location of the signing of the treaty between the Maori tribes and the British.

Hotel Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands (2 nights)

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 3: Bay of Islands

Today is a free day. Choose from the many optional activities available, including the Cape Reinga coach trip via Ninety Mile Beach or a spectacular scenic flight. This evening is also free and you may like to enjoy a relaxing dinner cruise (optional).

Breakfast included

Day 4: Bay of Islands – Auckland

This morning travel aboard a luxury catamaran to Cape Brett and the famous Hole in the Rock. Keep an eye out for bottlenose and common dolphins before returning to Paihia. Travel south via Whangarei to Auckland.

Hotel Crowne Plaza Auckland

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 5: Auckland – Rotorua

This morning enjoy a city sights tour including a visit to Sky Tower, one of New Zealand’s most spectacular attractions. Continue through the picturesque countryside to Hobbiton for a buffet lunch. This is followed by a guided tour of the Movie Set from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Your guide will recount details of how this beautiful piece of farmland was transformed into The Shire from Middle Earth.

Hotel Regent of Rotorua (2 nights)

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included

Day 6: Rotorua

Today begins with a gondola ride at the Skyline Rotorua for breakfast and spectacular views and time for a thrilling luge ride! Next stop is Agrodome for an action packed hour of farming entertainment and education that’s unlike anything you’ve seen before. Enjoy some free time this afternoon before traveling to Te Puia to see the boiling mud pools and awesome geysers that Rotorua is famous for. This evening experience an entertaining Maori Hangi and Concert.

Breakfast & Specialty Dinner included

Day 7: Rotorua – Napier

Depart Rotorua and travel along the Thermal Explorer Highway to Huka Falls and Lake Taupo. Continue to Napier known as ‘The Art Deco Capital’, where a city tour will showcase the most comprehensive collection of art deco buildings in the world. Board the Hawke’s Bay Express and hear informative commentary on the city’s fascinating history. Enjoy some free time this afternoon to explore the city or you might choose to do a guided walk (optional).

Hotel Scenic Hotel Te Pania

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 8: Napier – Wellington

Travel south this morning into Wellington for a city tour of the nation’s capital which will highlight the history and culture on show here. At Te Papa, New Zealand’s National Museum, there is time to explore Gallipoli: A Scale of War exhibition. Cutting edge technology brings these stories to life through the eyes of New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances.

Hotel InterContinental Wellington

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 9: Wellington – Picton – Kaikoura

This afternoon board the Interislander Ferry and enjoy the scenery as you travel through the Marlborough Sounds to Picton where you board your Ultimate Coach for the short journey to Blenheim where you will experience a wine tasting at Cloudy Bay Estate, one of the original winemakers in the Marlborough region. Continue south to Kaikõura.

Hotel Sudima Kaikõura

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 10: Kaikoura – Christchurch

This morning enjoy a leisurely start in this seaside village, where the mountains meet the sea. Kaikōura is renowned as one of the best places to see Sperm whales and other marine mammals. There is an opportunity to take a scenic flight to view the year-round population of Sperm whales (optional, weather permitting). Continue onto the garden city of Christchurch.

Hotel The George

Breakfast included

Day 11: Christchurch – Arthur’s Pass – Fox Glacier

This morning board the TranzAlpine, renowned as one of the great train journeys of the world. Travel over massive viaducts, river valleys and spectacular gorges as you ascend to Arthur’s Pass located in the center of the Southern Alps. Board your Ultimate coach and travel to Hokitika, famous for its Greenstone before continuing via Franz Josef to the township of Fox Glacier where time is available to experience a scenic flight (optional, weather permitting) over the spectacular glaciers.

Hotel Distinction Fox Glacier

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 12: Fox Glacier – Queenstown

See the snowcapped peaks of the Southern Alps as you travel south along the West Coast. Continue via the Haast Pass, an area of stunning beauty before arriving into picturesque Queenstown, a year round resort situated on the shores of magical Lake Wakatipu. This evening is free and you may choose to dine out at one of the many fine restaurants.

Hotel Heritage Queenstown (2 nights)

Breakfast included

Day 13: Queenstown

Today is a free day and there are plenty of sightseeing options available. You may wish to enjoy the thrill of a jet boat ride, a heritage tour of the scenic Skippers Canyon or get up close to a Kiwi bird. This evening board the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw and cruise across Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak Station. Sit back, relax and enjoy a gourmet barbecue dinner which the chef will prepare in front of you at the Colonel’s Homestead. After dinner enjoy a short farm tour then reboard the TSS Earnslaw for a sing along by the piano as you cruise back to Queenstown.

Breakfast & Specialty Dinner included

Day 14: Queenstown – Te Anau

Enjoy a leisurely start this morning before traveling to Arrowtown, an old gold mining village where you visit the Lakes District Museum. Continue to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland. Today you may like to visit the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves (optional).

Hotel Distinction Te Anau Hotel & Villas (2 nights)

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 15: Te Anau – Milford Sound – Te Anau

Depart Te Anau for a fascinating drive to Milford Sound where you board your launch for a nature cruise on this magnificent fiord. See the spectacular Bowen Falls and towering Mitre Peak as you enjoy a picnic lunch onboard. This afternoon return to Te Anau where some free time is available. You might like to cap off your Fiordland experience by watching the breathtaking film, Ata Whenua – Shadowland, which screens at the Fiordland Cinema (optional).

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included

Day 16: Te Anau – Dunedin

Travel via Gore and Balclutha to Dunedin known as the “Edinburgh of the South.” Enjoy an informative city tour followed by some free time at leisure.

Hotel Distinction Dunedin

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 17: Dunedin – Mt Cook

Travel along the Otago Peninsula to Larnach Castle, hear the tragic and scandalous stories on a guided tour with time to wander around this Garden of International Significance followed by an Ultimate High Tea served in the Grand Ballroom. Farewell Dunedin and travel to Oamaru famous for its limestone. Follow the Waitaki River and see Lake Benmore as you travel to Mt Cook.

Hotel The Hermitage Hotel (Aoraki Wing)

Breakfast & Dinner included

Day 18: Mt Cook – Christchurch

This morning marvel at Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak. The opportunity is available to enjoy a scenic flight (optional, weather permitting) over the Southern Alps. Continue to Lake Tekapo and view the brilliant turquoise water, visit the Church of the Good Shepherd and see the Sheep Dog Statue before arriving into Christchurch. This evening enjoy a farewell dinner including selected beverages with your new found friends.

Hotel The George

Breakfast & Specialty Dinner included

Day 19: Depart Christchurch

Time to say goodbye. You will be transferred to the airport for your flight home after a memorable New Zealand holiday.

Breakfast included