New Zealand North Island Itineraries

Islands of New Zealand was one of a lifetime and exceeded our expectations.  The travel company is awesome and the travel designer's meticulous planning and care for us and our experience was incredible....we recommend this company to anyone wishing for a trip of a lifetime to New Zealand.  The travel designers and the team will take such good care of you and organize a fabulous adventure.

hiccups. We had a self-drive tour around Cook Islands and New Zealand (North Island). The agent was responsive during the planning phase and took the time to call us to make sure everything was in order. She updated us about any changes which arose (such as hotel unavailability) and made sure we were comfortable with the alternatives they had proposed. Price and costs were also transparent, they did not have any hidden fees or surcharges and indicated clearly what you were paying for and what was / wasn't included.

and full of discovery.  The overall trip planning and execution was exceptional, and the pre-trip planning with the trip planner was well done.  On several occasions we utilized the in-country contacts to make adjustments to our reservations, and the New Zealand team provided outstanding response time and service. 

enough time.  We planned the trip because our daughter was studying abroad in Wellington for the semester.  Our travel planner tailored the trip to our specifications, quickly making any and all necessary changes.   Traveling from the South Island to the North, the itinerary was thorough and included maps, directions as well as additional activities to do in each location.  We arrived on the South Island, just after a heavy rain storm that closed Milford Sound.  This was to be our first excursion and we were a bit disappointed.  We contacted our travel planner and her team in New Zealand who were diligent in trying to rebook a modified version of the tour.  Due to weather it did not happen, but the customer service exceeded our expectations. The rest of our time went as planned with awe inspiring scenery from glaciers to geothermal sites and relaxing daytrips to wine regions and beaches. The real testimony of our travel company's "above and beyond" customer service came four weeks after we returned home.  Our daughter's program was canceled due to COVID19 and she needed to return home before June.  Neither United or Air New Zealand would help us with rebooking.  We called our travel planner and she immediately contacted the airlines having new tickets issued within a day.  When these flights were canceled, she again contacted the airlines and found a flight to get her back.  We can't thank her enough for handling this stressful situation.

have traveled extensively but never with an agent doing the all nitty-gritty suggestions and arranging.  We are now spoiled.  Our agent listened to our interests and desires and pointed us to activities that might interest us.  We then choose those that were appealling to us and he proceeded to organize the trip.  This included precise information on the mode of transportation to and from each destination activity.  The itinerary was planned and accepted.  While en route, we choose to change a plan and this presented no problem and we were quickly accommodated.

an excellent itinerary, great small group tours, and planned the best itinerary to take advantage of the time that we had.  There is too much to see in either country, let alone both Australia and New Zealand, in four weeks.  Still, we saw so much in both places, it was an excellent trip.   was also very responsive to including places that we wanted to see, such as Kangaroo Island.  The logistics and transfers worked very well for us.

my husband Paul and I have ever worked with, especially since the lady we worked with was our travel planner.  She was a dream travel consultant:  knowledgeable, efficient, prompt and, above all, patient.  She was meticulous with our planning of our 3 week trip to New Zealand.  She made sure we "hit" many of New Zealand's highlights, arranging for transportation, group tours, personal tours, drivers where needed, and hotels as well as more intimate B & Bs which we had requested.  This travel team made what a good trip into a great trip.

our trip to French Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia from the outset.  She had a complicated trip planned within days, always responded quickly to my questions, reorganized my trip when I wanted, to include different itineraries, and continued to monitor my trip while we were on it, providing additional guidance and input where required. 

were very pleased with the service we received from the travel company. I would not hesitate to use them on future trips to New Zealand. 

opportunity came to go I decided a travel agent was needed. After interviewing 3, the trip planner at this travel team was top of my list. She did not disappoint and I can’t wait to go back to beautiful New Zealand and it’s wonderful people! Our 17 day vacation included both North and South Islands and because we chose to not drive included a lot of transportation details. Shelley was able to schedule shuttles, airplanes, motor coaches and boats for our adventures. With only a couple of hiccups (very minor which were easily taken care of) we were professionally transported from place to place. The hotels chosen for us were very nice, in great locations for access to restaurants and activities and all were accommodating for early/late check-in/outs. There is so much more to see of New Zealand, I need to go back! 

world but never to Australia and New Zealand. it was unusual for us to rely so heavily on this kind of assistance, but we had very little time and knew very little about where to go and what to do. Our travel specialist was responsive, expeditious in her plans and flexible as we changed course and arrangement. Everything was flawless except one small screw-up which was righted immediately when our driver failed to show for our Barrossa tour. Given the situation in Australia when we were there (fires!) it was a miracle that everything went off so well. We loved it and would definitely recommend this company to others.

love to go back and try the South Island.  Our travel designer was very easy to work with and really listened to all our likes and dislikes.Would definitely use again.