Seeing New Zealand in 7 days
Posted on Jun 04, 2008 under Tips & Advice |If you only have 7 days to travel around New Zealand, you’re just going to have to resign yourself to seeing a chunk of the country and bypassing the rest. I think you’d be stupid to miss the south island so here’s my suggested 7 days itinerary for the independent NZ traveller:
Day 1
Arrive in Chistchurch, drive to Greymouth. This gives you time to see something of Chistchurch then a fairly short drive through amazing scenery.
Day 2
Hokitika - Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. Another short day with time to see the West Coast of South Island. You could take a scenic flight up the glaciers.
Day 3
Visit Wanaka. You could checkout Queenstown but it’s a bit touristy - not too far to drive and has a beautiful lake.
Day 4
Arrowtown - Queenstown - Te Anau. Heaps of action here - bungy jumping, rafting, jetboating, etc. plus spectaular mountains and lakes.
Day 5
Milford - Te Anau. Milford sound. need I say more?
Day 6
Stop off at Dunedin. It’s an interesting city. You have the option to skip this destination if you want and make day 7 into two easy days.
Day 7
Drive to Christchurch via Mt Cook and Tekapo - fly out. This would be a long day but worth it to see the MacKenzie country I think.
You could opt for a completely different programme but to travel to any of these places in any less time than this would be a crime.
What would be your “must see” destinations if you were to travel around New Zealand in only 7 days?
