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?
April 13th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I think you’d be a bit crazy to even go to NZ for only 7 days. Don’t make NZ some sort of quick stop on your world tour–you’d just cheat yourself by “crossing it off” your must-do list. If you’re that hurried, then just stay in OZ or wherever and enjoy a little more time there and don’t waste your travel money by trying to quickly cruise thru NZ. The country is so remarkable…cut short your time elsewhere and spend more time in NZ–it’s SO worth it…a country where you don’t have to worry about burglary , hassles, vendors, bad water and food…no bitey critters, no beeping cabbies…no worries mate.
Don’t go to NZ for only 7 days.