New Zealand in 17 days - building an itinerary for an epic road trip

Jan 25

Jan 25 New Zealand in 17 days - building an itinerary for an epic road trip

New Zealand is a long flight from the US, so it’s a fair assumption that I probably won’t be making a return trip soon. Based on that I wanted to go for at least 2 weeks. While doing some research, I used a couple 2 week itinerary blogs to build a basic itinerary and then added in a few extra destinations that were a priority for me and came up with about 17 days of travel.

A couple decisions that were made early in the planning: -fly to Auckland and take a moment to catch our breath, instead of immediately hopping on another plane or into a campervan -drive north from Queenstown back to Auckland to avoid a short flight at the end of the trip -travel by campervan and spend most nights in campgrounds -travel dates January 1-19 -spend more time on the South Island than the North Island

THE ITINERARY

Day 1-2 flying Day 3 Arrive Auckland sleep Auckland (Verandahs Parkside Lodge) Day 4 Auckland sleep Auckland (Ibis Auckland Airport) Day 5 Fly to Queenstown sleep Queenstown (Driftaway Queenstown) Day 6 Drive Queenstown to Te Anau sleep Milford Sound NP (Henry Creek DOC Campsite) Day 7 Milford Sound sleep Milford Sound NP (Henry Creek DOC Campsite) Day 8 Drive to Oamaru sleep Oamaru (Kakanui Camping Ground) Day 9 Drive to Mount Cook sleep Mount Cook (Whitehorse Hill DOC Campsite) Day 10 Drive to West Coast via Wanaka sleep Lake Paringa (Lake Paringa DOC Campsite) Day 11 Explore Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier sleep Lake Mahinapua (Lake Mahinapua DOC Campsite) Day 12 Drive to Abel Tasman NP sleep Marahau (Marahau Beach Camp) Day 13 Abel Tasman NP and sleep near Picton (Pelorus Bridge DOC Campsite) Day 14 Ferry to Wellington sleep Wellington (Airbnb) Day 15 Wellington and drive to Tongariro NP sleep near Tongariro NP (Discovery Lodge Tongariro) Day 16 Tongariro Alpine Crossing sleep near Tongariro NP (Discovery Lodge Tongariro) Day 17 Drive to and explore Rotorua sleep Rotoruan (Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park) Day 18 Drive to Hot Water Beach via Hobbiton sleep Hot Water Beach (Hot Water Beach Top 10 Holiday Park) Day 19 drive to Auckland and fly out