Signature Highlights Reviews

My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful New Zealand trip, which was expertly organised by Global Journeys. This trip was great on so many levels - the accommodation, food, people on the trip, places visited, etc. We encountered no problems and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I would recommended this trip to anyone who wishes to ...read more visit New Zealand.

What a trip, we were on a tour with such a lovely group of people and we had so much fun. Alan our tour guide was great, always on the ball and very helpful. We had Andrew as our coach driver in the South Island, he kept us all interested with his knowledge, never a dull moment. Kevin was our driver in the North Island and he was also a credit to the ...read more company as well. We only have lovely memories of all the beautiful sights and all the excursions. From our booking to arriving home everything went very smoothly.

On everything from the start to finish we found the personal touch from both Global Journeys and Grand Pacific. We would recommend this tour.

Recommend booking with Global Journeys, very reliable and helpful. Chris (tour guide) and Jeff (driver) were excellent. Very clean coach every day, plenty of comfort stops, good commentaries along the way. Hotel accommodation was comfortable with plenty of variety of breakfasts and dinners daily. Good company with fellow travellers, lots of fun ...read more and laughter. This trip was well worth doing.

Grand Pacific was an excellent tour company. Everything was so well organised and the itinerary always went to plan. The tour guides/drivers on both islands were so knowledgeable and nothing was ever too much trouble for them. There was such a friendly mix of people on the tour and everyone got along so well.

Both North and South Island had so many ...read more beautiful places and things to see and we had just the right amount of time to get a look at all the main places. Also enough time to do the optional extras. The meals and accommodation were usually very good. We could not complain about anything. I would not hesitate to plan a tour with Grand Pacific or book through Global Journeys again.

Had a good mix of people and all seemed to get on well together. We were especially lucky with the weather.

Well looked after, sometimes too much travelling time on bus versus tourist time at stopovers. Would love to have had Napier included. Some confusion with travellers over policy of tipping drivers which needs to be clarified.

We flew into poor old Christchurch, still rebuilding from the 2011 earthquake. We were amazed at the resilience of the locals and how they have coped. A visit will renew your faith for in the human spirit. The South Island of New Zealand is just a picture album which turns the page with virtually every corner you turn. If you are lucky to have ...read more good weather you see it at its best and it becomes a photographer's delight. With a national population of over 4 million and heading quickly to 5 million, I am glad we experienced it while it is still unhurried and relaxed. Tourist's are still welcomed as guests by the locals, still happy to help guide and advise you. Sadly the only drawback is that most tourist traps are a bit on the pricey side, especially for families - but on the other side, all seemed to be well maintained and generous in what they offer. There was enough free time in the larger towns and to visit many free museums, galleries and entertainments. The tour included activities were great and have laden us with many happy memories.

Our 16 day Grand Pacific tour of North and South Islands was particularly well run and organised. From the time we joined the tour to the last day at the airport we never handled our luggage. The hotels were as good as could be expected considering the areas explored, we never found cleanliness below par. The final hotel in Auckland, The Calthorpe gives the impression that it is due for a revamp although still clean and warm and extremely well placed at the edge of the CBD. Evening meals were usually buffets style and varied from place to place and occasionally showed a lack of imagination but once or twice surprised. Each island had its own bus and driver/guide and that seemed to work very well, with excellent commentary; although at times the driver had to labour on while our group was relaxing inside.

There are only two things that could be improved for me to reach total satisfaction. As an amateur photographer one of the buses had its windows cleaned only a couple of times on the tour and soon devalued the clarity of some pics. The other bus was immaculate all the time. The other point for me was that in the North Island, time spent travelling in the bus from Wellington to Rotorua was excessive and really needs another day to explore out to Napier and Wairoa. The Bay of Islands was the final area to be enjoyed - and it was. Excellent weather and the catamaran trip made it a great place to visit. The hotel was excellent. I would recommend this trip and consider it to be very reasonably value.

I had a great time on this Grand Pacific tour. Milford Sound with the wild wind and zillions of waterfalls was a fantastic and exciting experience and my personal favourite. Also the Te Anau glow worms but New Zealand was amazing with all the mountains, rivers and lakes. I learned heaps about farming from the knowledgeable driver guides.

The whole ...read more tour was great and all the people on the bus were friendly and easy to get along with so we had a fun and enjoyable time. The Grand Pacific tour was well run. I was nervous about booking online but Juliet at Global journeys was so patient and helpful and got me through it so I won't hesitate next time. This tour was excellent and New Zealand is a great destination.

It was an easy booking process with our agent Juliette from Global Journeys - from the tour itself to the flight arrangements.

We did the 16 day Affordable Highlights Tour. Spectacular scenery everywhere! Great bus drivers with a wealth of knowledge. We had a couple of days of rain, which didn’t dampen our spirits. I was glad we did the South Island ...read more first as it was a lot more hectic than the North Island. Got used to the 6am wake up calls. We were on “tour” not holidays.

Accommodation was good, meals great. Plenty of attractions were included. The highlight of the tour was The Bay of Islands. We were taken through the hole in the rock and saw dolphins up close. All in all, highly recommended.

Excellent service by Global Journeys & Grand Pacific. The whole experience exceeded my expectations, from documentation, the travel pack, transfers, meals, accommodation, optional tours, and the knowledge and skills of the coach driver/guide. Highly recommended!

There were lots of trip highlights - the jet boat ride, steamship TSS Earnslaw, Colonel's Homestead BBQ Dinner, and the Gondola ride and Breakfast at the Skyline Rotorua (with luge rides!).

We had a wonderful time with Grand Pacific's 16 day tour of both islands. Our coach captains Alec (South) and Kevin (North) were excellent value. The knowledge that they passed on to us was fantastic, without such commentary our holiday would have been less enjoyable.

The pace was pretty much full on, but none the less very worthwhile. Airport pick ...read more up in Christchurch by Vicki was excellent and she was very helpful with escorting us to our hotel. Overall the hotels were good and there was enough food for everyone.

We really enjoyed our trip. The two bus drivers were excellent. Capable and informative, good natured and friendly. The accommodation was very good and the food excellent in all cases.

Apart from being a bit rushed on the South Island leg I cannot fault the trip. I would like to have had more two night stops, particularly in Christchurch. Beautiful ...read more place.

I would suggest that all accommodation should have a separate shower as I found it onerous to climb into a bath tub to shower. I would have liked the Maori experience in Rotorua to have been in a Maori village; however the concert was very good.

Our bus family were all very good, we all got along very well and everyone was prompt and punctual in ...read more making the arranged bus departure times. Our Coach Captains were very professional and excellent drivers. They were nice people, easy to get along with and very knowledgeable and informative guides.

The itinerary covered was very good and we got to see and experience a lot of New Zealand in a short period of time. The tour was very well arranged and organised by Global Journeys and I would have no reservations in recommending Global journeys to family and friends.

Had a fantastic time in both the south and north of New Zealand. Hit rain, but when on holidays what does a bit of rain do? Accommodation was good, just keep an open mind. Drivers on both islands were exceptional drivers and very informative.

We really enjoyed the whole trip, both Islands but especially the South Island. Hectic and early starts but that is typical of all bus tours we have done. We had a full coach of 48 for the south but some left on the north. If you drove yourself you wouldn't see a quarter of we did and saw. We had 2 excellent drivers, one for each island, also one being ...read more Maori which helped with the history and culture. Most of the hotels were good, there are always some minor issues. All the included meals where very good, with plenty to eat. We were very lucky with great weather, low to mid 30's in the south.

We were very lucky when the massive storms hit most of NZ we were heading north on the North Island and missed it.

Grand Pacific is a very good company, very organised. Only minor issue, for the first six days we had twin beds as requested, but then changed to a double bed. I was told we were lucky for those days because we had a double room booking which isn't twin beds. However it was corrected and all OK. Thanks for your help, and will look at booking again with you in the future.

We thoroughly enjoyed our 16-day trip to New Zealand with Grand Pacific. The organisation was excellent, the hotels were excellent and so was the food! The coaches were comfortable and the drivers took every opportunity to tell us about the sights and local history. They were good-humoured and made sure we knew what was happening each day and sorted ...read more out any queries. The trip included many extras and took us to places we may not have explored had we been on our own. Highly recommended.

What a wonderful trip so far! We are really enjoying this tour from South to North islands with Grand Pacific. Well organised and worth of money. Thank you Ritcky and Chris, drivers and director for this beautiful journey! Thanks Hannah of Global Journey. Without you we would not make this dream come true.

Global Journeys made the online booking/payment step by step process very easy and I will definitely be booking travel with them again. We could not fault Grand Pacific. The travel pack they sent was very useful. Drivers/hosts on both Islands were very informative, very approachable and lots of fun. The quality of the accommodation and food was on the ...read more whole of a high standard. We liked that our luggage was delivered to and picked up from our rooms at each hotel. Our fellow travellers were great. Everyone mixed and got on very well and there were lots of laughs. It was a full on tour, packed with interesting places and sights. We enjoyed all aspects of trip but the highlights for us were Milford Sound and the Bay of Islands (including Russell) - just beautiful. Loved the sights of Rotorua and the included Hangi and Maori Concert in the evening was wonderful. TSS Earnshaw cruise and dinner was very nice but... a standard glass of wine costs $14.50!! I would thoroughly recommend Grand Pacific for those thinking of touring New Zealand.