New Zealand Tours

It begins to get warmer in NZ around October and cooler by the end of April. January to March is the height of summer and also the busiest, with locals taking every opportunity enjoy the long nights and sunny days along with travellers from around the world. You can still get rainy days (there's a reason why the countryside is so green) throughout the year, but during the summer period they don't tend to hang around for very long.

The shoulder months of September, October and April are also popular times to visit, with less travellers around and prices of tours generally lower as a result. It rains a lot less in the South Island (year round) and of course the winter months are very popular due to NZ's popularity as a ski destination.

If you're looking at exploring all of New Zealand in one go then you'll need to allow yourself at least two weeks to avoid being too rushed. If your plan is to visit one island at a time (they are so different) then a good week to ten days should be fine for each one.

That's a tough call that will entirely depend on what you're hoping to experience in paradise. The North Island is covered in native and ancient forests (we call it bush in NZ), pastoral farms, geothermal landscapes, glorious beaches and the largest and most populous cities (Auckland and Wellington). 

The South Island is more "Middle Earth", meaning spectacular mountain ranges, gorges and fiords and home to the adventure capital of the world - Queenstown. And it's a lot less populated with only 20% of the 5m Kiwi's located down south.