Essence of New Zealand

Essence of New Zealand

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15 Days From

$7150

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Tour Overview

Embark on the "Essence of New Zealand" tour, a captivating journey through the stunning landscapes and vibrant cities of New Zealand. Begin in Christchurch, exploring its post-earthquake transformation, then marvel at the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo. Discover Dunedin's architectural charm and the natural beauty of Stewart Island. Experience the thrill of Queenstown, the adventure capital, and visit the iconic Franz Josef Glacier. Cruise through the breathtaking Queen Charlotte Sound to Wellington, and immerse yourself in the geothermal wonders and Maori culture of Rotorua. With comfortable accommodations and a specialist team of guides, this tour offers a seamless and enriching experience from Christchurch to Auckland. Enjoy the flexibility of two-night stays in key locations, allowing you to truly absorb the essence of each destination. ...more ...less

Highlights

  • Explore the vibrant city of Christchurch and witness its transformation post-earthquake.

  • Marvel at the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd.

  • Discover the architectural charm of Dunedin, known as 'Little Edinburgh'.

  • Experience the natural beauty of Stewart Island, a haven for endemic flora and fauna.

  • Enjoy the adventure capital of Queenstown with options like jet boating and vineyard tours.

  • Visit the iconic Franz Josef Glacier and explore the stunning Westland World Heritage Park.

  • Cruise through the breathtaking Queen Charlotte Sound to reach Wellington.

  • Explore the geothermal wonders and Maori culture in Rotorua.

Itinerary

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Day 1: Welcome to Christchurch

Christchurch, New Zealand

Location: Christchurch

Accommodation Name: hotel

You’ll want to arrive early to see just how Christchurch has transformed itself since the devastating 2010/11 earthquakes. Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers this evening for a Welcome Reception.

Day 2: Christchurch - Omarama

Christchurch, New Zealand

Location: Christchurch, Lake Tekapo, Omarama

Accommodation Name: Distinction Heritage Gateway Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast

Day two of your tour of the South Island of New Zealand sees you step out with your guide for a deeper dive into ‘The City of Gardens’ before traversing the colourful Canterbury Plains: the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo, snow-capped mountains and wildflower-strewn meadows. It’s quite the backdrop for the stone-hewn Church of the Good Shepherd. Your Indoor Dark Sky Astronomy Experience at Tekapo, hosted by passionate guides, will forever change the way you see the night sky. You'll see for yourself it may be one of the quietest spots on the planet, yet it has one of the busiest skies in the universe.

Day 3: Omarama - Dunedin

Location: Oamaru, Dunedin

Accommodation Name: Dunedin Leisure Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast

Easing through the Waitaki Valley, you’re en route toward New Zealand’s oldest public gardens. They lie in the pretty town of Oamaru, known for its stately tree-lined streets and limestone buildings. Architectural drama of a different kind awaits in Dunedin. While away the afternoon in atmospheric art-lined alleys or sipping a lager or two in Speights Brewery (a national institution). Or venture further afield to discover Larnach Castle, which nods to Dunedin’s Scottish link – it’s known as ‘Little Edinburgh’ for a reason. In truth, it could also be known as ‘Little Galapagos’: fur seals and penguins thrive in this part of the South Island.

Day 4: Stewart Island

Location: Stewart Island

Accommodation Name: Kelvin Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast

Invercargill is the gateway to Subantarctic Stewart Island, the latest addition to New Zealand's national park portfolio with 85% of the island designated as national park.  Naturally, it’s a magnet for endemic flora and fauna, as you’ll discover on your guided Village and Bays tour. Later you have the option to join a leisurely cruise, including a picnic lunch, around Paterson Inlet that will take you past unique places including Acker’s Cottage before docking at Ulva Island to admire the bird life and native flora.

Day 5: Invercargill - Queenstown

Queenstown, New Zealand

Location: Invercargill, Queenstown

Accommodation Name: Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown

Meals Included: Breakfast

Today on your New Zealand tour, get a taste of country life combined with good old fashioned southern hospitality when you meet a ‘Southern Girl’ local farmer at Real Country. Get a feel for life on the farm as you have demonstrations of Horse communication and Working sheep dog mustering. Try your hand at a Stock whip cracking lesson, and feed and interact with the friendly farm animals. For every guest, we donate funds to The Fairlight Foundation, Advancing Women in Agriculture, a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Continue to Queenstown and take the afternoon at your own pace.

Day 6: Queenstown Free Time

Queenstown, New Zealand

Location: Queenstown, Milford Sound

Accommodation Name: Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown

Meals Included: Breakfast

You clearly need more than one day to appreciate Queenstown and its surrounds. And when we say surrounds, we mean Milford Sound. Today, sign up for an Optional Experience to dive deep into this yawning gorge within World Heritage-listed Fiordland National Park – it’s within easy reach of your base, and is best explored on an optional South Island tour that sees you jumping aboard boat to cruise the mirror-like waterway. Like things fast and furious? Feel the wind in your hair on the high-octane jet boat ride, perhaps, twisting and revving along Queenstown's Shotover River. There's a reason why Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the country. Wine aficionado? Sip your way through surrounding vineyards. Tours of the South Island don't get much tastier than this. There's also the option of an afternoon cruise on Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm for a gourmet barbecue dinner (all own expense).

Day 7: Queenstown - Franz Josef/Waiau

Queenstown, New Zealand

Location: Queenstown, Arrowtown, Lake Dunstan, Lake Hawea, Lake Wanaka, Franz Josef/Waiau

Accommodation Name: Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier

Meals Included: Breakfast

Visit Arrowtown, which found its riches in gold, its residents building stately homes, now filled with boutiques and restaurants – that still line the street to this day. It’s a bit like stepping onto a movie set. Around the next bend is the Alpine countryside of the Southern Lakes, from Lake Dunstan, where you may like to buy stone fruit picked fresh from the tree, to oh-so-blue Lake Hawea and lovely Lake Wanaka, with its Instagrammable shoreline of poplars and willows. Over the Haast Pass, the town of Franz Josef/Waiau at the edge of the Westland World Heritage Park, awaits. Get some perspective on an optional Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere flight tour – if the weather behaves, you may even get to land on it. New Zealand tours don’t get much cooler than this.

Day 8: Franz Josef/Waiau - Punakaiki

Location: Hokitika, Punakaiki

Accommodation Name: Scenic Hotel Punakaiki

Meals Included: Breakfast

Wandering Hokitika’s windswept shore on the West Coast feels a bit like you’ve discovered the end of the Earth. The town’s other natural beauty is pounamu (native greenstone or jade). Prepare yourself for Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks and blowholes; they owe their existence to the thundering surf that will lull you to sleep.

Day 9: Punakaiki - Nelson

Location: Punakaiki, Buller Gorge, Kahurangi National Park, Nelson

Accommodation Name: The Rutherford Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast

Sit back and relax – that’s all you have to do today as you ease along the Heritage Highway toward Nelson. Press your nose against the glass as your coach weaves through Buller Gorge – a deep canyon home to New Zealand’s longest swingbridge – and Kahurangi National Park, a place of wild rivers, high plateaus, alpine herb-fields and coastal forests.

Day 10: Nelson Free Time

Location: Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park

Accommodation Name: The Rutherford Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast

Sleep in or work up a sweat – today is completely at your leisure. We have a few ideas up our sleeve, of course. Travel to the Abel Tasman National Park for the ultimate cruise and walk combination (own expense). This pocket in the north of the island inspires calm, its golden beaches framed by sculpted granite cliffs that all unite to create one of the country’s most legendary coastal tracks.

Day 11: Nelson - Wellington

Wellington, New Zealand

Location: Nelson, Wellington

Accommodation Name: Travelodge Wellington

Meals Included: Breakfast

You’ll want a window seat for the cruise from the South Island to the North Island aboard the Interislander. Breathtaking views unfold as you glide through Queen Charlotte Sound, up the Tory Channel and across Cook Strait, navigating a maze of arms and inlets into New Zealand’s cool little capital of Wellington.

Day 12: Wellington - Napier

Location: Napier

Accommodation Name: Scenic Hotel Te Pania

Meals Included: Breakfast

Travel to Napier. Beautifully preserved 1930s architecture is Napier's special point of difference. After a massive earthquake in 1931 destroyed the commercial centre of Napier, rebuilding began almost immediately in the architectural styles of the times - Striped Classical, Spanish Mission and Art Deco.

Day 13: Napier - Rotorua

Rotorua, New Zealand

Location: Lake Taupo, Huka Falls, Rotorua

Accommodation Name: Sudima Lake Rotorua

Meals Included: Breakfast

The road ahead unfolds in a broad panorama of Lake Taupo, the largest (and perhaps bluest) of its kind in the country – it feeds thundering Huka Falls, which you’ll hear well before you see. It’s a landscape almost as otherworldly as Rotorua, where mud pops and jettisons from bubbling geysers, and steam rushes skywards from cracks in the Earth. This afternoon, explore Te Puia's geothermal valley and learn about Maori history & culture. Take a guided tour of the Maori Arts & Crafts Institute, and later enjoy a Highlight Dinner of hangi inspired cuisine and a cultural performance in a finely carved meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua. It ends on a high at the Pohutu Geyser, where, armed with a hot chocolate you'll view one of New Zealand's geothermal wonderlands.

Day 14: Rotorua Free Time

Rotorua, New Zealand

Location: Rotorua

Accommodation Name: Sudima Lake Rotorua

Meals Included: Breakfast

You could spend weeks discovering Rotorua. But you have today, so seize the moment and set out to explore. Hobbit fans will want to take advantage of the opportunity to tour tour the Hobbiton Movie Set featured in The Lord of the Rings & Hobbit movies. Want a bit of down time? Bliss out at Wai Araki Hotel Springs & Spa. Arguably the best way to understand just how otherworldly your destination is, from the air. Ask us about a scenic flight (all own expense).

Day 15: Farewell from Auckland

Auckland, New Zealand

Location: Auckland

Accommodation Name: hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast

It’s amazing how much of two attraction-packed islands you can see in 18 days. Provided you have the right people at the helm, and like-minded company, that is.

What's Included

  • Specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide

    The tour includes a specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide.

  • National Park entrance fees

    Entrance fees to national parks are included in the tour.

  • Transport across New Zealand

    Travel across New Zealand with a specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide, ensuring a seamless journey from Christchurch to Auckland, including a scenic cruise from the South Island to the North Island aboard the Interislander.

What's Not Included

  • Flights to and from the start/end of the trip

    Flights to and from the start/end of the trip are not included in the trip price.

  • Optional tours and activities

    Optional tours and activities, such as the Milford Sound/Piopiotahi cruise and Hobbiton movie set tour, are not included and are at your own expense.

  • Personal expenses

    Personal expenses such as souvenirs, additional meals, and drinks are not included.

  • Travel insurance

    Travel insurance is not included and is recommended to be purchased separately.

Mode of Transport

Travel across New Zealand with a specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide, ensuring a seamless journey from Christchurch to Auckland, including a scenic cruise from the South Island to the North Island aboard the Interislander.

Accommodation

Enjoy comfortable accommodation with easy access to city centres, including stays at the Distinction Heritage Gateway Hotel, Dunedin Leisure Lodge, Kelvin Hotel, Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown, Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier, Scenic Hotel Punakaiki, The Rutherford Hotel, Travelodge Wellington, Scenic Hotel Te Pania, and Sudima Lake Rotorua. ...more ...less

Dining Summary

  • 14 Breakfast (B)
  • 4 Dinner (D)
  • 1 Highlight Dinner (HD)

Fitness Requirement

  • Low level of fitness required

Flexible Holidays

  • We’ve crafted an itinerary with plenty of two-night stays, so you can sleep in and take the pulse of your destination, whether Queenstown, Wellington, Nelson or Rotorua.

Flight information

  • Flights to and from the start/end of your trip are not included in the trip price. Day 1 – flights to arrive prior to 4.00pm into Christchurch AirportDay 18 – flights to depart any time from Auckland Airport

Iconic Sites

  • From the bubbling geysers of Rotorua to the gem-like surface of Franz Josef Glacier/Ka Roimata o Hine Hukatere, nature and culture unite across the North and South islands.

Natural Wonders

  • More than 85% of Stewart Island is protected national park – unspoilt and largely unpeopled. It’s a magnet for the kiwi bird, which thrives here.

What to Bring

  • Sunglasses, sunscreen and hat Water bottle Warm layers in cooler months Camera Comfortable walking shoes

Check out our Q&As

  • What kind of accommodation can I expect during the tour?

    The tour provides comfortable accommodation with easy access to city centres, including stays at various hotels such as the Distinction Heritage Gateway Hotel, Dunedin Leisure Lodge, Kelvin Hotel, Copthorne Hotel and Resort Queenstown, Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier, Scenic Hotel Punakaiki, The Rutherford Hotel, Travelodge Wellington, Scenic Hotel Te Pania, and Sudima Lake Rotorua. ...more ...less

  • Are there any meals included in the tour?

    Yes, the tour includes 14 full breakfasts, 4 dinners, and 1 highlight dinner.

  • What is the transportation arrangement for the tour?

    Travel across New Zealand is facilitated by a specialist team of two highly experienced Travel Director and Driver Guide, ensuring a seamless journey from Christchurch to Auckland. This includes a scenic cruise from the South Island to the North Island aboard the Interislander. ...more ...less

  • Are there any optional activities available during the tour?

    Yes, there are optional tours and activities available at your own expense, such as the Milford Sound/Piopiotahi cruise, Hobbiton movie set tour, and a scenic flight over Franz Josef Glacier.

  • What kind of experiences can I expect on Stewart Island?

    On Stewart Island, you will have a guided Village and Bays tour, and there is an option to join a leisurely cruise around Paterson Inlet, which includes a picnic lunch and a visit to Ulva Island to admire the bird life and native flora.

  • What cultural experiences are included in Rotorua?

    In Rotorua, you will explore Te Puia's geothermal valley, learn about Maori history and culture, take a guided tour of the Maori Arts & Crafts Institute, and enjoy a highlight dinner of hangi inspired cuisine along with a cultural performance in a finely carved meeting house.

  • Is travel insurance included in the tour package?

    No, travel insurance is not included in the tour package and it is recommended to be purchased separately.

  • Who will be my travelling companions on the tour?

    The beauty of taking a holiday with us is you’ll have the opportunity to meet and travel with people from all over the globe.

  • Can I join the tour once it has departed?

    It is important to adhere to departure times while on tour for the comfort of everyone on-board, and to make sure no one misses out on the planned experiences. The coach will not be able to wait for you, and in some instances, if you miss a departure time you will need to make your own way to the next destination to re-join the tour.

  • Do you operate a “single share” option and how does it work?

    AAT Kings operated Guided Holidays have competitive single supplement rates available if you prefer to confirm your own room. Or we can match you to share with a guest of the same gender at no extra cost. If we fail to match you, we will accommodate you in a single room at no extra cost.

  • How long has the tour company been trading?

    Over 100 years

  • What documents will I receive before I travel?

    We will email your documents to you approximately four weeks before your departure date provided you have completed your pre trip registration using the My Travel Portal. If you’ve booked through a travel agent, your documents will be emailed directly to your agent.

Reviews of this operator

Ann Purcell  

Well worth the money

24-Feb-2023

Absolutely wonderful trip. Tastes of southern Australia. Hotels were good quality. Sightseeing was amazing. Manuela our travel director was lovely. A great trip all round

Feefo Trusted Reviews
Lynda Whittingham  

Particularly loved QUEENSTOWN (jet boat) and plane ride over Mt Cook

18-Feb-2023

Great guide “Dexter” who was pleasant and knowledgeable, skilled and pleasant driver, Aaron, interesting activities, and comfortable hotels in good locations. I have been on organized bus trips in different countries and this company stands out. I would travel with them again. Read less ...more ...less

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Trusted Customer  

Milford Sound , West Coast , Queenstown, Christchurch

22-Feb-2023

The most professional tour group i have ever travelled with. Both tour director (Hope) & driver (Dave) had extensive knowledge of NZ. Highly recommended.

Feefo Trusted Reviews
Keith Jones  

Christchurch, Milford Sound and the Franz Joseph Railway journey

02-Mar-2023

Very professional service throughout. Friendly experienced tour guide imparting excellent knowledge and local anecdotes. Friendly professional driver enhanced the overall pleasure. Excellent hotels throughout the holiday.

Feefo Trusted Reviews
Allison Cooper  

Wonderful experience, highlight had to be Uluru so spiritual and beautiful

22-Feb-2023

Very professional. Excellent travel director very knowledgeable and a lovely guy. Amazing experience seeing do many great places.

Feefo Trusted Reviews

1 Select your preferred date

Thursday - Thursday

Oct 01, 2026 - Oct 15, 2026
$7150 (USD)

Book with Confidence

  • Low Deposit

    AAT Kings requires a minimum deposit of 200 GBP per person or the full booking value, whichever is less, with the final balance not due until 90 days before departure.

  • Cancellation Policy

    We don't charge a cancellation fee, here is a summary of aat kings charges.

    Up to 91 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of deposit.

    At 90 days before tour starts: Forfeit 50% of booking price.

    At 29 days before tour starts: Forfeit 80% of booking price.

    At 1 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of booking price.

Essence of New Zealand

15 Days Starting in Christchurch, New Zealand and ending in Auckland, New Zealand

Visiting: Christchurch, Lake Tekapo, Omarama, Oamaru, Dunedin, Stewart Island, Invercargill, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Arrowtown, Lake Dunstan, Lake Hawea, Lake Wanaka, Franz Josef/Waiau, Hokitika, Punakaiki, Buller Gorge, Kahurangi National Park, Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park, Wellington, Napier, Lake Taupo, Huka Falls, Rotorua, Auckland ...more ...less

Tour operator:

AAT Kings

Tour code:

LCQA26

Guide Type:

Fully Guided

Physical rating:

Low

Age range:

5-99

Tour operated in:

English

Trip Styles:

Adventure Tours

From: $7150 (USD)

NB: Prices correct on 17-Mar-2025 but subject to change.

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