New Zealand Sights And Activities

The sheer number of activities available in New Zealand can be overwhelming. No matter how long you stay, there’s always one more wave to surf, peak to summit, or reef to explore. The itineraries below should help to acquaint you with the endless possibilities and suggest how you might divide your time between them.

Best Place To Booze And Bogey: With holes replaced by goalposts and rugby-shaped golf balls, your score is almost guaranteed to remain sub-par at Rippon’s Winery GolfCross , even after sampling the many complimentary wines.
Best Place To Tempt Fate: Get your thrills on a skydive over Taupo or Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers .
Best Place To Worship At The Altar Of Rugby: Back the All Blacks, New Zealand’s favorite sports team, at Christchurch’s The Holy Grail Sports Bar .
Best Hand-Cranked Pasta: For a rare taste of Italy’s best export, hit family-run Di Luca’s in hip Thames .
Best Place To Get Wrecked: Dive into the Mikhail Lermontov shipwreck, one of the largest open wrecks in the world, in the Marlborough Sounds, .
Best Place To Be Buried Alive: Rent a shovel, dig a hole in the sand, and bask in your own personal hot spring at Hot Water Beach .
Best Place To Meet The Locals: Get up close and personal with New Zealand’s most recognizable resident at Waiau Downs Sheep Shearing and Farm Tour outside of Tuatapere .
Best Place To Land The Big One: Reel in a chocolate marzipan fish at Wellington’s see and be seen cafe, the Chocolate Fish Cafe . For the real thing, head to Lake Taupo , the self-proclaimed “trout fishing capital of the world.”
Most Diverse Tramp: Cross through no fewer than four different eco-systems on the longest Great Walk, South Island’s Heaphy Track .
Best Brew Thru: Fly in to The Flying Fox homestay on the Wanganui River on a zipline and stay for one of their organic home-brewed beers .

Thrill Seekers

New Zealand’s drug of choice is adrenaline, and Kiwis constantly overdose. The country has turned its natural surroundings into a true adventurer’s wonderland—almost every town has its own bungy ...more

Tramp And Paddle

Few places in the world combine such otherworldly landscapes with a solid infrastructure for exploring them. With about one-third of the country protected as wilderness areas and national parks by the ...more

Culinary Discoveries

Before the arrival of European settlers or gawking tourists, the Maori revered the sublimity of the New Zealand landscape. They hunted ostrich-like moa birds, prospected for valuable pounamu (greenstone) ...more

Seaside Delights

New Zealand is a nation of islands with over 18,000km of coastline. If there weren’t water activities galore, something would be seriously wrong. Not for the faint of heart, South Island’s chilly ...more

Get Lost

While it might seem that New Zealand has the best laid infrastructure in the world, there are still plenty of white spots on the map. The best way to discover off-the-beaten-path New Zealand is to rent ...more