New Zealand from North to South

Arrive at the Auckland Airport (AKL) and transfer to your downtown hotel. Discover the highlights of this multicultural city on a guided walking tour and enjoy a welcome dinner near the waterfront this evening.

Board a ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island, home to one of New Zealand’s most important wildlife sanctuaries. Learn about the island’s remarkable conservation efforts, including a volunteer-led reforestation program and the eradication of invasive species. Seek out some of the country’s fascinating birds and reptiles, such as the red-crowned parakeet and Duvaucel’s gecko. With luck, you might even spot the rare flightless takahe and the tuatara—an ancient creature dubbed a “living fossil” by scientists. Savor a picnic lunch on the island before returning to the mainland. This evening, enjoy free time to discover Auckland, known as the “City of Sails” for the many sailboats that teem in its harbor.

Depart for Rotorua, known for its dramatic geothermal landscapes and thriving Māori community. Stop en route at the spectacular glowworm caves of Waitomo and float through this otherworldly subterranean realm on a private boat, enveloped in the turquoise light of thousands of tiny glowworms. After lunch, continue to Rotorua. Settle into your comfortable lakeside hotel, then gather for dinner.

This morning, transfer to Ohinemutu Māori Village. After a traditional mihi (welcome ceremony) with your local hosts and Māori guides, you’ll be entertained by captivating tales from Māori history and enjoy a guided tour of Ohinemutu, the region's original tribe settlement. The area’s lakeside is known for its abundant geothermal energy that is used for cooking, bathing and heating. See bubbling mud and boiling geysers, as well as steam rising from the sidewalks. Following lunch, visit Redwood’s Treetops and join your private guide for a walk amid Rotorua’s Redwood Forest that features 28 suspension bridges. The walkway height ranges from 30 to 66 feet (9 to 20 m), giving you a unique birds’ eye perspective of the forest floor, which includes 120-year-old giant Redwoods and exotic flora and fauna. Enjoy the evening at your leisure.

After breakfast, fly to Wellington, New Zealand’s charming capital city. On arrival, visit the He Tohu exhibit within the National Library with its permanent display housing New Zealand’s Declaration of Independence, Women’s Suffrage Petition and the Treaty of Waitangi. Continue to “the Beehive,” the innovatively designed executive wing of New Zealand’s parliament. Learn about the country’s system of governance as you explore the parliamentary complex and perhaps get a chance to meet with local politicians. Please note: On the New Year’s departure, due to New Zealand’s parliament not being in session, “the Beehive” tour will be replaced with a scenic cable car ride through Wellington’s hillside neighborhoods, followed by a visit to the Botanic Garden.

Visit the famous Weta Workshop, the special effects group that worked on Avatar and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, for a behind-the-scenes tour of their design studio. After lunch, continue to the impressive Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum for an exclusive tour. Spend the remainder of the afternoon at your leisure or continue exploring the many exhibits of Te Papa Tongarewa, including an exquisitely carved wharenui—the oldest surviving Māori meeting house in the country—or Bush City, the museum’s unique outdoor exhibit, for a look at specimens of New Zealand’s diverse foliage and fascinating geological features.

Transfer to Wellington airport to board your scheduled flight to Queenstown. Visit the Remarkables Station, which sits below the stunning Remakables Mountains, with incredible views looking out towards Lake Wakatipu, Ben Lomond and Cecil Peak. Experience an authentic local working farm station and meet the head farmer for a privately guided tour where you’ll hear about daily life on the farm. You’ll also learn about New Zealand’s wool industry as you watch a sheep being shorn in the shearing shed, plus, witness a sheep dog demonstration.

Discover Fiordland National Park, home to nearly 3 million acres of verdant, glacially carved wilderness. Walk through the beech forest of remote Hollyford Valley, then embark on a cruise through Milford Sound, one of New Zealand’s most breathtaking natural wonders. Glide past cascading waterfalls and sharply hewn cliffs, while keeping watch for bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and little blue penguins.

Return to Queenstown and drive into the idyllic, tussock-covered countryside of Central Otago. Enjoy lunch at a local winery, then explore the quaint streets of Arrowtown, a historic mining settlement where thousands of Chinese immigrants worked during the late 19th-century Otago Gold Rush.

Set out on a privately guided hike in the wilderness at Lake Moke, located just outside of Queenstown. Take in this stunning lake that is framed by majestic mountains and boasts amazing mirror-like reflections on its serene surface. Embark on a 2-hour hike that loops around the whole lake and through the grasslands. Enjoy a barbecue lunch beside the lake before heading back to your hotel and spending the rest of the day at your leisure.

Visit the Kiwi Birdlife Park, a family-run sanctuary in the heart of the city, that is the home to more than 20 species of native wildlife. Join a zoologist for a private tour of the park, encountering brightly colored parakeets, majestic falcons and the kiwi—an emblematic icon of New Zealand. Enjoy an afternoon to explore Queenstown at your leisure, then gather for a farewell dinner.

After breakfast, transfer to the Queenstown Airport (ZQN) and catch your flight home.