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10 Day New Zealand Itineraries

Rugged peaks, deep valley fjords, and pristine lakes comprise the New Zealand countryside as natural beauty endlessly beckons adventure. Known for its trailblazing spirit, New Zealand allows explorers to encounter landscapes and experiences unavailable anywhere else in the world. Indulge in adventure and natural splendor with a 10-day New Zealand itinerary from Zicasso.

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Resort Town and Famous Visitor Center Queenstown, New Zealand

10 Day Trip IdeaFrom $3,300

Best of New Zealand Vacation in 10-Days

Auckland, Waiheke Island, Rotorua, Queenstown, Milford Sound +2 more

Amazing aerial view of Queenstown, New Zealand

10 Day Trip IdeaFrom $9,100

Private New Zealand Tour: Couples Adventure

Kerikeri, Hobbiton, Rotorua, Hawkes Bay, Akaroa +3 more

10 Day Trip IdeaFrom $3,300

Nature of New Zealand Family Tour

Christchurch, Paparoa National Park, Fox Glacier, Makarora, Wanaka +2 more

Blooming lupines at Lake Tekapo in New Zealand

10 Day Trip IdeaFrom $3,300

Spectacular Sights of New Zealand for Seniors

Auckland, Karangahake Gorge, Rotorua, Napier, Wellington +3 more

Kayaking in the wild at Whanganui National Park, New Zealand

10 Day Trip IdeaFrom $3,300

Off the Beaten Path Tour of New Zealand: Wild Places in Ten Days

Hokianga, Lake Aniwhenua, Raetihi, Whanganui National Park, Napier +3 more

Hang glider over Queenstown South Island, New Zealand

10 Day Trip IdeaFrom $9,100

Best of New Zealand Nature Vacation: Mountains & Coastline

Queenstown, Milford Sound, Wanaka, Franz Josef Glacier, Westhaven Inlet +1 more

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Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park in New Zealand.

All New Zealand Itineraries

4.8

Reviews of Zicasso's 10 Day New Zealand Itineraries

Based on 723 verified traveler reviews.

Australia & New Zealand Tour: Australian Open, Ayers Rock, Great Ocean Road, Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Auckland, Doubtful Sound

The travel company did a great job for us. Everything worked as planned. Our agent was very helpful and always responded quickly to inquiries.

Aussie Open, 44C/111F on second day - Wow that’s hot. 106 & 108 F on first and third days. A bit cooler. Saw some amazing tennis and had fun despite the heat, suspended play and Williams sisters pulling out of the doubles.

Great Ocean Road is fabulous, though the coach tour is bit long, 15 hours, and stops at anything that looks interesting. I enjoyed it all, but Debbie was less thrilled due to the length and constant dialog from the guide. We learned our tolerance of guided tours is not very high.

Cairns was great: Great Barrier Reef was just spectacular. The tour was absolutely first rate. Fabulous!! Best snorkeling conditions ever and of course the reef is awesome. No sharks unfortunately.

Kurnda was wonderful and I especially loved the trip through the tree tops in the gondola.

We rented bikes in Cairns and had a blast riding along the coast. The hotel is surrounded by trees with thousands of fruit bats living in them. At dusk they all take off flying around the hotel and nearby streets. I thought it was great but the wife was a little freaked out.

Uluru was nice … and hot. Sunset was pretty, but we attracted a lot of flies. The hiking was a bit much for some of the party. Sunrise was early … and not as good as sunset. We had the same guide for both, a French woman, which was a bit disappointing for the wife - she wanted an Aussie. Beautiful place with wonderful stories.

Sydney was wonderful. Opera house tour and story of the architect made us cry. Harbor cruise was spectacular. Loved Sydney and the Rocks area.

Blue mountains were fogged in, but we had fun on the high angle train. Debbie screamed the whole way down on purpose for a Frenchman videoing the trip.. He spoke no english and we no french, but he loved the soundtrack he got. This was on Australia day.

Driving in New Zealand, South island was a snap. Te Anau was beautiful as was Milford Sound and Doubtful was the best of all. The overnight was great and we saw millions of stars, Wow! We Kayaked and swam in the Tasman sea. Cold - 59F!

Queenstown was wonderful, though the day before a couple from India told us there was nothing to do there. Ha! There was plenty to do. The gondola and luge were a blast and we really enjoyed the city. If we ever go back, Queenstown will be one of the cities we visit, along with Auckland.

We got fogged out of our helicopter trip to the Franz Josef Glacier. Refund in the works. But we did hike out to see the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. Not too bad, but tough to take pictures under a cloudy sky.

TranzAlpine railroad was very nice, relaxing and beautiful. Christchurch looked like a war zone. We were surprised at the apparent slow progress some 3+ years after the earthquake. But NZ doesn’t have the resources for a quick rebuild I guess.

North Island driving was a bit more challenging due to more people, but not bad. We got a smaller car this time and it was easier to fit on the slightly narrower roads of NZ.

The Scenic Hotel in Napier was fabulous. We were sorry we were staying only one night. The view from the window was spectacular. Walked quite a bit and enjoyed the area.

The Copthorne in Rotorua was likely the worst place we stayed. Not bad (the others were great), but it needs updating. Rainy day for the area attractions tour, but we enjoyed most of it, especially the Agrodome show - wonderful! Rotorua does have a pervasive sulfur smell to it, but I got used to it.

Auckland was wonderful. We each captained (steered) a 50 foot sailboat in the harbor on a beautiful 1hr 30min cruise. Highly recommended. The Explorer hop on/hop off was OK, but not a big hit. We did see some very nice sights.

Highlight of Auckland, besides the sailing, was being “kidnapped” by a local woman, about 65-70 years old, and driven to Mount Victoria, after we took the ferry across the harbor. She gave us a history lesson, showed us all around and took us to her favorite bar afterwards. I was quite wary to start with, but we decided to accompany her in her car. Worked out very nicely.

All flights were very good, with wonderful service on the LAX-Melbourne and Sydney-LAX legs. The latter flight was about 40% full, so we could really stretch out and sleep. No jet lag to speak of on either end - we planned our sleep times well.

Luxury New Zealand Tour Review: Taupo, Rotorua, Tongariro National Park, Abel Tasman Park, Mt. Cook, Tasman Glacier, Lake Wanaka

My husband and I went on a wonderful trip to New Zealand visiting both North and South Island. The trip was originally planned for 2021 but had to be postponed until this year. I prefer working with an agent, and Lindsay from our travel agency was extremely responsive, offering helpful options and suggestions. Even though the time we spent on the North Island was right after the torrential rains, we modified the itinerary to spend four days in the Taupo area and two days in Rotorua.

We hiked in the Tongariro National Park and part of the Great Lake Pathway, sailed to view the Maori Rock Carvings, and visited Orakei Korako geothermal pools and Huka Falls in the Lake Taupo area. In Rotorua, we relaxed in the mineral pools of the spa and enjoyed the indigenous Maori experience at Te Puia.

The next 12 days were spent on the South Island where we had sunny and warm weather! One of our favorite places was Abel Tasman Park where we went kayaking and hiked the beautiful Coast Trek. We continued our adventures with a memorable heli-hiking experience on the Tasman Glacier in the Mt. Cook region, followed by visiting the unique blue penguins and Royal Albatrosses on the Otago Peninsula and enjoyed a hike and cruise on the famous Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park.

We ended our journey with three days in the Lake Wanaka area where we kayaked, hiked, and visited some of the region's famous wineries.

Australia & New Zealand Travel Agent Review: Sydney, Port Douglas, South Island, Wellington, Kayaking Doubtful Bay, River Rafting

Wonderful. It was well planned and went off without a hitch (other than the rain/flooding in NZ.) Our travel planner is well informed on the area. He listened to what we were looking for and the itinerary reflected that. It was action-packed but the activities did not repeat themselves. We did change a few of the hotels from what the planner initially suggested (as we wanted a king bed) and in hindsight--those were the least liked hotels (especially the hotel in Sydney and the Villas-a bit shabby.)We have friends that did Shotover River Rafting which is probably a more thrilling ride through the Gorge but due to the weather we were glad we were on Dart, as Shotover wasn't running. We did the the Queenstown Steamship cruise (the lunch option) on a day that one of the days that our 4 tours were cancelled due to the raining/flooding and really enjoyed that. Also the Sydney Harbor Lunch was very nice. The weather temperature was pretty good and heard from Franz Josef through Te Anau that the substantial rain was a century event.The tour guides did an excellent job, really enjoyed our guide from Walkabout Cultural and our guide from the Doubtful Bay Kayaking (Doubtful was really more stunning than Milford). We did hit a Millers Point hotel on our first day in Sydney (nice late afternoon activity/view) and would recommend restaurants:1. An international dish restaurant in Port Douglas (best dinner of the trip)2. Makers of the best peanut butter (for a novelty PB snack) in Wellington3.Seafood and Vegetarian restaurant in Christchurch4. Italian in Wanaka (best to make rsvps)5. Hamburger restaurant in Queenstown (for the novelty) and the Pub on the wharf for a good $20 dinner and live music at 8pm

New Zealand Travel Review: Auckland, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Sailing, Wine Tasting, Hiking, 2 Week Adventure Trip

This was a trip of a lifetime. We worked well together, came up with an awesome itinerary for 6 weeks to New Zealand and Australia. You name it we were going to do it. This truly was an itinerary with planes, trains & automobiles. Let's not forget to include boats, helicopter, camel and kayak. We had such a variety of things planned including wine tasting in both NZ and Australia. I can't say enough good things about our travel company!!! In the planning stages they even spoke to us about where and when to go as far as seasons and which way to go whether it be Australia first or NZ. As it turned out, the recommendation to go to New Zealand first was perfect. We were saved the experience of Australia for only a few weeks and maybe being stuck there! No stone was left unturned, even when the fires occurred in Australia. Our impact was going to be minimal.We left the US on March 9th for NZ arriving on the 11th. No problems with Covid-19, we continued on with our itinerary. Sailing in the harbor in Auckland, wine tasting on a beautiful little island outside of Auckland. On to Queenstown which is delightful and Milford Sound for an overnight on a ship. Absolutely beautiful. Glad we did this vs a day trip or boat ride. We flew back to Queenstown, which I'd recommend because you have a great overview of the mountains. Breathtaking!! Picked up a rental car and drove to Franz Josef to climb the glacier. We're an older couple, but this was an incredible, first-time experience! My husband still marvels! We took a train to Christchurch which is still suffering the after effects of the 2011 earthquake. Again a train up the Pacific Coast which is beautiful to Nelson. Kayaking, hiking and a catamaran in the Tasman Sea. What scenery!! Up to Rotorua for more fun. Well this is where the wheels starting coming off of our fun. Things got cancelled because of Covid-19 and the ever changing environment of new shut downs and what the government was asking of people and vacationers. Starting on the 15th of March our travel agent was continually in contact with us about Covid-19 and how our itinerary was going to be impacted. She made alternative suggestions, we made the decision to extend in NZ. As our trip went along, things kept changing.... NZ decided to shut down on March 25 midnight. Our new flight home was March 29, then March 27. She worked with us so closely and was so helpful she actually got us a flight home on March 25. While we were having fun and enjoying ourselves, this company was working for us behind the scenes. You can't ask for more than that!! By the way, we came home and quarantined. To date, we're healthy.

New Zealand Luxury Vacation Review: Queenstown, Wellington, Christchurch, Waiheke Island, Auckland, Rotorua, Franz Joseph Glacier

We felt very comfortable planning our trip with Rick. We told him our interests, concerns and and the pace we wanted to travel at. He presented us with an itinerary which we spent hours reviewing along with a map, photos and and a website. Our primary hub towns were Queenstown, Wellington and Christchurch. We used two regional flights and two trains with gorgeous views of the coast and mountains. We took a few cruises and a private flight over the glaciers. Our River Dartboat excursion was cancelled when the drivers came down with Covid and the swim with the Dolphins mistakenly cancelled us off this trip. Cyclone Gabriela damaged Napier and the Coromandel Penninsula and the access roads, so we had to create an alternate plan on the ground in NZ. We added two days at Waiheke Island and attempted a hike up mount Doom and visits to the Weta Projects in Auckland and Wellington.Rick was amazingly helpful with changes that had to be made before and during the trip. He was the best!

New Zealand, Australia Vacation Review: Queenstown, Auckland, Milford Sound, Christchurch, 2 Weeks

Zicasso’s trip planner did an excellent job. Communication and the quality of the experiences were everything we'd expected and more, especially in New Zealand. The accommodations were first rate; the highlight was the lodge in Queenstown. The guides and drivers were professional and knowledgeable, especially those in Queenstown and Auckland. We loved the dedicated website for reference, as well as the detailed booklet and maps for both countries.

For future itineraries, I would add another day in Queenstown and a full day in Christchurch. If days were limited, I would recommend one less day in Auckland and/or skipping the drive/train from Franz Josef.

The only complication was the day we spent 10 hours going to and coming from Milford Sound. I recommend doing Milford Sound by plane/helicopter from Queenstown, which would also permit seeing the glaciers/southern alps from the air. The only things we missed were the zoo in Auckland and the Blue Mountain day tour in Sydney. Next trip!