Two Week New Zealand Itineraries

It was great working with Zicasso's travel specialist, and the traveling was great, getting around to all the places. Below are the events that were cancelled on us due to the weather:

Tranz Alpine train ride - Scenic Plus to Greymouth, staying in the Rainforest Retreat, Franz Josef Twin Glacier, Kayak, and walk tour, Milford Sound/Fjordland. That's not the travel specialist's fault, but I would never go to New Zealand in October, ever again. All the roads were closed, and we ended up taking a taxi cab from Christchurch to Queenstown, and that was a rough trip due to the high winds. We should have started in Australia instead of starting in Aukland, New Zealand. That's from my experience.

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!

Zicasso’s travel agent did an excellent job planning this trip. We loved New Zealand.

If we were to do it over, we would probably reduce the hours on buses and vans by perhaps flying, for example, from Christchurch to Queenstown.

We loved our Māori cultural evening and the Redwoods evening light show in Rotorua.

We wondered why we were collected at 8am and driven to the airport in Rotorua, where we ended up spending over six hours at the airport, leaving little time to spend in Christchurch that day. It did not make any sense to us.

We loved Queenstown and the accommodation at our hotel in Queenstown. Queenstown was the highlight of our trip. Unfortunately, and beyond anyone's control, our kayaking trip was cut short due to windy weather and we were unable to do the glacier heli-hike in Franz Josef, also due to weather conditions, leaving us with a lot of time in a much less desirable town and our worst accommodation for nearly two days.

The rail adventure was superb.

Zicasso’s tour planner created an amazing trip for us. He was quick to respond with initial planning and tailored the trip to our personal interests, thus creating a true customized experience. His expertise, advice, and recommendations were invaluable. 

Our itinerary allowed us to see and do so much during our trip, including museums, galleries, Māori cultural experiences, a lake-side day spa, geothermal park, Hobbiton, Mount Cook, a harbor tour, Milford Sound, a scenic railway trip through the Southern Alps, hiking, and dining, etc. 

We enjoyed each of the selected accommodations.  

The New Zealand touring app was an amazing resource and contained perfect details for each excursion and accommodation check-ins. Questions that arose during the trip were always answered in a timely manner over the app. Essentially, the stress of planning a two-week, multicity road trip was eliminated and all the hours I would have spent planning this itinerary myself were avoided. I would highly recommend the company.

Our trip was incredible. Zicasso’s tour operator was fantastic in planning and executing this special trip. We were in New Zealand for almost nine weeks.

Twice during our travel, we were able to get instant help to adjust our travel schedule, once because we wanted more time in one place and later to accommodate for being sick for a week.

Our trip involved 20 different hotels, inns, and guest houses, while experiencing boats, trains, and car driving to navigate both islands. The tour operator helped to arrange about 50 different events for us and then we added in many more ourselves before we left.

It has been almost a year since we traveled (Feb-Apr 2025). We have praised the tour operator (and Zicasso) to all our friends for its incredible attention to details and help anticipating all contingencies. The app for the trip was incredible in supporting the travel and collecting all the details of the arrangements comfortably in one place on our cell phones. We drove more than 2,000 miles during our trip and used Google Maps continually to navigate everywhere.

All our accommodations were comfortable. We carefully planned our packing to match the temperatures predicted for each location. We each traveled with a carry-on suitcase and a small backpack, and had everything we needed.

What helped with our planning was that we actually rehearsed the trip for several nights two months before we left and pre-planned special dinner reservations.