New Zealand in a Month––You’ll Never Want to Return Home
I have created separate blog posts for each section of this tip. They are linked below as well as throughout this post. This post expands on how to put it all together and includes recommended stops on driving days.
I cheated a bit and this itinerary is technically 31 days. If you need a slightly shorter trip feel free to eliminate a day’s itinerary at any of the stops. You could also skip The Bay of Islands stop at the end. If you want to spend just 3 weeks in New Zealand, you could cut off last week on the North Island and just follow the first 3 weeks of road-tripping around the South Island.
My friends and I flew directly into Nelson to start the trip (with a short layover in Auckland). We drove to all of the stops on the South Island and then after finishing in Queenstown we then flew up to Tongariro. From Tongariro, we drove up to Auckland and then to the Bay of Islands area and flew home from the Bay of Islands.
The general strategy for this itinerary is to avoid switching lodging every night or every other night and to have a short-term home bases. This means there are numerous day trips that require additional driving. You could switch that strategy and move overnight lodging more frequently and then avoid as much driving back and forth for day trips. Basically, the day trips in the itinerary below could also become where you stay overnight.
Jump Ahead to Each Section
South Island- (The 1st 3 weeks)
North Island - (The last week)
Turangi (Tongariro)
Jump to individual blog posts in each area:
Turangi (Tongariro)
Day One
Daytime: Explore Nelson and relax at Tahunanui Beach
Overnight in Nelson
See the post for more details here.
Day Two
Daytime: Day Trip to Abel Tasman National Park
Overnight in Nelson
See the post for more details here.
Day Three
Daytime: Day Trip to Wine Taste in the Marlborough Wine Region
Overnight in: Nelson
See the post for more details here.
Day Four
Daytime: Day Trip to Picton and Marlborough Sound
Overnight: Nelson
See the post for more details here.
Day Five
Daytime: Nelson Lakes National Park
Overnight in: Nelson
See the post for more details here.
Day Six
Morning: Drive 4 Hours from Nelson to Hokitika
Stops Along the Way: Zen’s Kitchen, Blueberry Farm Stands
Afternoon: Visit Hokitika Gorge
Evening: Visit Free Glow Worm Cave
Overnight in: Hokitika
See the post for more details here.
On the drive between Nelson and Hokitika stop at Zen’s Kitchen. It was one of our favorite road-stop meals of the trip. It is a permanent food truck/RV that serves vegan local food like toasted muesli, lentil soup, and vegan burgers.
We also stopped and bought fresh blueberries from a trailer near Ikamatua. Look out for handmade roadside signs for stops with fresh produce. Be sure to have cash handy for buying produce with the honor’s system cash boxes too.
Day Seven
Daytime: Day Trip to Franz Josef and Fox Glacier
Overnight in: Hokitika
See the post for more details here.
Day Eight
Daytime: Paparoa National Park (Punakaiki Pancake Rocks) and Rapahoe Beach
Overnight in: Hokitika
See the post for more details here.
Day Nine
Daytime: Drive 5 Hours from Hokitika to Lake Tekapo
Stops Along the Way: Short hike in Arthur’s Pass to Devil’s Punch Bowl, Short Hike at Castle Hill
Overnight in: Lake Tekapo
If you want to add Christchurch on your trip you could easily add it between the Hokitika and Lake Tekapo stops.
Arthur’s Pass and Castle Hill are stops directly along the route between Hokitika and Lake Tekapo, so they are perfect opportunities to get out and stretch your legs.
Arthur’s Pass has a cafeteria-style restaurant that is an easy stop for snacks or lunch. Look out for Passionfruit Yoyo’s here!
After Castle Hill, Geraldine is a larger town (larger being relative to New Zealand!) along the drive with multiple restaurant options. We stopped at Cafe Verde which has a large outdoor garden area to dine in. They serve fresh, healthy, fast-casual breakfast lunch, and dinner options like avocado toast, vegan bowls, and salads.
Day Ten
Morning: Hike the Mt. John Summit Track
Afternoon: Explore Tekapo’s Sites
Overnight in: Lake Tekapo
Day Eleven
Daytime: Day Trip to Aoraki Mt. Cook National Park
Overnight in: Lake Tekapo
Day Twelve
Daytime: Drive 5 hours from Lake Tekapo to Te Anau
Stops Along the Way: Salmon Feeding, A vineyard-town lunch, and peach or cherry picking
Overnight in: Te Anau
On your way out of town from Lake Tekapo stop at High Country Salmon. You can see and feed the salmon in the pools here. They also serve fresh-caught salmon sushi and sashimi. We bought fresh salmon to take with us to cook ourselves at our next stop. Their salmon was some of the best I have had in my life. It is definitely worth stopping here.
Along this drive a perfect lunch stop is Bannockburn Hotel. They have gorgeous mountain-view outdoor seating and serve a large wine list as well as salads, cheese boards, and sandwiches.
If peaches or cherries are in season, there are many stops along this route for peach picking or cherry picking. Even if you don’t catch a day where you can go picking you can buy fruit, fruit ice cream, jams, and more. We stopped at Cheeki Cherries, but there are many options in the area.
Day Thirteen
Morning: Boat Ride in Milford Sound and Hike Part of the Milford Sound Trek
Evening: Watch a Documentary at Fiordland Cinema
Overnight in: Te Anau
Day Fourteen
Morning: Milford Sound Kayak Tour
Afternoon:Hike to Lake Marion
Evening: Glow Worm Cave Tour
Overnight in: Te Anau
Day Fifteen
Morning: Drive 2 Hours from Te Anau to Queenstown
Afternoon: Queenstown Hill Hike
Overnight in: Queenstown
Day Sixteen
Daytime: Day Trip to Glenorchy
Overnight in: Queenstown
Day Seventeen
Daytime: Day Trip to Arrowtown and Gibbston to wine taste in the Central Otago Vineyards
Overnight in: Queenstown
Day Eighteen
Daytime: Hike Ben Lomond and/or explore the Gondola area
Overnight in: Queenstown
Day Nineteen
Daytime: Explore Queenstown (hike, boat ride, visit hot pools or go canyoning)
Overnight in: Queenstown
Day Twenty
Daytime: Day Trip to Wanaka
Overnight in: Queenstown
Day Twenty-One
Daytime: Day Trip to Mt. Aspiring National Park
Overnight in: Queenstown
North Island
Day Twenty-Two
Daytime: Fly from Queenstown to Taupo and drive 45 minutes to Turangi
Overnight in: Turangi
Day Twenty-Three
Daytime: Hike Tongariro
Overnight in: Turangi
See the post for more details here.
Day Twenty-Four
Daytime: Drive to 4 hours from Turangi to Auckland
Overnight in: Auckland
See the post for more details here.
Day Twenty-Five
Daytime: Rangitoto Island and Auckland
Overnight in: Auckland
See the post for more details here.
Day Twenty-Six
Daytime: Day Trip to Piha Beach
Overnight in: Auckland
See the post for more details here.
Day Twenty-Seven
Daytime: Day trip to Waiheke Island
Overnight in: Auckland
See the post for more details here.
Day Twenty-Eight
Daytime: Day Trip to Coromandel Peninsula
Overnight in: Auckland
See the post for more details here.
Day Twenty-Nine
Morning: Drive 3.5 Hours from Auckland to Paihia in The Bay of Islands
Stops Along the Way: Stop at a beach in Bream Bay like Rukaka Beach (a white sand beach)
Overnight in: Paihia
See the post for more details here.
Day Thirty
Daytime: Ferry to Urupukapuka Island
Overnight in: Paihia
See the post for more details here.
Day Thirty-One
Daytime: Relax or kayak at Paiha’s Main Beach
Evening: Maori Hangi and Concert
Overnight in: Paihia