14 Day New Zealand Boutique Guided Tour

This escorted New Zealand vacation package is led by New Zealand guides.  Looking for a different guided tour?  We are New Zealand travel agents who are either from New Zealand or travel to New Zealand often.  We listen to your travel needs.  Let us hand pick the right guided tour for your New Zealand vacation.

Day 1  Rotorua (D)
Your New Zealand vacation begins with your driver/guide meeting you at your city hotel.  Drive south into the lush dairy farmlands of Waikato. Visit glowworm grottos and limestone outcrops on a tour of Waitomo Caves.  Explore Rotorua, partake in a hangi feast, and enjoy a traditional Maori performance.
Park Heritage Rotorua

Day 2  Rotorua (B,L)
Relax and enjoy leisurely touring in this lakeside town at the heart of Maori culture, geothermal activity and tranquil lakes. Visit Rotorua Museum before a special lunch at Pounamu Lodge. In the afternoon, choose from a host of optional geothermal attractions and activities exclusive to this region. Recommended options include a thermal region scenic flight, a visit to Polynesian Spa or for the more adventurous a skydive.
Park Heritage Rotorua

Day 3  Napier, Hawke's Bay (B,L,)
Today, we depart for Orakei Korako thermal region on our way to Huka Falls, where the Waikato River thunders through a narrow chasm. It is an irresistible photo stop. From Taupo we cross rugged ranges to reach the seaside art-deco town of Napier. Your guide will introduce you to the region’s premier vineyards and artisan food with a lunch at Elephant Hill winery. Your hotel is right on the waterfront.
Scenic Hotel Te Pania

Day 4  Martinborough (B)
After a guided art deco tour we drive south through Havelock North and Hawkes Bay’s pastoral landscape of orchards, farms and vineyards to Martinborough in the Wairarapa region. We stop at Mt. Bruce National Wildlife Centre, a sanctuary for rare and endangered species including kiwis and tuatara. We finish the day in Martinborough, a pretty village in the heart of the Wairarapa vineyard region.
Margrain Villas

Day 5  Wellington (B)
We drive over the Rimutaka ranges to Wellington, the capital city. We will have a guided tour of Te Papa, the national museum and tour the city sights. Tour around the waterfront to Oriental Bay and up Mt Victoria for stunning views of the city and harbour before a cable car ride. Your inner city boutique hotel is at the heart of Wellington's eclectic cafe scene.
The Bolten Hotel

Day 6  Queen Charlotte Sound (B,D)
This morning our New Zealand vacation continues on to the South Island as we catch the InterIslander ferry from Wellington to cruise for three hours across Cook Strait into Tory Channel and up beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound to Picton. We tour this premier wine and food region including wine tasting at Cloudy Bay, the vineyard that put Marlborough sauvignon blanc on the map before visiting Omaka Aviation Centre. Dine in this evening at Hotel d'Urville's highly regarded Wine Bar and Brasserie.
Hotel d’Urville

Day 7  Kaikoura (B)
Leave behind the dry, golden hills of Marlborough for the spectacular scenery of the Kaikoura Coast. There's the opportunity to take a whale watching cruise or flight. Kaikoura is also the place for close encounters with seals and seabirds as well as whales. In the afternoon there is time to visit historic Fyffe House and the Maori Leap Cave. We stay right on the waterfront at White Morph. Seafood, especially crayfish, is a specialty in this ocean side town.
White Morph Motor Inn

Day 8  Canterbury Plains (B,L,D)
The highway continues along the coastline before winding inland over the Hunderlee Hills and dropping down to the Canterbury Plains. The Waipara wine district, set on terraces above a braided river, is an ideal coffee stop. After a special lunch at Akaunui Farm we drive over to the foothills of the Southern Alps and the small village of Mt Somers. We dine in Stronechrubie's acclaimed restaurant tonight.
Stonechrubie Chalets

Day 9  Queenstown (B)
After Burkes Pass the landscape changes to the turquoise lakes and dramatic sweeping vistas of tussock grasses and mountains of the Mackenzie Basin. At the head of Lake Pukaki is Mt Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, known in Maori as Aoraki "the cloud piercer". The Lindis Pass leads to the rugged Kawarau Gorge and into Queenstown where we ride the Skyline Gondola. Your boutique hotel is just a few minutes walk above the town with views to the lake and Remarkables Range.
Brown’s Boutique Hotel

Day 10  Milford Sound (B)
This morning you are picked up from your hotel to fly to Milford Sound deep in the heart of Fiordland National Park. At Milford we you join a guided tour cruise down the sound, dominated by iconic Mitre Peak, out to the Tasman Sea. It’s a stunning fiord landscape of waterfalls, rainforest, mountains and wildlife. Return to Queenstown by plane.
Brown’s Boutique Hotel

Day 11  Wanaka (B)
The morning is free to further explore Queenstown. Perhaps cruise on the Tss Earnslaw or take an early morning jet boat ride on the spectacular Dart River in The Lord of the Rings country before driving to Arrowtown, a picturesque gold mining village. Heading into tussock country, the road climbs up the Crown Range then down into the Cardrona Valley. We stop at quaint Cardrona Hotel, its history stretches back to the gold mining era. Then we continue on to Wanaka amid a panorama of mountain peaks.
Te Wanaka Lodge

Day 12  Franz Josef Glacier (B)
Drive beside Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka before heading into superb mountain and river scenery of the Haast Pass in Mt. Aspiring National Park. There are several great short walks on well-maintained tracks through native beech forests to waterfalls and blue pools. Leaving the mountains, the road winds north through the lush, primeval rainforest of Westland World Heritage Park, stopping at Ship Creek for a stroll on the beach to the dune lake and through swampland rainforest. At Franz Josef Glacier short walks take you to vantage points to view the advancing glacier.
Punga Grove

Day 13  Punakaiki (B,D)
Early this morning you may choose to take an optional flight over the glaciers and Mt Cook and enjoy the thrill of landing on a glacier. We then travel on up the coast passing mirror lakes, boulder-laden rivers and catching glimpses of the Southern Alps. At Hokitika there are a host of craft galleries – Pounamu (jade greenstone) carving, glass blowing, wood and copper artisans. A little further up the road is the leading local attraction – the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, sculpted sea stacks and towering cliffs. If the tide is right, blowholes spread clouds of spray.
Punakaiki Lodge

Day 14  Christchurch (B)
Sit back and enjoy the magnificent alpine scenery of rugged Otira Gorge and Arthur’s Pass National Park. Crossing the Canterbury Plains to reach Christchurch in the late afternoon. You are delivered to your accommodation in this English style city of stone buildings, large parks and stunning gardens.  (Extend this New Zealand vacation package with a few days in Fiji or Australia).

Looking for a guided tour of New Zealand, Australia or South Africa? Let us know your travel style and we will match you with a personal travel advisor to ensure your escorted New Zealand vacation package fits your budget and time of travel.  We are your New Zealand travel agents, who are either from New Zealand or travel to the South Pacific every year.  We listen to our clients requests.