New Zealand Uncovered with Intrepid: Auckland to Christchurch

Travelling with Intrepid

Experienced Intrepid tour leaders travel with the group through the different stages of the journey, sharing recommendations for meals, free time and places worth exploring along the way. They also help bring more context to Māori culture, local communities and the landscapes you travel through, while free time in places such as Taupō, Queenstown, Wānaka and Franz Josef leaves room to make parts of the trip your own.

Highlights

• Travel through the Mackenzie Basin to Lake Tekapo and Queenstown, with turquoise lakes and the Southern Alps accompanying some of the most scenic days of the trip.

• Walk to Cathedral Cove, visit Hot Water Beach and continue through Hobbiton to Rotorua’s redwood forest and geothermal landscape.

• Experience Māori culture through a hāngī dinner and haka performance, followed later in the journey by a visit to a marae, a traditional Māori meeting place.

• Cross the Cook Strait by ferry, passing through the Marlborough Sounds before continuing to Kaikōura, where whale watching and dolphin trips can be added during your free time.

• Cruise to Mou Waho Island on Lake Wānaka for a guided nature walk through a predator-free reserve surrounded by mountain scenery.

• Carve your own pounamu greenstone pendant in Franz Josef before crossing the Southern Alps aboard the TranzAlpine train.

Coromandel, Rotorua and Taupō

Leave Auckland for the Coromandel Peninsula, where forested hills meet the Pacific and the first stops include Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. From there, travel through Waikato to the Hobbiton Movie Set before reaching Rotorua, one of New Zealand’s main geothermal regions.

Walk among towering redwoods, see Pōhutu Geyser and spend an evening learning more about Māori culture over a hāngī, where food is traditionally cooked using heated stones underground, followed by a haka performance. Continue to Lake Taupō and Huka Falls, with a full free day to explore the lake or add an optional hike such as the Tongariro Crossing.

Wellington, Marlborough and Kaikōura

On the way south, visit a marae, a traditional Māori meeting place, where the group is welcomed by the local community and shares kai, or food, while learning more about Māori customs and the significance of the region.

In Wellington, visit Zealandia, a protected sanctuary created to restore native wildlife and forest close to the city. Then cross the Cook Strait by ferry, travelling through the Marlborough Sounds before continuing down the coast to Kaikōura. Here, a free morning gives you the option to head out looking for whales or dolphins, or walk the peninsula and watch for seals along the shore.

The Southern Lakes

From Christchurch, head towards Lake Tekapo and the Mackenzie Basin, where turquoise lakes sit beneath the Southern Alps. Continue through the high-country landscape to Queenstown, with a full free day for anything from a lake cruise to a trip into the surrounding mountains.

The journey then passes through historic Arrowtown and on to Wānaka. From here, take a boat to Mou Waho Island, a predator-free reserve rising above Lake Wānaka, and walk with a guide to its hilltop viewpoint before returning to the lakeshore.

Franz Josef and the TranzAlpine

Follow the West Coast north to Franz Josef, where rainforest grows beneath glacier country and the Southern Alps. During your free time, walk through the glacier valley, kayak on a glacial lake or book a scenic flight if you want to see the mountains and ice from above.

There is also a hands-on pounamu carving experience, where you make your own greenstone pendant while learning about its importance within Māori culture. The final journey takes you from Greymouth back to Christchurch aboard the TranzAlpine, crossing river valleys, native beech forest and the Southern Alps by rail.

Terms and Conditions

Economy flights from Dublin to Auckland via Zurich and Hong Kong, departing 14/03/2027, plus a private arrival transfer in Auckland. The 19-night New Zealand Uncovered Southbound tour with Intrepid from Auckland to Christchurch includes 19 nights in hotels and motels, 18 breakfasts and three dinners. Travel during the tour includes private vehicle transport, the Cook Strait ferry and the TranzAlpine train. Twelve included experiences cover Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach, the Rotorua redwood forest, Hobbiton Movie Set, Pōhutu Geyser, a Māori hāngī and haka, Huka Falls, a marae visit, Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary, Mou Waho Island, pounamu pendant carving and the TranzAlpine journey. Return economy flights from Christchurch to Dublin via Singapore and Zurich are included. Based on two adults.

19 nights from €7,850 per person