Reviews of Three Week Best of New Zealand Vacation Package

Highest of praise for FirstLight Travel (FLT) an incredible team and Natalie, who put together a truly epic adventure. First, we booked our New Zealand tour in 2019 for travel in 2020. The world had other plans. Throughout the COVID years FLT kept us informed of the situation in NZ and provided good advice about the travelling situation. So when our adventure finally began after 5 years the expectations were high. The expectations were not only met but far exceeded. The 18-day travel adventure was exceptional, every accommodation was flawless every excursion was exceptional! Seriously it was that good, we would go to sleep every night saying Wow it cannot get any better and then a new day would dawn and it was. A few of the highpoints were Essence of Waiheke Wine Tour on our first full day, perfect introduction after 30 plus hours of travelling, fresh sea air wonderful wines and lovely vineyards such a great kickoff. While I could list everything we did I’ll just hit a few not to miss activities – North Island the Kiwidundee tour was a lot of fun and informative with a thoughtful and knowledgeable guide, The Church – Hahei wonderful peaceful and a magnificent restaurant; Waimangu Volcanic Valley: Waimangu Thermal Reserve Self Guided Walk and Boat Cruise probably one of my favorites on the north island a beautiful park and spectacular and easy hike. The cultural experience in Rotorua was really interesting and informative and of course Hobbiton – a blast. The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves: not to be missed – truly an otherworldly experience. For the South Island the train from Christchurch to Greymouth was epic and not to be missed followed on by the drive down to Frans Joesph Glacier a stay at Glenfern Villa wonderful views and an unbelievable Milky Way – wow. Penguin viewing was a lot fun as was a few day respite to explore Queenstown. Truly everything on this tour was spectacular and so much fun highest of praise to FLT for putting this trip together.

We had the most amazing time, all really well organised and planned by Micala . I contacted First Light Travel back in October 2023 , one phone call and several emails to ensure we were happy with the planned itinerary for 21 days spent in NZ. From day 1 we were picked up at the airport and taken to our first stop in Christchurch .
We had a very full and busy itinerary but looking back it was the best way to cram in as much as possible into 21 days - 2 weeks in the South and 1 week in the North including meeting up with my 2 sons for 3 days . They also used FLT to book places and activities. I can't find one thing that wasn't great, we knew exactly where we had to be and when each day , we stayed at motels for 2 nights, one place 3 nights. There were 4 of us and the only one i didn't like was a bed settee in Dunedin but as it was only 2 nights it was manageable. There was one where we couldn't cook in at all and the town was very busy so struggled to find a place to eat , second night we were more prepared to go earlier out to eat. Apparently this is quite common in Te anau.
We would definitely recommend First Light Travel and enjoyed our holiday so much that we are already thinking about going back in 2025 to see other places.

We had a fantastic experience with First Light Travel, choosing them for their excellent service, easy booking process, and quality information. Despite some time zone challenges, responses were always prompt and helpful. The itinerary was well-suited for the holiday, with accurate information provided throughout. Holiday experiences exceeded expectations, with activities perfectly aligned with interests, particularly enjoying island trips, hikes, and adventure tours. Accommodations met expectations, with favorites including Bay of Islands, M Social in Auckland, and Hermitage. While most activities were enjoyable, there were some issues with rushed tours. Overall, the value for money was exceptional, with commendations for the helpfulness in arranging transport and accommodations. Although there was a transition in consultants, the service remained helpful. and we would happily recommend First Light Travel to others and may consider recommending them to friends planning trips to New Zealand in the future.

My wife and I traveled in March 2024 for over three weeks to New Zealand on a trip organized by Anna at First Light Travel.

The trip planning was a great mixture of activities, sightseeing time, touring throughout the country, very nice accommodations, and great service. First Light handed every detail from car rentals, accommodations, activities such as wine tastings, boat and sailing trips, and LOTR tours. Every single thing on our itinerary was well planned and communicated, and First Light also gave great suggestions on driving times, things to do, and quaint out of the way places. They even sent us an email during the trip advising us of road construction and to plan our drive time accordingly. They also recommended two cities (Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura) that we would not have planned to visit that we absolutely loved.

We have shared our great experience with others and plan to use First Light when we plan a 2025 trip to Australia.

First Light was always prompt and courteous with their responses, and really helped me to think through everything we needed for our trip.

Thank you Anna and the entire First Light team for a wonderful vacation!

From start to finish of our New Zealand vacation, we appreciated the help and planning that we received from First Light. Accommodations, vehicle, arranged tours and suggested tips and 'things to do', met or exceeded our expectations. We felt our agent listened to us in the planning stage and the cost was reasonable. What we loved the most about our trip: We were very happy to see our chauffeur when we arrived after our long flights. Redwoods Treewalk, we felt extra special with the express pass.
Kayaking and Maori carvings at Lake Taupo were very impressive and the paddle was just right. The Tasman Glacier Boat trip was interesting and fun. We enjoyed taking a hike up to the Hooker Lake glacier on our own and enjoyed that, too. Our Milford Track and Cruise was delightful. Stunningly beautiful. We loved our day on the bikes. I upgraded to an e-bike and I'm glad I did. It was a very windy day. The river trail was lovely.

I am so pleased. We appreciate all you did for us. This was the trip of a lifetime for 6 of us. Seamless. Wonderful. Professional. We love New Zealand and miss it already! Aroha and kia Ora are my two favorite words. The finest people and places on the planet can be found here in this paradise. 

Danielle helped us plan a wonderful month in New Zealand and gave us good advice on what to do and where to go. Her attention to detail was excellent and she listened to our requests for accommodation types and tours we enjoy. The rest of the staff was also very helpful and when our ferry crossing was cancelled they were on top of it and booked an earlier one, ensuring the driver came to pick us up on time. So, we ended up with nothing going wrong for the entire time! Awesome!

First Light Travel put together a itinerary that met our needs. They organised everything for us resulting in a memorable NZ holiday.  The primary reasons we chose to travel with First LIght was the ease of planning & booking.

Gina was great to work with! She was very patient with all the changes I had putting the 4 1/2-week trip together. It was a fantastic trip, and we loved every minute of it! It was so nice to have everything taken care of in advance and not have to worry about reservations. Every hotel was booked, every flight was booked, every SUV reserved, and every excursion was booked, as requested. There were no hiccups at all, and everything was taken care of. For a trip that was 4 1/2 weeks long, it was hard to believe that there were snags! I really appreciate all her and her team's hard work...and being available to us when we had some last-minute changes along the way!

We were able to upgrade some hotel rooms (when available) for a better view, especially in Kaikoura where we upgraded to an end room on the top floor and a beautiful view of the sunrise!

We loved the TransAlpine train ride and, in hindsight, would love to have done the train on the east coast as well. All and all I would strongly recommend First Light Travel and hopefully use them again!

Glorious 3 week South and North island NZ tour by car.

We highly recommend First Light Travel to organise any NZ adventure. We are from the Uk, and visited Aus, NZ and Fiji over a 6 week period during October & November.
We organised our accommodation and activities in Aus and Fiji, but wanted expert local knowledge for our 3 week visit to NZ without paying double commission to UK and NZ agents!
Michelle Srzich was outstanding in listening to our wish list, and then providing suggested accommodation and activities for our trip! We had a couple of back and forths and ended up with a bespoke trip that we had compiled from stories we had from friends who had visited NZ.
A key requirement was to spend a minimum of 2 nights in each location, so that we had time to explore and experience the places we visited rather than just passing through! The trip worked out exactly as planned apart from our boat trip from Kaikoura to see whales. A helicopter is sent out each morning to see if the whales were playing ball! Unfortunately they were not on the day we had planned! We were offered the chance to rebook or receive a refund! We chose the latter, and FLT were able to refund this! The highlights of our trip were:
Queenstown, TSS Ernslaw boat trip across the lake
Mt Cook, glacier walk and visit to “The Old Mountaneers” restaurant in Mt Cook Village.
Return Train trip from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass
Kaikoura dolphin boat trip
Bleinham vineyard cycle tour
Edwin Fox historic boat museum visit in Picton
Ferry crossing from Picton to Wellington
Lake Taupo and Hukka falls visit
Rotorua - Waiotapu thermal Park