Reviews of Ultimate South Island Self Drive Tour

So happy with the service provided by First Light Travel, from the ease of planning and putting together our itinerary, accommodation and activities, through to the peace of mind having the team on hand should something go wrong. Having all of the details in our daily schedules, including reminders to call tour operators, driving times and accommodation check in and check out times ensured that everything worked like clockwork. Some of our activity favorites were the Tasman Glacier Lake cruise, and the Franz Josef twin glacier helicopter flight. I highly recommend First Light Travel.

With their first-hand knowledge of the South Island First Light Travel recommended an itinerary for our self-drive holiday in a direction of travel that provided the best views of the spectacular scenery, took into consideration the distance to travel each day road conditions. There is no way we would have planned an itinerary in the order recommended ourselves. The TranzAlpine train enabled my hubby (the driver) to enjoy the spectacular scenery, braided rivers and, especially as we came out of the tunnels, looking down incredibly steep gorges. We appreciated that accommodation locations minimised driving to activities/attractions and provided cooking facilities. Our three weeks on South Island was a most enjoyable, interesting, and virtually stressless holiday. Many, many thanks to Heidi and the team.

Heidi impressed us with her complete knowledge and professionalism. Everything she said was true and she really helped us make smart choices. Another aspect we truly appreciated was that all price quotes stayed the same (one actually went down) so we had no surprises. That everything was prepaid and all reservations joyfully honored when we arrived at each site made it all quite stress free. Getting the logistics right is a genuine skill and we are most appreciative of her efforts on our behalf.
Touring NZ with First Light is the way to go! We loved our trip! We usually plan our own independent vacations but a little research showed folks are well advised to work with a local company. We chose First Light and we are so glad we did. We had an idea of what we wanted to do and the types of places we wanted to stay. After a couple calls with Heidi she created a personalized itinerary for us. Her suggestions for our 24 day, 1,500 mile adventure were spot-on. She had drivers meet us at airports to shuttle us to our hotels, arranged for our cars, booked wonderful accommodations, picked amazing excursions, provided vouchers for anywhere that required them, and put together a thorough itinerary with an overview of each and every place we’d visit. Her attention to detail arranging all the logistics was perfect and every reservation went smoothly. We would highly recommend going to New Zealand – it is an unforgettable experience. And be sure to call Heidi at First Light when you do!

First Light Travel and our agent Jessika Turc Planned an unbelievable itinerary for our month long visit throughout New Zealand. We took their plan and drove both the North & South Islands. Every detail from wonderful & unique accommodations to private transfers, rental cars & activities. We could not have done this trip without their very detailed layout. It worked like clockwork…no glitches at all! Thank you First Light Travel.

Our 21-day trip through the South Island of New Zealand was simply amazing, thanks to Micala at First Light Travel. She planned everything perfectly—fantastic sights, great accommodations, and incredible activities—all running like clockwork. We absolutely loved every moment and couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Highly recommend!

Our trip exceeded our expectations! Kirsty Marriott listened to our requests for customizing our self guided South Island New Zealand trip and included everything we wanted to experience plus some. We highly recommend First Light Travel and Kirsty Marriott

First Light Travel created a well organized and well designed itinerary which allowed us to concentrate on the beauty and novelty of New Zealand. he suggested and provided activities were suitable to our interests and abilities. Given that this was a self driving tour, we had a great deal of flexibility to go where and when we wanted to. As a result, we were less dependent on organized activities than would be the case with a larger group. Nicole strongly suggested that we do the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise which was a very good idea.

There were no worries about surprises awaiting us. The trip proceeded like clockwork. Thanks for the good work.

Our plan in visiting New Zealand was to experience a variety of places and outdoor adventures this extraordinary county has to offer. We did enough research to pick out highlights but did not know how to fit that into a month. Danielle at First Light Travel was a wealth of information and provided great suggestions to build an itinerary that fit our interests and allotted time. She hooked us up with interesting places, great hikes high in the mountains, strolls on stunning beaches and experiences we might not have known to do including searching for kiwis at mid-night. (They are nocturnal and we saw three). We recommend First Light Travel to get the best of New Zealand.