New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

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 provided us with a wonderful brush stroke of New Zealand! We toured both Islands with a private driver, experiencing fine wine, food, and the beauty of the country! We will be back!

Excellent self-drive trip put together by Naeelah at First Light

My wife and I finally had time to put together a New Zealand trip, after a few aborted attempts. None of the guided tours had everything we wanted, so we put together a self-drive with the aid of Naeelah, our tour coordinator. Went back and forth quite a few times on the where's and when's, but it ended up being a glorious trip, if a bit exhausting. (We underestimated our driving endurance.) Would recommend First Light to other travelers; especially those younger than ourselves (68).

The holiday of a lifetime! Everything was fantastically well organised, the details on the itinerary were clear and helpful and the activities booked were all amazing! New Zealand must be one of the most beautiful places in the world, and its people were welcoming and gracious, we loved every single minute!

New Zealand Trip of a LIfetime!

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!

Michelle was fabulous! She was prompt, attentive, clearly communicated, and when our Heli Hike at Franz Josef Glacier was cancelled due to bad weather, she made sure we received our refund, and she gave us timely updates regarding road closures due to construction and bad weather. And when I left my ipad at the hotel in Mount Cooke, Michelle gave me valuable information about a bus route that would leave Mount Cook in time to get to our next hotel in Christchurch. Because of this, the bus driver arrived later that same day in our new city with my iPad! Michelle is a gem, make sure you don’t lose her!!!!

Linda and Bruce Shore - Canada

We very much enjoyed our trip organized by First Light Travel. We came in with no preconceptions and little knowledge of New Zealand and Salli set up a memorable trip that gave us a bit of everything over a two week visit - adventure, sightseeing, hiking, great cities and overall good times - and set us up to want to visit again for more. Thank you for a great time!

Julie & Rodney (Rod ) Lehmann - Minnesota USA

For us, as first time visitors to New Zealand, booking with First Light Travel took all the hassle out of organising the trip. Christine was great - she gave us a suggested itinerary and then adapted it as we researched places to visit. All our pick-ups, car hires etc went smoothly. When Milford Sound was closed because the road was washed out Christine booked us a trip to Doubtful Sound. Many of the people we met on our travels missed out because they were unable to change tours (as I'm sure we would have been unable to if we had booked our own tour. We loved New Zealand and will visit again.

Mike & Ruth John - Canada

We were super pleased to have had the opportunity to work with Narissa and the staff at First Light Travel. Narissa had responded for my request for help in planning a 13-day first-time trip to New Zealand to include highlights in both the North and South Islands during high season when booking could be tight. In a matter of hours she came up with an excellent plan that managed to fit in all of our hopes. My husband and I were most impressed by the selection of providers of the special activities that they recommended. I think it would have been difficult to determine the best providers and tour guides for us on our own. The documents provided to us in advance and at our first hotel were stellar. We never had any questions or doubts about what we should be doing to take full advantage of what was arranged in advance and what we could do with our free time.

If we had been unsure that we had the full support of First Light Travel while in New Zealand, we soon learned that they had us fully covered. On the third day of the trip I left my phone, wallet, and travel vouchers at a small roadside rest area. Shortly after I called First Light and they had already communicated with a police office who took my now found items to our next travel stop on our itinerary. I am so glad that we made it in time to join the Spellbound Glowworm Cave Experience, which was a treasure in itself. We had no other difficulties or confusions on the rest of our well organized trip.

Pamela & Michael Najdowski   USA

Shelley did a great job for us especially when the weather impacted our plans in Franz Joseph and also Queenstown. She changed our Heli Glacier Hike at short notice and also managed to get us a flight over Milford Sound when all the road access was flooded

Laurie and Sally Berryman - Great Britain