New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

We did an adapted version of First Light Travel's Classic 14 day South Island Explorer as added in a few nights initial stay in Wellington, ferry to & overnight stay in Picton, and a 5 day hike of the Queen Charlotte Track (through a different company). The trip was brilliant. It mostly worked like clockwork and if we hit a small hitch First Light Staff were on hand and responsive to our queries. The varied experiences were wonderful and fun and the accommodations were again varied but very comfortable. We particularly loved the Mornington personalised wine tour, the Doubtful Sound, the Glowworm caves, the nature tour on Lake Wanaka, the wildlife cruise near Dunedin, the Mt Cook Glacier lake trip, the Gibbston Valley e-bike tour, the train trip from Greymouth to Christchurch and the drives through much beautiful scenery. If we could do it again we'd have 1 more night in Queenstown with a free day as there's so much to do there and 1 extra night in Wanaka as it's so beautiful. Our trip from mid Nov to mid Dec 2024 meant there was still snow still on some peaks and it was very green with lots of spring flowers. The days ranged from 7 degrees to 23 - fortunately we'd packed for all seasons. Overall, we were lucky with the weather with only the Franz Josef Heli Hike being cancelled due to rain (150mm in 1 day!). Can't recommend this tour and First Light Travel highly enough.

Arranging our last minute 10 day trip to New Zealand with First Light Travel and Travel Designer Taylor Nguyen was a great experience that yielded fantastic results. Highly recommend to anyone looking to design a trip to New Zealand. Taylor took the time to understand our profile and interests for the trip, and developed a first class itinerary that required only subtle modifications. She was diligent in ensuring we were comfortable with the plan, range of accommodations and tours. We had an incredible time and the itinerary, accommodations, and tours were awesome and a perfect fit. Taylor's guidance in developing the overall plan and catering it specifically to our needs was outstanding. We are frequent global travelers with multiple major overseas trips per year. Our New Zealand was right up there with any other top tier travel we have taken over the decades! It was so good to return to NZ once again after over 40 years.

First Light Travel and Gina, my Travel Adviser, in particular were amazing! From helping with suggestions initially, to detailed planning - flights, transfers, car hire, fantastic hotels, amazing attractions and expected travel timings, throughout, they had our back. My wife and I fell in love with this amazing country, it's people and culture and this was made possible with Gina's itinerary. Can't wait to come back.

Great trip, went mainly to plan except one cancellation which the team handled very well and looked after our alternative arrangements. Before we left the operations team sent us road conditions which was a great heads up.
Felt like we were being monitored and looked after the whole way.

Had an amazing time in New Zealand thanks to Gina! She was able to answer all my questions and assuage any doubts I had while ensuring I was getting the exact itinerary I was looking for. The tours were fun, the accommodations were great, and the itinerary was perfect with plenty of free time to explore!

I would highly recommend First Light Travel to create your NZ holiday itinerary. We did a self-drive tour of the South Island in October 2024. I had planned this trip several months before and First Light presented 3 to 4 options to try and match our needs and places and activities we wanted to experience. Gina was our travel designer and she stayed with us throughout the planning process until we made our final decision. Gina was patient, knowledgeable and very experienced. Our holiday was a great success from the car hire, hotels and activities. Our highlight was the Franz Josef Glazier Helicopter ride. The scenery throughout the South Island is simply spectacular. You can rest assure and book confidently with First light.

First Light Travel help us develop ideas and plan a wonderful two week holiday to the South Island of New Zealand recently. We received a detailed itinerary which made the trip stress free and the travel consultants were always on hand to handle any minor variations along the way. We can thoroughly reconmmend First Light Travel for your NZ holiday!

FirstLight Travel did a wonderful job helping us plan a 3 week, independent trip to both the North and South Islands of New Zealand. They listened to our initial thoughts and provided helpful suggestions and recommendation until the itinerary was just what we wanted. Their knowledge of and experience with travel in this part of the world were invaluable. FirstLight made the reservations/arrangements for planes, trains, coaches, hotels and activities -- all we had to do was show up!

Everything went smoothly until bad weather resulted in the cancellation of our flight to Milford Sound. But FirstLight Travel had our backs. We sent one email about the situation and within an hour (literally!), the team made alternative arrangements for us that worked out perfectly and got us to Milford Sound. To me, this is the true value of working with a company like FirstLight. When the unexpected happens, they are there to jump in and problem solve. We were very grateful for FirstLight's cheerful and efficient assistance with this abrupt change in our plans.

We highly recommend FirstLight Travel -- it was terrific working with them throughout the process -- from planning the trip, to the support they provided during our travel, to checking in with us after our return home.

Quick note about coach travel -- we enjoyed the InterCity coaches. They were very clean and comfortable, with cushy seats and big picture windows. Travel by coach allowed both of us to see the country and not worry about driving on the "wrong" side of the road through sometimes challenging weather and road conditions. All the drivers were kind, helpful, and willing to share information about the country and sights.

We just got home from a 14 day trip to New Zealand, and our experience was excellent!
Taylor was great, helped us build our entire trip exactly the way we envisioned it. All of our accommodations were excellent, transports and bookings were on time, and improvising after we had to make some adjustments due to the weather went seamlessly.We had a great time, highly recommend this company!

I was going to plan the trip myself, and I found First Light after searching the internet for itineraries. Kirsty responded to my inquiry and after a few emails and phone calls to gather information, she worked diligently to create an itinerary that worked perfectly for us. The pacing, activities, accommodations, rental cars, and recommendations were all spot on! We loved our New Zealand adventure- the scenery, wildlife, hikes, tours and guides, all of it!!