New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

My wife and I traveled New Zealand (South Island) for our honeymoon. Melissa, our service executive at First Light was super helpful right from the beginning, accommodating all our requests. The trip was super smooth with all event centre’s and hotels being pre-aware of our arrivals.

The beautiful country and a great itinerary made our honeymoon a perfect one! :)

Rajkumar Chandrasekaran & Sasirekha Mani - India

Kia Ora Shelley!

We wanted to thank you so much for planning such an amazing honeymoon for us. It was so fantastic to have been able to go to our dream location and to have it be everything and more than we could have ever expected. The timing of everything you picked was perfect, and the activities you choose for us were just amazing. We wanted to try and stop by the office in Auckland to say thank you in person, but we ended up going back to Hobbiton for the day! We cannot wait to be able to come back and see the things we didn't get a chance to see!

Thank you again so so so so so much for being there for us during this whole experience!

Have a blessed day!

Nathan Schmidt and Samantha Muccino - USA

Kia Ora! It was such a lovely honeymoon trip to NZ for both of us. We depart from Indonesia to Auckland on the first day and spent 1/2 days in Auckland to explore the city before started the journey to the south in the next day. We rented a car in Auckland and drove south to Waitomo to watch spectacular scenes during glow worm cave tour and had a warm dinner nearby the place. The next day it was time to drive to Rotorua for another adventure. And the next day, and the next until the 8th days full of exciting tour and activity until we flew back home from Wellington. We had a great time in New Zealand thanks to the fabulous activity and accommodation recommendation from First light travel. The travel agent was very kind (thank you, Michelle!) and super helpful. I would like to recommend anyone going to New Zealand to use First Light travel service if you want to have a pleasant and smooth vacation without any fuss along the way.

Ivan Vincent & Lisa Sutikno - South Korea

Kasey & Christine,

 We just wanted to thank you both so much for everything you did for us in planning and coordinating our honeymoon trip.  The responsiveness and communication of working with you made our experience so nice and easy.  Everything was perfect, and the fact that every detail was accounted for and coordinated made our experience perfect.

 Our trip was amazing as we absolutely loved both Fiji and New Zealand.  Going into the trip we said it was a once in a lifetime trip for us, but after traveling we will definitely plan to be back to both in the future.  Our itinerary was the perfect mix of relaxation in Fiji, and activities in New Zealand.  We loved everything we did and would recommend the same itinerary to other couples looking to do a trip.  We highly recommend Tokoriki and Hulbert House for accommodations for people in the future.  Both places were amazing, and the hospitality of the people made us feel at home and very comfortable.

 Thank you very much, and we hope to work with you again in the future! 

 Paul Shamoian & Elizabeth Sulser - USA

We used Shelly at First Light Travel for our special honeymoon to New Zealand. It was my first time working with an agency for a trip and now I'm hooked! I'm a very good planner myself but having somebody take care of the details was a dream. In particular, there was a cyclone while we were in New Zealand and First Light immediately arranged a Plan B for those days and made sure we knew which roads were closed when. The flexibility of the self-drive itineraries really was ideal – we had enough planned ahead but didn't feel like we were constantly “on the clock” and could adjust our driving schedule to how we felt or stay slightly longer in a place if we liked it. I chose First Light because they demonstrated that they care about unique, non-cookie-cutter experiences, eco-consciousness, and contributing back to the local economy.

Megan Jones & Amir Asiaee - USA

We had such a wonderful experience working with First Light Travel for our trip to New Zealand! Jo was FANTASTIC, and helped us plan the perfect vacation and honeymoon. We were so pleased with all the the fun activities, comfortable accommodations, and detailed planning that she did for us. She listened to all of our ideas and preferences, and created an incredible vacation package that we never would have been able to put together ourselves. And she made the process so easy and stress-free. Every detail was extremely well thought out and executed, right down to the itinerary and travel materials she mailed to us. Most of all though, Jo was an absolute pleasure to work with! We cannot thank Jo and First Light Travel enough for such a positive experience and the memorable vacation they put together for us!

Marissa Smith & Rocco Docimo - USA

First Light Travel did an amazing job planning our incredible honeymoon! Sofie was outstanding to work with and made an unbelievable itinerary that was customized just for us. Everything went seamless on our travels and all of the activities/excursions were exactly what we were looking for. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience and First Light Travel made it one that we will never forget. I would highly recommend Sofie and First Light Travel for preparing for your trip to New Zealand. It is truly an beautiful and remarkable country to experience.

Aubrey Stevenson & Daniel Myer - USA

We are so happy we went with First Light Travel for our honeymoon! It would've been daunting to plan ourselves, so First Light took a lot of pressure off the planning and helped to make it a relaxing experience. Sofie was very responsive and edited our itinerary many times to make sure we were completely happy. Everything ran so smoothly, and every accommodation was so hospitable and perfect for a romantic getaway – we wouldn't have been able to find these on our own. These small B&B's that Sofie booked for us were all so unique, warm and friendly – far superior to any hotel chain. The activities were amazing and most were in small groups and so it didn't ever feel crowded or touristy. The guides for all of our trips were so fun to be around and in addition to providing thrilling activities, were amazing storytellers of the history and ecology of New Zealand. A trip to New Zealand was always a bucket list item for my husband and I, and so I was nervous about having high expectations going into this trip, but First Light Travel blew us away. We will certainly use them for future travels!

Galina & Matthew Pate - USA

Because of at First Light Travel, our 2-week honeymoon to New Zealand was seamless. We didn't have an issue with any booking and it was like she read our minds when booking all accommodations and activities for us. The mix of high adrenaline activities like bungy jumping, mixed with a fun afternoon of sipping wine while biking through Marlborough was the perfect mix for us. We never would have been able to see and do as much as we did in 15 days if it weren't for her.

I would highly recommend First Light Travel if traveling to NZ, you will not be disappointed!

Courtney Ruscin & Matthew Hengemuhle - USA

Hi Rhodri,

Our trip definitely exceed our expectations - This was the best trip of our entire lives!!! All of our friends and family can't stop talking about our amazing pictures. Thank you so much for planning everything - It was truly perfect. The quality of all the hotels was amazing, and the quality of the excursions and guides was INCREDIBLE! We seriously think we had the best of everything.

Working with you was super easy. I feel like you knew exactly what we wanted and planned the perfect trip. We hope we can plan another trip with you soon and come back with our families. We just love New Zealand!

Matt Natelson & Jackie Jelinski USA