New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

 

To make your New Zealand travel dreams come true you need the right team in your corner.

That’s where we come in! We’ve been helping travellers enjoy the very best of New Zealand since 2001 and have learned plenty of tricks which will help you have a hassle-free and super fun NZ self drive holiday.

 

Here’s what our guests have to say about First Light Travel.

We have over 1000 five star online reviews - We are the highest rated New Zealand based travel agent and we have been around for nearly a quarter century!

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Piotr and Natalia Topolski

5
Hobbits
Poland

Michelle was extremely helpful and responsive to all our queries. This was a trip we longed to take for a while and we wanted to get the feel for the North Island in just 9 days that we had to spend there. We couldn't have hoped for more! With Michelle's help we were able to nail our itinerary to get the best of what New Zealand has to offer – beautiful countryside, postcard-worthy sites, walks in the native bush, geothermal parks, glow-worm caves, unforgettable beaches, kayaking, long walks and great food and wine. Thank you so much Michelle and First Light Travel! With your help, we are quite ready for another adventure!

Piotr and Natalia Topolski - Poland


Theresa “Teah” Quinn

5
WETA Workshop
USA

Chrissy Sun was amazing. She was flexible and accommodated my last minute trip! Literally we were still planning as I was flying towards New Zealand. This was the best trip of my life thanks to Chrissy! She created an adventurous and action packed trip, exactly what I was looking for. Everything was organized and easy to follow. She created the perfect itinerary for me!

I loved Hobbiton, Glow worm caves, Second half of the Lord of the Rings Tour in Wellington, Bay of Isles I loved the dolphins, White Water Rafting first time ever and it was a blast Taupo Kayaking Company was a blast but quite hard work, I loved the beauty I found in the hike in Rotorua as well as the Maori dinner, WETA Workshop. The trip was a dream come true.

THANK YOU

Theresa “Teah” Quinn - USA


Davina & Peter Guy

5
Vinyards by Bike
Hobbiton Tour
Glacier Hike New Zealand
Folks Alongside Lake Wakatipu
Golf Tour
Australia

Hi Jo,

We had a wonderful holiday. Your itinerary was fabulous and all accommodation was brilliant. In particular we loved the Hotel in Dunedin and also the apartment in Lake Taupo. The glow worm tour on Charleston (we upgraded to the river float) was awesome.

I would thoroughly recommend using this First LIght Travel for travelling through NZ. It was great to have everything booked and be able to just follow the itinerary each day.

Many thanks

Davina & Peter Guy - Australia

 


Joseph and Robert Whiting

5
Edoras
USA

This was a high school graduation trip for me and my 18 year old son. He has never been overseas, so we were very excited to have the opportunity to go to New Zealand. After a search on the Internet for travel agencies, we found First Light Travel and they were such a big help in organizing our trip. Si Si Li worked the schedule to fit our plans, and she was warm, friendly person to work. We had no idea about the extent of the earthquake damage on the South Island, and she re-routed us so that we would not take a route along closed roads. With the assistance of FLT, we traveled from Auckland to Queenstown in 11 days and the pace was just right for us. It was an awesome trip and I hope we can come back to visit again soon.


Dan and Kelsey Schmuhl

LOTRs Tour
USA

Despite a 16 hour time difference, Sofie always responded at the first available opportunity, making communication easy and smooth. She was also very detailed and thorough in her answers, which was very helpful given that we could only exchange emails once or twice a day

First Light Travel provided everything we needed and more for our Lord of the Rings themed New Zealand vacation. Budget, time, locations, and itinerary could not have been more carefully accounted for and laid out as we planned our trip. Our vacation experience in New Zealand was incredible and we can't wait to use First Light Travel to go back to New Zealand in the future!

Dan and Kelsey Schmuhl - USA


Jayne Travis

5
Feedback from Holland
Holland

Judith at First Light Travel was recommended to me by a colleague, and I’m so glad I took that recommendation! Having never travelled to New Zealand before, it was great to have someone with expert knowledge of the country to help me plan my itinerary…and right from the beginning Judith put in so much effort to start suggesting places to go and things to see. I didn’t really know where to start, so it was great that she put together an initial itinerary for me to then comment on.

All my comments/feedback were all taken on board absolutely perfectly, and even when I added extra requests into the mix, it was all handled so smoothly. After a couple of rounds of tweaking the itinerary, the final one was in place…

The itinerary included so many different places, and Judith had really listened to my thoughts on wanting a mix of accommodation.

It’s too hard to pick a favourite place as I literally loved every minute, but I’ve wanted to see Milford Sound for over 15yrs, so that was a particular highlight for me!

I’m already planning another visit to New Zealand, and would definitely recommend First Light Travel…I’ll definitely get in touch with them when I start planning my next trip!

Thanks!

Jayne Travis - Holland


Rohit Mehta

5
Milford Sound
USA

Dear Jo:

Greetings from Washington DC !

My wife and I were extremely happy and comfortable with all the arrangements and bookings you had made for us. After months of back and forth, you and I managed to plan out a perfect trip with a mix of outings and relaxation as we had desired. And we really got a great experience of the beauty of NZ and the friendliness of the Kiwis. You have gained our confidence and respect.

Each accomodation you recommended was different and yet so perfect. We enjoyed Mt. Cook and you were so very right that its a misconception that the road would be hilly and winding. Far from it -- very enjoyable drive and the weather throughout our trip was perfect, except the last day in Auckland when we had some rain.
Saw the FirstLight office across from the Waldorf. Wanted to leave you a note but the main door was locked. I took the liberty of calling your mobile number on a Sunday, and left a long message. Trust it was not improper for me to do so. It was indeed a great pleasure talking to your over the phone midway through our trip.

Whether we will ever make another trip to NZ is an unknown but in you we have found a friendly relationship that we can cherish over the coming 
years; and if you ever are coming to USA, do feel free to let us know.

With kind regards,

Rohit Mehta - USA


Angeline Gelford

5
Hobbiton Matamata NZ
USA

Im so glad that we made the right choice! I researched for several different travel agent but ended up with First Light Travel agent. Rhodri Howell was super awesome from the beginning! He was very detail, informative, attentive and patient! He put the whole package together to make our first trip to NZ so much easier and memorable! We truly appreciate your attention to the detail, and also for your assistance to our last minute addition to our plan. We definately will use your company again for our next visit to the beaitiful NZ! And of course we will share about your company to our dear family and friends!

Thanks for everything and keep up the great works!

Angeline Gelford - USA


Etana Kunovsky

5
Tour Feedback
USA

Sophie was a wonderful experience. Sophie was highly professional and exceptionally responsive. I greatly appreciated her attention to the endless details. It's so helpful having a 'travel guide' when planning a trip like this, especially since I was planning for 4 people. Everything went smoothly and Sophie was tremendously accommodating to our needs and details. I would highly recommend First Light Travel to anyone booking a trip to New Zealand. I read on their web site, or somewhere, "If you're thinking about using this company to help book your travel, just do it! Stop wondering and just do it! They are exceptional." At that moment I called and spoke with Sophie. 

Etana Kunovsky - USA


Nathan Kanzler and Vickiana Franco

5
New Zealand Holiday
USA

This was our first time traveling to another country. I explained the general activities we wanted to do during our stay and Shelley crafted a wonderful itinerary. She was great to work with, helped us multiple times through last minute changes, and helped us with a dream vacation. I absolutely loved the wine tours selected for us. Our tour in Central Otago was so lovely. We visited beautiful wineries like Chard, Dominion, Peregrine, ate lunch at an amazing winery with a beautiful view. Martin was fantastic as a host. Ananda tours on Waiheke Island was our favorite. The island is beautiful, our guide was so accommodating, and we visited some simply stunning wineries.

Mitai Maori Cultural Experience was AMAZING! It was a wonderful way to learn about Maori culture, experience good food, and have a great time with many different nations. Extremely professional staff, I enjoyed it so much. The rental car process was very easy and not too hard to figure out for those of us who drive on the other side of the road.
Definitely recommend GPS for anyone who doesn't know the area in the future.

Thanks Shelly

Nathan Kanzler and Vickiana Franco USA



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