New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

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.

Four of us just returned from a 3 week trip to the North and South Islands of New Zealand . First I must mention what a beautiful country New Zealand is, from its breathtaking landscapes ,the vibrancy of the communities and the friendliness and warmth of the people. Learning about the Maori culture was a highlight of the trip.
While researching travel agencies I settled on First Light Travel.It was important to me to use the expertise of a local agency if possible . First Light Travel more than exceeded our expectations. I worked with Marcella Johnson. She was very professional, available when needed, and very instrumental in helping me set up our itinerary. She worked well within my budget. We chose to have private drivers on each island which made it possible to concentrate on just having fun without having to worry about the logistics of driving . Not only did they drive us from one place to another ,they made sure to recommend scenic stops, as well as places for lunch they thought would be of interest to us. Everything went off without a hitch. The hotels, as well as the tours she arranged were exceptional. Marcella helped us to choose activities that met all of our needs.
I (and my family) would highly recommend a trip to New Zealand, and in order to have the best experience possible you should contact First Light Travel.

For first time New Zealand visitors like us, having Jasmin Cinel from First Light make all the arrangements made everything so much easier. The website has excellent itinerary recommendations, and Jasmin worked with us to refine our own tour, including airport pickups, rental car, accommodations and all activities. I am certain we would not have seen or done nearly as much without her help.

First Light laid the groundwork for a fantastic four weeks in New Zealand. It was a wonderful adventure without any of the stress that often accompanies long trips. They took the time to learn what we wanted, made excellent recommendations, and then organized all the details perfectly. We would definitely use them again.

Our trip to New Zealand was nothing short of amazing. What a beautiful country! We were lucky enough to spend a month touring both islands, and Christine did an excellent job of listening to my inputs and designing a trip that was just perfect for my husband and me. We cannot say enough good things about First Light Travel or New Zealand.

Elaine & Scott Keller - USA

We totally enjoyed our wonderful adventure in New Zealand. Everything went to clockwork and we were very impressed with the cars, itinerary, and accommodation. The prescribed activities were particularly good and the details/travel times given on our itinerary were very accurate.

Martin & Helen Clarke - England

Hi Melissa

We are home now and want you to know we had a fantastic time in New Zealand. Such a beautiful country, people were so friendly and the scenery spectacular. We want to thank you as well for planning such a great trip. Your attention to detail and quick responses whenever we emailed were very much appreciated. We would highly recommend you.

Thanks again Melissa!! You made our vacation very special

Kim and Jeff McCord - Vancover Canada

My husband and I debated for months where we should go for our honeymoon, but after our first call with Toni from First Light Travel, it became clear to us that New Zealand was the right choice. From the very beginning, Toni was friendly, informative, and just incredibly helpful. We quickly learned that New Zealand had so much to offer, with locations and excursions that fit perfectly with our personalities and desired trip. Toni took the time to listen to our preferences, understand our time frame, and respect our budget. We made a few tweaks to our itinerary, but it didn't take much work at all to craft the perfect 2 week excursion.

While the planning process itself was noteworthy, our actually trip exceeded our expectations in every way. Travel was not only easy, but enjoyable. Ever taxi, transfer, booking and reservation went smoothly and on time. Every hotel was stayed at was friendly and accommodating, and the materials prepared by First Light (and given to us upon arrival) provided just the right amount of detail to make sure our trip went off without any issue. We fell in love with New Zealand, and it's with thanks to First Light Travel for making sure we made the most of our time in such a beautiful country. We really couldn't be any happier with our experience!

Sarah Futernick and Matthew Peven - USA

Hi Kasey,

Bob emailed you letting you know how pleased we were with FirstLight, but I wanted to let you know how great Grand Pacific Tours has been. We have been treated first-class for the entire tour. The hotels have all been wonderful. Hotel personnel greeted us on the bus at each stop. They had the room keys ready and waiting and we were in our rooms less than five minutes from stepping off the bus. 

The bus driver/tour director, Roger Duncumb, has been absolutely outstanding. He has a great personality and has been very informative. Every excursion was precisely planned and he had us where we needed to be at the exact time.  The meals were all wonderful, but maybe we ate a little too much! The Ultimate bus is the only way to go and the small number of guests on the bus made the tour much more personable. We can never go back to a 48+ seat bus. 

We had a good time being the only Americans amongst a wonderful group of Aussies! I have been on other bus tours that were complete disasters so this tour set the standards high for future tours. 

I’ll be getting home in two weeks, so once I get my photos straightened out I’ll send some to you and also do some reviews. 

Thank you, Kathy
 

Dear Shelly,

Just a note of thanks for the wonderful job you did with all of our travel arrangements.

I was also happy to meet you and your sons. You did an excellent job and I enjoyed everything we did 

I especially enjoyed our time with Chris Lewis (their driver/guide via Limo South).  What a trip!

Sandi Sharpe - USA