New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

The primary reasons we chose to travel with First LIght Travel were: Price, Service, Ease of planning/booking and quality of information. We were pleased with quick responses to all our inquiries. A quick adjustment was made to our itinerary when we had an unforeseen change made before a tour. 

We would highly recommend First Light Travel to our family and friends traveling to New Zealand and Australia. Our experience from start to finish was exceptional.

We just returned from an incredible custom New Zealand trip with First Light Travel. We traveled with 2 other couples in a Mercedes Sprinter van (have 11 passenger seats, so very comfortable for 3 couples and a driver/guide), started in Auckland, then took the ferry to Waitheke Island (The Boat Shed for 2 nights), drove to Taupo (Huka Lodge for 2 nights), the flew to Benheim (Marlborough Sounds for winery visits, Bay of Many Coves for 3 nights), then headed to Kaikoura (SHapuku Lodge Tree House for 1 night), before going to Christchurch (The George for 1 night), and then Lake Pukaki (Lakestone Lodge for 2 nights), and Queenstown (Rosewood Matakauri Lodge for 2 nights). The tour included many highlights - landing on the Tasman Glacier, flying over the Southern Alps, Milford Sound cruise, Cloudy Bay winery visit. First Light Travel did an excellent job in coordinating all our hotel stays and activities, and provided the best drivers/guides for our entire trip. We were also given some special treatments - private dinners in the library and cellar at the Huka Lodge, private dinners at the Rosewood Matakauri Lodge, and upgraded rooms at some of the hotels. When I worked out the detailed itinerary with First Light Travel, Danielle Mueth was extremely responsive and always answered my emails within 24 hours (an A+ for that). When I first sent out a proposed itinerary to 4 travel companies for quotes, First Light Travel was the first one to respond, and also the one with the lowest quote. I highly recommend First Light Travel to anyone planning to travel to New Zealand and Australia. In fact, we are already working with Danielle Mueth on a 2025 trip to Australia, covering Melbourne and several national parks in Victoria.

My wife sister-in-law and I spent nine days on a self-driving tour of the NZ South Island. The whole trip, accommodation and several excursions were organised by the first-rate people at First Light Travel. the magnificence of the experience was matched by the expertise and service of First Light.

We are very pleased to that we can report a most successful and enjoyable trip to New Zealand, due to the fantastic self-drive/flight/train itinerary that Nicole put together for the 4 of us. Her thoughtfulness and quick work in developing an outstanding itinerary for us was the best. Everywhere we went, everything worked like clockwork, and she put together an itinerary where we experienced many wonderful areas of New Zealand. The accommodations were excellent, and the limo service was above reproach. We had the trip of a lifetime and I thank Nicole and First Light Travel for that.

Andy, Peggy, Jim and Terri, USA

Thanks for creating the perfect experience for us. The help in getting a spot on the back up cruise for Doubtful Sound is a perfect example of why working with a pro is so critical!  It was unfortunate the weather kept us off the Franz Josef glacier, but overall it was amazing how much we did in 30 days. So many great pictures it is hard to pick 1, but this is from hike in Milford Sound. 

We made a last minute decision to travel to NZ north Island for Christmas 2023. Fight Light Travel were amazing in tailoring an itinerary to suit our timetable and specific interests and recommended places to visit based on our specific interests at such short notice. Fight Light Travel were a pleasure to deal with, they were very professional, great communicators and listened to our ideas as well. We packed a lot into our 12 days on the road with a self drive tour. We had a hassle free holiday. Thanks you Tatyana and your team. We will be using FLT again. cheers Gregg and Jenny

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!

We were able to upgrade some hotel rooms (when available) for a better view, especially in Kaikoura where we upgraded to an end room on the top floor and a beautiful view of the sunrise!

We loved the TransAlpine train ride and, in hindsight, would love to have done the train on the east coast as well. All and all I would strongly recommend First Light Travel and hopefully use them again!

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).

Wonderful trip to New Zealand

We’re just back (Dec 2023) from a trip that included a three week self-drive, mostly through New Zealand’s South Island, organized by First Light Travel. For many years, while travelling the world, we’ve wanted to explore New Zealand. And we couldn’t be more pleased with the results from First Light, especially Danielle, our travel advisor there. In fact, they exceeded our expectations! It was a perfect trip for we 70-year-olds to celebrate our 45th anniversary.

Danielle began our interaction by asking what we enjoy, activity-wise, and what type of accommodations we prefer. So, right out-of-the-gate, this was clearly going in the direction we wanted: a trip customized to our wishes, and not a cookie-cutter itinerary or a check-list of activities.

Danielle is a great listener, very patient, is easy to get ahold of, and a joy to work with. A draft plan was created from that first conference call (which was the response to our emailed contact point). We reviewed it, changed some of our wishes, partly from the great alternatives tabled for us to consider and the opportunity to do more specific research. We started our planning over a year in advance, so this allowed this itinerary to evolve over time and the subsequent calls we had.

The final itinerary was very detailed, including contact phone numbers and vouchers for each activity and hotel. Since many of the activities that we chose were weather-dependent, such as boat trips, a hot air balloon ride, and a helicopter trip, we needed to call and confirm beforehand. One of those numbers went to a recorded message indicating it was out of service. So I simply called First Light Travel’s emergency line and they took care of it for me in a matter of a few minutes.

We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our trip. The drive, the scenery and activities were wonderful. Yes, weather affected two of our excursions, but First Light tracked these and issued a refund for the missed ones within a week of the completion of our trip. And it was fun to run into another Canadian couple, at the Clay Cliffs, whose trip had also been arranged by Danielle.

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!