New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

Had a great vacation. Kasey was responsive when needed. Everything was set up nicely.

The Hobbiton Experience was awesome. Rotorua was beautiful and a nice stay. The duck tour was fun and the guide was great. Really enjoyed the 4WD Edoras Tour. Guide was excellent. Mt Cook was unbelievable and didn't want to leave. Could have stayed several more days. Guide was great! Really enjoyed Queenstown. Milford Sound was a fun experience. It was the main day of rain which allowed for more waterfalls. Adding on the cold made for staying in the boat. All tour guides where great, especially at Mt Cook, Edoras Tour and Trails of middle earth from Queenstown!  Those were awesome!!

Kasey worked well to get any issues resolved. Was a great vacation and will do doing it again!

Chris Hill & Jenny Tran - Singapore

We travelled to New Zealand for three weeks in April 2019 and contacted First Light Travel for assistance with the itinerary, accommodation and car hire. We can't recommend them highly enough. Our agent was Christine and she was, throughout, responsive, courteous, flexible and understood our complex requirements which required wheelchair accessible accommodation, activities and car. When the Fox/Franz Josef bridge collapsed a few days before we were due to leave, Christine contacted us, recommended reversing the itinerary and organised everything. And the bridge was rebuilt just in time! We had a fantastic time, and anything that makes our travel a little easier is so appreciated.

So thank you to Christine and First Light Travel, if we return to NZ we will be in touch!

Moya McFadzean & Sean Cox - Australia

Mellisa thank you so much for putting together the most enjoyable holiday for us, we would have missed so many exciting things had it not been for your expertise and excellent knowledge of the country, everything from hotels to suggested activities were well thought out and packaged into a very memorable driving holiday

Leslie Lloyd and Mae Elliott - Australia

Going to New Zealand had been a dream for about 20 years… I started planning on my own and it became apparent to me that I didn't know what I was doing. I wanted to be independent but didn't want to drive on my first visit. I wanted to be very active but was overwhelmed with all the tours I was finding – which is the best for me? Where is my best value for money for accommodation? This is when I found First Light Travel and was able to help me put together the best itinerary for my budget and the length of my holiday. I feel a did a lot for what I was able to spend and they were attentive to my “want” list and came up with great suggestions that were not on my radar. I don't think I could have done as much planning alone – I would highly recommend using their services. Thank you!

Marie-Renee Goulet - Canada

Dawn's expertise in knowing the best accommodations and events far surpassed what I could have learned in trying to plan our five-week drive through New Zealand. The itinerary was perfectly paced. Our accommodations were delightful- from unique B&B's to urban hotels. The trip was magical from beginning to end with no glitches! We loved working with Dawn. She began by learning our trip goals and budget and then provided us with the first draft itinerary.

Thank you, Dawn - you were amazing!

Connie & Alden Meyer - United States of America

Just sitting at the airport waiting for our flight home and thought I’d take the time to express my thanks for putting together such a wonderful package of great accommodations, (Appledore Lodge, Breakers Boutique, and Alexis Motel in Queenstown were our favorite) activities, (HeliHike on Franz Josef was terrific as well as all the kayaking) and the towns we traveled to or through. Everyone: guides, drivers, and hosts in NZ were super; their knowledge of the country and ease of sharing all they know was not only helpful but gave us an appreciation of this magical country. We were blessed with 18 sunny days and only 3 of rain, so the gods were with us.

Kevin and I will certainly recommend your agency to any of our friends traveling this way.

Sincerely,

Kevin and Linda Carroll – California USA

Our trip to New Zealand far exceeded our expectations. We knew the country would be beautiful but the reality was so much greater than our imagination. Because we spent a lot of time talking with Rhodri, our travel agent, about our interests and our style of traveling, we were able to see the country in exactly the way we enjoy. The choice of accommodations, activities and tours suggested by him were perfect and often involved things we never thought we would like quite so much. He was very open to our desire for free days to explore on our own and didn't try to sell us on additional tours. He was very responsive when needed while we were traveling as well. Because he is a New Zealander and knows his country, we felt we received the best advice possible regarding places to visit that also allowed us a very active and personal experience.

We loved everything that Rhodri planned with us, but our favorites were the tour of the Maori village in Rotorua, the biking and farm experience outside Queenstown, kayaking at Abel Tasman and Milford Sound and Okarito. The very best, however, was the boat cruise through Doubtful Sound.

Richard and Anita Aherne - United States of America

We are the Dreamteam from Belgium, a group of 8 traveling together to all parts of the world. After deciding to spend our holidays (almost 4 weeks) in New Zealand we were very happy to work together with a local travel agent. We have chosen for FirstLightTravel as they responded promptly and gave the right information needed. It was very easy to work with them and to book from Belgium. Their choice of accommodation was perfect. Everywhere we checked in either hotel, either booked excursions the service was perfect.

Thanks, Chrissy from First Light Travel to have been able to discover magic New Zealand.

Carl Das Group from Belgium

New Zealand is about as far from the East Coast of the United States as you can get, but worth all the time and expense to get there. We spent a month in February (midsummer in NZ, dead of winter in Massachusetts) and had a fabulous time, but felt we only scratched the surface. The scenery is out of this world, the lodgings are primo, and the food was almost universally excellent. First Light Travel worked with us to develop a plan that fit our interests almost perfectly. One of our best vacations ever (and Lisa and I have been traveling the world ever since getting married in 1973)!

Tom & Lisa Redburn - United States of America

The most important decision we made for our month long stay in New Zealand was to use Amelia at First Light. We just gave her our goals and parameters for our stay and the itinerary she created from all the activities to the accommodations was absolutely perfect. I cannot stress how worry free our vacation was. I would not change a thing and will be recommending her and First Light for years to come. My one piece of advice is to make sure you spend plenty of time in the small beautiful towns. The bed and breakfast options are amazing!

Thank you Amelia!

Jeannie and Robert Garner – United States of America