The New Zealand guide we’d hand a friend
Ready-made 10 to 21 day itineraries and 150+ places pinned on maps, to see and to stay. From two people who’ve lived here ten years, one of them on the road full time.
Travellers from 16 countries are already planning with it.
Stop planning New Zealand from 40 open tabs
You watch one Reel about New Zealand, then five more. Now your feed is full of it, and every one says something different.
You know the places you want to see. But what do you book first? What will it actually cost? And which mistakes will cost you a day you can’t get back?
4 things it does for you
Book the right things, in the right order
Know what sells out, and how far ahead to book it, before you pay for anything.
No surprise costs
Real daily costs for four budget styles, plus the small charges nobody warns you about, like card surcharges and the $400 NZD biosecurity fine.
Skip the first-timer mistakes
What’s worth a night, what’s worth a stop, and what we’d honestly skip.
Everything on your phone
Tap a pin to book. It works offline, even on the Milford road.
“Isn’t all of this free on your Instagram?”
A lot of it is, and we’ll keep posting it. That’s also the problem: it’s spread across hundreds of Reels, in no particular order, and some of it has changed since we posted it.
The guide is the organised version. Everything in the right order, the decisions already made, kept up to date, plus the things we never post, like where we’d actually stay in each town.
Is this guide for you?
Honest answer: it’s made for first-timers who are at the start of planning.
It’s for you if
- It’s your first trip to New Zealand and you’ve only just started researching.
- You have 40 tabs open and still don’t know how many days you need, or where to spend them.
- You’re not sure what a day here really costs, or what to book months ahead.
- You can’t decide between a car and a campervan.
- You like to plan on a map. Every activity across 15 regions is pinned and bookable.
- You’d rather learn the first-timer mistakes from us than on the road.
You can start building your itinerary the same day you buy it.
It’s probably not for you if
You already have a route, but you’re unsure of it. A 1:1 call with Ami will help you more. She looks at your actual plan and tells you what to change.
You don’t want to plan at all. Our custom itinerary is built for you, day by day.
Everything we’d tell a friend before they fly
5 parts and 169 places pinned on maps. Open the one you need, when you need it.
What to book, and when
The order we’d book a New Zealand trip in, from the day your dates are set to 24 hours before you fly.
- 20 bookings and to-dos in five steps: campervan or car, beds in the small towns that fill first, the ferry, Milford, the big activities, NZeTA, eSIM
- Every one has its booking link, and the discount codes copy with one tap
- Tick them off as you go, and it remembers where you’re up to
In the guide, every row has its booking link.
4 itineraries, built on real roads
Day by day, morning to evening, with every stop on a driving map.
- 10 daysThe South Island done properly, Christchurch to Queenstown
- 12 daysBoth islands: Auckland and Rotorua first, then fly south
- 15 daysThe same shape, unrushed, with Waiheke and Wanaka
- 21 daysThe full loop by road and ferry, built for a campervan
115 activities pinned across 15 regions
From Auckland to Fiordland, what’s worth your time and what we’d skip.
- Tap a pin to book it, or see that it’s free and there’s nothing to book
- Hikes worth planning around: Hooker Valley, Roys Peak, Rob Roy Glacier, Key Summit, Tongariro and more
- Bike trails you can ride a piece of: Lake Dunstan, Alps 2 Ocean at Tekapo, the Whale Trail
- Local bits: Kaikoura’s roadside crayfish, practical Milford tips, what to do when the weather cancels your boat
Where we’d actually stay
54 hand-picked stays along the routes in the guide.
- Budget, mid-range and luxury picks in each stop, filtered from thousands down to what’s worth booking
- All 54 on one map, so you can see what’s walkable
- Campervan? DOC campsites and the freedom camping rules, including the new green warrant
The real costs and the small print
What New Zealand actually costs, and what catches first-timers out.
- Daily costs for four budget styles, and how to pay less for the big activities
- 15 things you should know, from the NZeTA levy to card surcharges
- The apps we use, phone data, and the packing list
About 65 minutes to read start to finish. Most people open it on their phone and jump to the bit they need.
So, what does it cost?
One forgotten apple at the airport is a $400 NZD fine. One day lost driving back on yourself costs a night’s stay. One Milford cruise booked too late means no Milford at all.
The guide costs less than any one of them, and a few things inside save you money straight away:
- Discover Cars: booking a rental car through our link gets you a better rate than going direct
- 10% off The Waitomo Experience: about $27 NZD off per person, on a tour from $269. It’s the small-group cave trip we did, not the main Waitomo glowworm boat tour most people book
- 1GB of free data on an Eskimo eSIM
- 5% off your first GetYourGuide booking, for new users through our link
One payment, and every future update is included.
We’ll also give you
Every update, free
When a price changes, a road closes or we find somewhere worth going, it goes straight into your guide. Same link, nothing to download.
A copy that works with no signal
Open it once on wifi, add it to your home screen, and it works on the West Coast and the Milford road.
Money off if you want us to look at your trip
$10 off a 1:1 call and 5% off a customised itinerary, applied from inside the guide.
Everything, in one place
- What to book, and when
- 4 itineraries, 10 to 21 days
- 150+ places pinned on maps, plus hikes and bike trails
- 54 hand-picked places to stay
- The real costs and the small print
- Free updates, works offline, money off a call or itinerary
Instant access by email after payment.
Free itinerary audit for reviews. Please leave a review for the next buyers. As a thank you, we’ll do an itinerary audit for the first 10 people who leave a review. It’s not a call. We’ll record all our points in a video and send it to you. After your review, just email us your itinerary.
The first 70 copies are $15. After that, it’s $24.
Kia ora, we’re Sagar and Ami
We’ve lived in New Zealand for ten years, and spent a full year of that on the road full time. We drove these roads in every season and paid for the activities with our own money. Where something’s overrated, we say so. Where it’s worth the extra, we say that too.
What it is: the routes, maps, stays, costs and checklists to plan a first trip yourself.
What it isn’t: a plan built around your exact dates, budget or group. That’s what our 1:1 call and customised itineraries are for, and guide readers get money off both.
Close the 40 tabs tonight
Everything we know about a first trip to New Zealand, in one place you’ll actually use while you’re here. $15 USD, one payment, every update included, and 23 of 70 left at the launch price.
See you out there,Sagar and Ami
Want us to look at your actual trip instead? See the 1:1 call, you get your own trip page afterwards.
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