New Zealand Self Drive Tour Reviews

I loved the itinerary, and the service at First Light Travel. It made everything so fuss free, and the detailed itinerary was so helpful in assisting us - from the time to reach certain places, to reminding us to call to confirm certain attractions - it was all very clear for me when I look at the itinerary every morning. The prompt email responses was also so great, and I don't have to worry about having to send reminder emails or waiting long to get the answers I needed. Louise, Katarina, Gina and the team were all so helpful! Thank you so much. 

Thanks to First Light Travel and Joanna we had a wonderful 13-day self-driving trip around New Zealand’s South Island. Working with her was so easy and she selected interesting and exciting daily activities for us to enjoy, ranging from a heli-hike on Franz Joseph Glacier to hikes at Mt Aspiring to a cruise on Milford Sound and a lot more.

All the driver who picked us up at the airport, train station and other places were extremely friendly and knowledgeable and always on time. The accommodations were all very good.

Overall, we loved our trip to the South Island and would wholeheartedly recommend First Light Travel to anyone planning a trip to this part of the world.

Our favourite activities were: Cathedral Cove Boat tour was great, Hobbiton was of course wonderful, the Glowworm Caves were fun, Tranzalpine train was a highlight for sure. Doubtful sound was very scenic albeit a very long day but worth it. the Penguin tour near Dunedin was one of my favorites!
Oh we last minute booked a couple other activities that I thought I would mention in case they are on your list and you can still count us a good review or you can possibly add them to your list of fun things to do!
. We did the Coromandel Driving Creek Railway Train which was honestly a ton of fun for a little train!
We also ended up doing a second boat tour with Coromandel Ocean Adventures. They were super great. We were the only ones booked on the tour and though it was also a bit windy Richie took us out and showed us some of his favorite spots and we had a really great time.
The other fun/silly thing we did was visit the EnkleDooVery Korna Wallaby Park. It was cold and pouring down rain but Gwen was very funny and she had gumboots for us to change into and handwashing stations and the wallabies were worth every penny!We had a really wonderful time!

Not having to plan every detail really saved me personally this year. I had too much going on and simply couldn't do it. It was really wonderful and I'm in charge of planning a family history trip to Croatia/Slovenia next year and I am going to consider finding a similar travel company over there to help me organize everything!

New Zealand Trip of a LIfetime!

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!

I would highly recommend First Light Travel if you are interested in doing a trip around New Zealand. Rachael, Neelah and their colleagues listened carefully to our preferences during the planning stage, and organized a wonderful itinerary for us that included top class accommodations and excellent tours. They also responded quickly and professionally to address our questions before, during and after our trip.

This was "the trip of a lifetime!" New Zealand is a unique country. The scenery and terrain are so varied and close together. Everyone we met was so friendly and eager to make our visit memorable. Everywhere we went was clean and neat and demonstated a definite "pride of place." 

The helicopter ride, the tour through the countryside in Wanaka, the floatplane trip to Orakei Korako and the Doubtful Sound excursion were definte highlights. The Maori experience, the Black Swan, sitting under a tree listening to the tui birds at the Boatshed provided memories we won't forget.

First Light Travel is a highly professional company with remarkable attention to every aspect of the travelling experience in New Zealand. Michelle and her staff supplied us with a detailed itinerary, precise information about each stop, organised tours and experiences, and phone numbers to call in any moment of need. As it turned out, every aspect of our trip to New Zealand fell neatly into place. At one point on the North Island, we called Michelle to help organise a specific kind of car; she dealt with this request immediately and succeeded where our own phone calls to the rental car provider had failed. The organisation and support of First Light Travel were therefore invaluable. We recommend them warmly to future fellow travellers.

This was always going to be the holiday of a lifetime and so we wanted it to be perfect. We asked Gina O'Neill to create a 16 day tour of New Zealand's South Island for us. We were happy to drive but wanted to be sure we didn't miss any of the main attractions and wanted a little bit of luxury along the way.
Gina did a fantastic job. Our holiday was perfect and the memories will be with us forever. Everything went smoothly from picking up the car, booking into the hotels and arriving for the excursions. It was totally seamless.
The highlight was our 2 nights in Mount Cook. The hotel was fabulous and the view from our hotel room was picture perfect. We can't thank Gina and First Light Travel enough and would definitely recommend the company to anyone considering a similar tour.

Nicole at First Light Travel was very helpful. She arranged our two weeks vacation in New Zealand and my sister and I had a wonderful time on our adventure. Everything went very smoothly on all of our stops and the accommodation was top notch. Exactly what we had expected. The scenic drives were beautiful and we had a very enjoyable trip. Would recommend them to anyone.

Working with Danielle at First Light Travel was awesome from beginning to end. We were clueless of which island to visit and what activities to do. She was able to craft a perfect itinerary of relaxation and adventure for our anniversary trip to the South Island, specifically Queenstown and Wanaka. She organized excursions and transportation for us since we were not comfortable driving on the other side of the road. We visited Milford Sound, did a jetboat tour of the Matukituki River, a wilderness walk and a 4WD safari. My husband also had some fishing excursions! Whenever we had an issue, Danielle was quick to remedy it and did so with cheer. Highly recommend First Light Travel for anyone looking for some help booking their first trip (or second) to New Zealand!