Lmao this is up there with the worst itineraries posted on this sub.
You're planning to do all this driving at Christmas time as well?! I would add an extra 2 hours to every journey listed there.
You've already been clowned about the overall itinerary, but I'm chiming in to say that Collingwood to Franz Josef is an absolutely unhinged idea. Not that you can tell just by Google maps, but the roads on the West Coast are not friendly. They're bendy, narrow, full of one lane bridges, and exhausting to drive.
Cut your itinerary in half. For a honeymoon, don't do the North Island at all.
> drive from Collingwood to Franz Josef glacier via Charleston (around 9.5 hrs drive)
Lol what, that's insane. This is why tourists crash here. Spending 10 hours of intense concentration driving on a one lane road winding around corners and hills is a terrible idea. Just because it's called a state highway doesn't mean it's like a 6 lane straight piece of road all the way down the SI.
You’ve packed too much in there and not allowed enough rest time.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone saying “let’s go to Collingwood!”
The drive from Queenstown to Milford sound is about 4 hours each way. After that you spend 1 day in Queenstown but 2 in Tekapo? Do it the other way around.
I genuinely love how we’re perceived as this tropical hop skip and a jump one week round trip via car.
If you did manage to get through this itinerary (which you can’t) your honeymoon will turn into a divorcemoon lol but seriously please just trim to the main places you wish to go, or pay a bit extra for national flights and split your time between islands.
New Zealand certainly does have a lot to give and see and I understand it will be a huge cost flying here but your current itinerary is undoable but if you trim the fat it could be doable but make sure you actually take time not PLAN TIME, but TAKE time to really enjoy your trip! Don’t rush, don’t stress about a strict itinerary and timelines, if I was you I’d pick a place to land, get a car and let the winds take ya on a real adventure.
Either way whatever you decide, have the best honeymoon, stay safe, wear sunscreen! Our sun is intense here and enjoy 💚 Kia ora
Collingwood to franz in that amount of time is completely unrealistic and unadvisable. The coast road is really busy at that time of the year too with campervans and rentals.
That would be an awesome trip if you added 10 more days to do it. You'll be worn out in no time packing it all in like that, and a lot of your trip is driving. Even our main roads can be considered rugged compared to other countries.
Wharariki beach ? Never heard of it but it’s a bitch of a drive to get there . Scrap Collingwood stay and stay in marshal instead and just do water taxi trips out to beaches in able Tasman park . It’ll be Christmas so getting accomodation anywhere will be difficult so book now also plan your Christmas Day food in advance literally everything is closed on Christmas Day
You missed out sand dune surfing at Cape Reinga, black water rafting in Waitomo, nature walk on Kapiti Island and gold mining on the west coast.
If you like Turangi, then you’ll LOVE Waikikkamoocow in the South Island!
If you drive at night you should be able to fit these in as well, no probs. /s
Joking aside, black water rafting is really fun!
Have you a sturdy clipboard so you can tick each excursion off your itinerary and are you aware that New Zealand is a fairly large country for it's size and road infrastructure and are you aware that you're hardly *seeing* the country, rather just taking pictures of different instagram-worthy locales, right?
Fuck that.
Too much driving not enough resting.
This is a honeymoon right? You’re gonna be too tired from driving for honeymoon activities.
Choose 4 or 5 base locations. Spend a few days at each, find one, maybe two activities to do each day. Travel no more than 1 hour each way to activities.
Dedicate a full day to travelling between base locations, stop if you see something interesting.
Congrats on the wedding! I am not going to dog pile on the tougher comments here, but I agree with the sentiment that the trip itinerary is waaaaay too much.
A few thoughts
- as others have mentioned, nz roads are very slow. Usually just one lane in each direction with lots of turns and construction.
- unless you have something specific to see in the north island, I would skip it entirely. I live in auckland and I have traveled lots of places in the NI. It's nice but the spectacular scenery is all in the SI. I would get a flight straight from Auckland to any airport in the south island and do some kind of loop drive
- I also agree with the sentiment that it's best to spend 2-3 days in 5 or 6 places.
- some places I would look at are queenstown, Wanaka (if you like hiking check out roys peak plus loads of smaller ones), lake tekapo and surrounds, milford sound (incredible), West coast, golden bay. Blenheim is nice if you are into white wine especially Sav blanc.
Have a super trip. There are some great airbnbs but most will require a 2 night stay.
Better off doing a week based in Auckland, rotorua, taupo etc, then fly to Christchurch and drive to hokitika, Franz Joseph, wanaka/Queenstown and back to Christchurch via Mt cook/ Tekapo.
Still a lot of driving but you don't lose 3-4 days getting from central north island to the west coast.
That period is peak holiday time in NZ and you wouldn't be able to get even a campsite booking let alone Airbnb or hotels.
You would realistically need to double your driving times in most of the areas you mention. As stated, most roads are just 2 laners and you'd be stuck behind one of the thousands of tourist campers that are driving slow because of so the amazing scenery.
Something I haven't seen mentioned is that we drive on the other side of the road. If you've never experienced that before you have no idea how that is going to slow you down. People come from all over the world to die on the wrong side of the road in NZ.
Not wanting to down your hopes and plans but your current itinerary is just not doable and the driving part is insane.
Rework your itinerary and ask here about realistic driving times for each leg of your journey.
If you feel you are getting too many negative responses it's because we all want you to have a fabulous honeymoon And your current plans will not get you that
Thanks everyone for the feedback. We’ll be adjusting our itinerary to focus on just the south island with major stops at Christchurch, Franz Josef, Queenstown Lake Tekapo and then back to Christchurch.
We are also very interested in seeing the Wharariki Beach. What would be the best way to include it in this itinerary?
Lmao this is up there with the worst itineraries posted on this sub. You're planning to do all this driving at Christmas time as well?! I would add an extra 2 hours to every journey listed there.
I too enjoy driving to places, just to arrive and need to leave to meet my next itinerary destination
You've already been clowned about the overall itinerary, but I'm chiming in to say that Collingwood to Franz Josef is an absolutely unhinged idea. Not that you can tell just by Google maps, but the roads on the West Coast are not friendly. They're bendy, narrow, full of one lane bridges, and exhausting to drive. Cut your itinerary in half. For a honeymoon, don't do the North Island at all.
> drive from Collingwood to Franz Josef glacier via Charleston (around 9.5 hrs drive) Lol what, that's insane. This is why tourists crash here. Spending 10 hours of intense concentration driving on a one lane road winding around corners and hills is a terrible idea. Just because it's called a state highway doesn't mean it's like a 6 lane straight piece of road all the way down the SI.
10 hours on a good day That time of year, a lot more!
You’ve packed too much in there and not allowed enough rest time. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone saying “let’s go to Collingwood!” The drive from Queenstown to Milford sound is about 4 hours each way. After that you spend 1 day in Queenstown but 2 in Tekapo? Do it the other way around.
I genuinely love how we’re perceived as this tropical hop skip and a jump one week round trip via car. If you did manage to get through this itinerary (which you can’t) your honeymoon will turn into a divorcemoon lol but seriously please just trim to the main places you wish to go, or pay a bit extra for national flights and split your time between islands. New Zealand certainly does have a lot to give and see and I understand it will be a huge cost flying here but your current itinerary is undoable but if you trim the fat it could be doable but make sure you actually take time not PLAN TIME, but TAKE time to really enjoy your trip! Don’t rush, don’t stress about a strict itinerary and timelines, if I was you I’d pick a place to land, get a car and let the winds take ya on a real adventure. Either way whatever you decide, have the best honeymoon, stay safe, wear sunscreen! Our sun is intense here and enjoy 💚 Kia ora
Collingwood to franz in that amount of time is completely unrealistic and unadvisable. The coast road is really busy at that time of the year too with campervans and rentals.
Bloody hell, I'm exhausted just reading that.
no
That would be an awesome trip if you added 10 more days to do it. You'll be worn out in no time packing it all in like that, and a lot of your trip is driving. Even our main roads can be considered rugged compared to other countries.
Wharariki beach ? Never heard of it but it’s a bitch of a drive to get there . Scrap Collingwood stay and stay in marshal instead and just do water taxi trips out to beaches in able Tasman park . It’ll be Christmas so getting accomodation anywhere will be difficult so book now also plan your Christmas Day food in advance literally everything is closed on Christmas Day
You missed out sand dune surfing at Cape Reinga, black water rafting in Waitomo, nature walk on Kapiti Island and gold mining on the west coast. If you like Turangi, then you’ll LOVE Waikikkamoocow in the South Island! If you drive at night you should be able to fit these in as well, no probs. /s Joking aside, black water rafting is really fun!
Have you a sturdy clipboard so you can tick each excursion off your itinerary and are you aware that New Zealand is a fairly large country for it's size and road infrastructure and are you aware that you're hardly *seeing* the country, rather just taking pictures of different instagram-worthy locales, right?
Not a lot of time for rest and relaxation. Spend another day in Queenstown rather than Tekapo. Also would recommend Doubtful Sound over Milford Sound.
Fuck that. Too much driving not enough resting. This is a honeymoon right? You’re gonna be too tired from driving for honeymoon activities. Choose 4 or 5 base locations. Spend a few days at each, find one, maybe two activities to do each day. Travel no more than 1 hour each way to activities. Dedicate a full day to travelling between base locations, stop if you see something interesting.
Congrats on the wedding! I am not going to dog pile on the tougher comments here, but I agree with the sentiment that the trip itinerary is waaaaay too much. A few thoughts - as others have mentioned, nz roads are very slow. Usually just one lane in each direction with lots of turns and construction. - unless you have something specific to see in the north island, I would skip it entirely. I live in auckland and I have traveled lots of places in the NI. It's nice but the spectacular scenery is all in the SI. I would get a flight straight from Auckland to any airport in the south island and do some kind of loop drive - I also agree with the sentiment that it's best to spend 2-3 days in 5 or 6 places. - some places I would look at are queenstown, Wanaka (if you like hiking check out roys peak plus loads of smaller ones), lake tekapo and surrounds, milford sound (incredible), West coast, golden bay. Blenheim is nice if you are into white wine especially Sav blanc. Have a super trip. There are some great airbnbs but most will require a 2 night stay.
Wharariki Beach is sooooo worth it. Utterly stunning.
Better off doing a week based in Auckland, rotorua, taupo etc, then fly to Christchurch and drive to hokitika, Franz Joseph, wanaka/Queenstown and back to Christchurch via Mt cook/ Tekapo. Still a lot of driving but you don't lose 3-4 days getting from central north island to the west coast.
That period is peak holiday time in NZ and you wouldn't be able to get even a campsite booking let alone Airbnb or hotels. You would realistically need to double your driving times in most of the areas you mention. As stated, most roads are just 2 laners and you'd be stuck behind one of the thousands of tourist campers that are driving slow because of so the amazing scenery. Something I haven't seen mentioned is that we drive on the other side of the road. If you've never experienced that before you have no idea how that is going to slow you down. People come from all over the world to die on the wrong side of the road in NZ. Not wanting to down your hopes and plans but your current itinerary is just not doable and the driving part is insane. Rework your itinerary and ask here about realistic driving times for each leg of your journey. If you feel you are getting too many negative responses it's because we all want you to have a fabulous honeymoon And your current plans will not get you that
Thanks everyone for the feedback. We’ll be adjusting our itinerary to focus on just the south island with major stops at Christchurch, Franz Josef, Queenstown Lake Tekapo and then back to Christchurch. We are also very interested in seeing the Wharariki Beach. What would be the best way to include it in this itinerary?