Intro:
Let me start by saying that this is the most beautiful place I have ever visited. There used to be debate in my mind between Montana, Alaska, and Iceland, but then NZ came in and kicked them all to the curb. There is also A LOT to do in New Zealand. Given the time & cost it takes to get there from the Northern Hemisphere, I would personally recommend 2 weeks as the ideal amount of time to visit. I’ve added some bonus options if you can swing 3+ weeks, but I wouldn’t recommend anything less than 1 week. Whatever amount of time you choose, I would ratio it at 70% for South Island and 30% for North Island. As far as timing, I would recommend going in or around the summer months to enjoy good temperatures, long daylight hours, and access to a variety of activities. The peak season is December to February, with shoulder seasons of Oct-Nov & Mar-Apr. With the amount of tourism coming to a sparsely populated country, I would highly recommend the shoulder season to avoid crowds and enjoy significant savings.

Summary:
Auckland -> (fly) CHC -> Mt Cook -> Queenstown -> Te Anau -> Milford Sound -> Doubtful Sound -> Dunedin -> (fly) Wellington -> Tongariro -> Rotorua -> Coromandel -> Auckland

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Budget:

In USD for 2 people; Low end of range = budget; high end of range = upscale without going extreme (ie does not assume luxury lodges or extreme adventures); midpoint = balanced

• $20-$50/day rental car + $25/day gas

• $60-$150/night hotel

• $50-$120/day food + $0-$50/day booze

• $20-$100/day activities

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Itinerary:

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Part 1, South Island:
 

• Day 1 (Christchurch -> Mt Cook)

• Fly IAH-AKL-CHC, pick up rental car (we used nzrentacar.co.nz since they had the best rates; most rental car spots have offices away from the airport, so you’ll have to call them for a pickup once you land)

• Drive to Aoraki Mount Cook Village (4 hrs); on the way stop at Nosh Cafe ($$) for lunch, at Church of the Good Shepherd to get some cool views of Lake Tekapo, and at several roadside pullouts to see Lake Pukaki and its gorgeous blue colors

• Settle in to your accomodation; we stayed at a hostel (YHA) since it was well priced, but there is a really nice hotel called The Hermitage up there along with other motels 

• Grab dinner at The Old Mountaineers Cafe ($$)
   

• Day 2 (Mt Cook -> Queenstown)

• Wake up early and grab a buffet breakfast at The Hermitage ($$$)

• Drive to Hooker Valley Track (10 mins) and do the hike (2.5 hours return including time for pictures and rest) -

• Drive to Tasman Glacier Car Park (10 mins) and hike to top (15 mins return) to get some cool views of the valley 

• Drive to Blue Pools Walk (3 hrs), stop for lunch at Poppie’s cafe ($$) in Twizel, stop at The Wanaka Tree in Wanaka, enjoy cliffside lake views on drive up to Blue Pools Walk (Note: Blue Pools Walk is roughly a 1 hour detour, but well worth the visit and the drive; also, if you decide to drive up the west coast to Franz Josef (included in bonus options), then you can just visit blue pools on the way) 

• Drive to Queenstown (2 hours), stop for dinner at Red Star Burger ($$) in Wanaka (Note: this became a pretty long day and we didn’t get into Queenstown until 9pm despite getting an early start; if you want a shorter day consider getting a place in Wanaka) 

• Check in to your accomodation
   

• Day 3 (Queenstown)

• Grab breakfast at Joe’s Garage ($$)

• Do some skydiving with NZone Skydive (been skydiving a few times before, and this is the best one hands down due to the stunning scenery around us)

• Grab lunch at Devil Burger ($$)

• Walk around the water front area, walk through the botanical gardens, grab ice cream at Patagonia, hang out at the beach

• Grab dinner at Caribe Latin Kitchen ($)
   

• Day 4 (Queenstown)

• Grab breakfast at Bespoke Kitchen ($$) -

• Drive to Glenorchy (1 hr), there are several stopping points along the way including Bob’s cove, Wilson Bay, or Moke Lake (site of Paradise from the show Top of the Lake) -

• Walk out to Glenorchy Wharf and the surrounding beach -

• Grab lunch at Gleorchy Cafe ($) - Drive to the Routeburn Track (even if you’re not hiking it, the drive out the track’s starting point is really cool especially since it passes through the site of Isengard from LOTR) -

• Head back to Queenstown (1 hr) -

• Head up the Skyline Queenstown gondola; I recommend buying 3-5 luge rides as part of the ticket combo; grab a drink at the bar and take in some sunset views -

• Grab dinner The Spice Room ($$)
   

• Day 5 (Queenstown -> Te Anau) -

• Grab breakfast at Halo Forbidden Bite ($$) -

• Drive to Arrowtown (20 mins), on the way stop at Shotover Jet to see/ride jetboats through some super narrow canyons; explore Buckingham street in Arrowtown, and buy some fudge and clothes -

• Drive to Chard Farm Vineyard (20 mins), on the way stop at AJ Hackett Bungy centre to watch people bungy off a bridge and grab lunch ($); check out the winery and do a free tasting or buy a bottle of wine ($) -

• Drive to Te Anau (2 hrs) and check in to local accomodation -

• Head into town and do the Real Journeys glowworm caves tour ($) -

• Grab dinner at Fiordland Cinema & Bar ($$$)
   

• Day 6 (Te Anau -> Milford Sound) -

• Drive to Milford Sound (2 hrs); on the way stop at “The Divide” parking lot and hike to Key Summit trail (3 hrs return) for some incredible views; after that stop at The Chasm car park to check out some views of caverns shaped by flowing rivers -

• Do a boat tour of Milford Sound (we chose Real Journeys again since they had solid online discounts, but there are a lot of operators that offer smaller/bigger boats at different price points -

• Drive back to Te Anau (2 hrs), grab dinner at Redcliff Cafe ($$$, Reservations Recommended)
   

• Day 7 (Te Anau -> Doubtful Sound (the best day)) -

• Drive to Manapouri (20 mins), grab lunch at Manapouri Cafe ($) then hop on the Real Journeys Doubtful Sound overnight cruise; this is seriously one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever done; you leave at 12pm and come back at 12pm on the next day; it includes a boat ride across a lake, a bus over a pass, and then an overnight cruise on a beautiful boat where you enjoy soup, coffee, cookies, buffet dinner/dessert/breakfast, dolphin watching, sailing, kayaking, swimming, board games, etc.; the price of the cruise is significantly cheaper in shoulder seasons.
   

• Day 8 (Doubtful Sound -> Dunedin) -

• Drive to Dunedin (3.5 hrs), on the way stop at Dome Cafe & Bar for lunch ($$); consider doing a detour to Nugget Point Lighthouse or Purakanui Falls Walk on the way (each 1 hour detours) -

• Check in to local accomodation -

• Grab dinner at Lone Star Cafe ($$) followed by ice cream at Rob Roy Dairy ($)
   

• Day 9 (Dunedin) -

• Check out Olveston Historic Home for a tour of a really well preserved 19th century house -

• Grab lunch at Pasha Turkish Cafe ($$) -

• Check out Tunnel Beach and hike to the rocks and beach (30 mins return) -

• Drive to Taiaora Head with some stunning views via the Otaga Peninsula (1.5 hrs return), on the way stop at St Clair Beach to watch surfers, Larnach Castle to check out NZ’s only castle, and Blue Penguins Pukekura to see some penguins -

• Grab dinner at Vault 21 ($$$)

Part 2: North Island
 

• Day 10 (Dunedin -> Wellington -> Turangi) -

• Return your rental car and catch a flight to Wellington -

• Pick up another rental car (we rented with GO Rentals), grab lunch at Gipsy Cafe, and head to Mount Victoria lookout (you can do a hike to the top, but you may as well drive) for some awesome views of the city and the nearby airport; stop at Weta Cave on the way if you want to check out LOTR props -

• Drive to Turangi (4 hrs) and check in to local accomodation
   

• Day 11 (Turangi -> Tongariro -> Rotorua) -

• Wake up eaaaarly and go do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (this is a 6-8 hour hike through Mordor from LOTR, regarded as one of NZ’s best hikes); you’ll need to arrange a shuttle to take you back to the starting poing; pack a lunch, snacks, rain gear, and plenty of water -

• Drive to Rotorua (2.5 hours) and check in to local accomodation -

• Grab dinner at Terrace Kitchen ($$$)
   

• Day 12 (Rotorua) -

• Grab breakfast at Ciabatta Bakery ($) -

• Drive to Wai-O-Tapu (1 hr return) to check out some cool geothermal activity; after exploring stop at Kerosene creek to take a dip in geothermally heated water -

• Go to Whakarewarewa Maori Village to watch a badass Haka dance, tour a Maori village, and eat some Hangi pie ($$) -

• Drive to redwoods treewalk and hike the area (don’t need to do the redwoods treewalk, just hike for free around it) -

• Grab dinner at Sabroso Restaurant ($$, Reservations Recommended)
   

• Day 13 (Rotorua -> Coromadel) -

• Drive to Whitianga (3 hours); on the way stop at Agrodome to watch a sheep show (SO GOOD), and Hobbiton for a tour of the movie set from The Hobbit (AMAZING); stop at Karangahake Gorge to get some awesome views -

• Check in to local accomodation (here is where we were planning on staying, but had to skip this due to Cyclone Cook 
   

• Day 14 (Coromandel) -

• Explore Coromandel including New Chums Beach, Cathedral Cove, Driving Creek Railway & Potteries, and Coromdel Walkway
   

• Day 15 (Coromandel -> Auckland) -

• Drive to Auckland (2.5 hours); check in to your local accomodation -

• Drive to Piha beach (2 hrs return); stop at Mt Eden lookout to get views of the Auckland skyline, at Ataraki Visitor Centre to get views of the Waitakere Ranges -

• Grab dinner at That’s Amore ($) and ice cream at Giapo ($$)
   

• Day 16 (Auckland) -

• Catch a ferry to Waiheke island, runs every 30 mins; do a guided wine tour or walk to Mudbrick Vinery, Jurassic Ridge, and Cable Bay wineries; grab lunch at any of these wineries with awesome views; walk to Oneroa beach for some white sand beaches -

• Kayak in Matiatia Bay (kayak company is right by the ferry dock) -

• Catch a ferry back to Auckland, go up the Skytower for some sunset views, grab dinner at Depot or Federal Delicatessen ($$$)
   

• Day 17 (Head home and cry)

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Tips:

• You don’t really need cash, we had maybe 2-3 instances where we needed it; $100NZD should suffice for these situations 

• The weather can be very fickle and can cause you to alter your plans; try to get hotels/airbnbs with free last minute cancellation so you can reroute when needed; some people may enjoy booking hotels on the fly to set their own pace - shouldn’t be a problem finding a good place last minute for cheap, but can be risky during peak season

• Make sure you check manual vs automatic when renting your car; check out drivesafe.co.nz if you’re nervous about driving in a new country on the left side of the road; Google Maps was pretty spot on for driving time estimates; brace yourself, gas is insanely expensive 

• We didn’t need a data plan as every place had abundant wifi, downloading google maps locally for the places we visited was a huge help 

• People are incredibly friendly and love to hear about your adventure, so take the opportunity when possible to introduce yourself to other travelers/waiters/hosts etc

• Use yelp for finding food/bars, tripadvisor for activities, and airbnb/hotels.com for accomodation

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Bonus Options:
If you can tack on an additional week, I would either add nights to the current itinerary, or look through the following options to see what else you’d like to take on. I’ve listed them in order of what I would add first: -

• Drive up the west coast of South Island from Wanaka to Nelson (10 hrs), stop at Blue Pools Walk, Franz Josef Glacier, Hokitika Gorge, Punakaki Pancake Rocks; explore Nelson and the surrounding Abel Tasman Park; take the ferry across to Wellington -

• Catch a ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island or Rangitoto Island from Auckland as a day trip -

• Drive up to Bay of Islands, visit Pompalier mission -

• Hike the Routeburn Track (3 days) - Go to Invercargill and take a ferry to Stewart Island -

• Go to Mt Taranaki and hike around the area -

• Take a boat/flight to White Island (active volcano) -

• Go to Kaikoura to go whale watching

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