New Zealand 2026

This is a list that comes up when doing a search on the forum for 'New Zealand'. These posts are all from within the last year so no real old information. As you can see your post is the first one, the others have lots of good information so check them out.

We went to New Zealand in February one year. One tip -- Chinese New Year will be February 17 through the 21st in 2026. Since a lot of Chinese have immigrated to New Zealand, we found Chinese New Year to be very very busy with families visiting from China. A lot of the attractions we went to were crowded.

As has been mentioned, you can save quite a lot of money if you're willing to do some of the advance research yourself - booking your own airfare, car and accommodations according to whichever itinerary you finally decide on after perusing a few guidebooks and studying a few examples.
There are a number of day trip and tour providers based in the major cities (Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown spring to mind) that will get you out and about if you'd rather not deal with renting a car but, that said, having a car is by far the better way to see the country - particularly the more rural areas outside of the major hubs. Accessing the trail heads for any of NZ's terrific day hikes pretty much requires having a vehicle.
Though driving on the left in unfamiliar surroundings can be a daunting prospect for a first-timer, I think you'll find that you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly - and NZ is a country that's tailor-made for meandering day trips by car.
Good advice re being aware of the Chinese New Year period. On our most recent visit we noted how crowded some of the smaller towns had gotten during that period - to the point that some places were completely booked with no rooms ro be had, so I'd suggest finalizing your bookings early if you plan to be there at that time of year.
You really can't go wrong no matter how you craft your final itinerary, but our personal preference after numerous visits to NZ is the South Island ... particularly the area around Queenstown, Te Anau, and the sounds. Abel Tasman NP at the northern tip of the island is another favorite, and the nearby Marlboroughwine country makes it a great base for a few days.

How active would you like to be? Active Adventures is a New Zealand company that offers all kids of tours, with walking, cycling, etc. and also a “comfort” version.

https://activeadventures.com/destinations/new-zealand/

I see a banner on the website offering $750 off tours as a Black Friday early special.

I took Mondumo’s tour of New Zealand last February and had a wonderful experience. The owner, Colin Mairs, is also a Rick Steves guide in Scotland. He was our guide on this tour and he’s fabulous. He is beginning to use other tour guides in order to expand his business, but I’m sure he is picking the best.

The tour is run very much like a Rick Steves Europe tour, so if you like that style, you’ll be happy with Mondumo. We had a nice mix of organized activities and free time for our own exploration.

I don’t know if dates have yet been set for 2026, but you can get on Mondumo’s list to be informed of developments.

Hello,
My sister and I toured New Zealand March 2024 with Mondumo tours! We had a fabulous time. If you like Rick Steve tours, you will like Mondumo run tours. The company has a similar philosophy as well as similar travelers to Rick Steves. In fact I think 90% of our group were Rick Steves alumni. Our tour guides were Colin Mars and Louisa Opetaia and they were both very engaging and knowledgeable.

It was a great mix of cultural, historical, geographical and fun experiences, and I would highly recommend you checking them out.

Before I signed up, I emailed Colin with several questions and I am sure he would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Kia Ora! Happy travels.

My husband and I ( in our 70s) took the Mondumo tour in February 2024. I am an avid walker/mover and the tour provided plenty of opportunities for activities. All but one couple on our tour had taken Rick Steves tours and appreciated that mix of activities and touring. Mondumo included the same sort of activities mix.

There were a number of younger folks on the tour who took advantage of the biking, speed boating, hang gliding, etc. activities available--especially in Queensland. A number on our tour also extended their travel both before and after the Mondumo tour to visit places not on the Mondumo tour.

We enjoyed Auckland and were happy we spent several days there before the tour began walking all around the city and enjoying it's wonderful food.

Finally, we flew back to the states from Christchurch that had the most user friendly airport we ever experienced!

My wife & I , like many of the above commenters, took a Mondumo tour with Colin earlier this year. We did it as part of a six week adventure in Australia and New Zealand, broken in to 3 major components. The Mondumo leg was our favorite. As others have said , Mondumo is run very similar to a Rick Steves model, as Colin ( the owner, and our guide) is a Steves alumnus, and off season guide for RS in Scotland. With Rick's permission, he has borrowed the format and methodology to a high degree. As we have done a dozen Steves tours we were very familiar with the ratios of free time, amount of bus travel, tour logistics etc. , and picked Mondumo specifically to the " known quality" of the operator. As others have said. If you like Rick Steve's tours, you will feel right at home with Mondumo, and really enjoy the experience. We highly recommend them to others.

I have done two Rick Steves tours and loved both of them. When I was planning to go to New Zealand (#1 on my lifetime list of places to go), I contacted the Rick Steves organization to get a recommendation of a tour company in New Zealand. They quickly responded with Mondumo as Colin is has been one of their guides in Scotland, and I signed up for the New Zealand tour without hesitation.

I did the tour in March this year, and it was an absolutely fantastic. I think it would meet your goal of activity. BTW, the bus drivers were a hoot!

We went on the 2 week New Zealand tour with Colin at Mondumo tours. It was fantastic!! So much fun,food, drink, culture, and camaraderie. I highly recommend it! Debra

My wife and I did the March ‘24 tour this spring with Colin. We met Colin at an RS alumni gathering many years ago, and wanted to do the Mondumo tour with him ever since. After only 4 years, we finally got in! (Covid shutdown put a wrench in everything). There are other tours, but Mondumo was the only one we ever considered.

We went a few days early (highly recommended) and spent a day with some Kiwis we met the previous fall on a cruise in the Med (note: being called a Kiwi is considered an honor for New Zealanders). A very fun start to the trip. Auckland is an active city and very interesting.

We spent an extra week after the tour doing botanical gardens and wines tours and rode the Coastal Pacific and the Northern Explorer scenic trains back to Auckland, with the Interislander ferry thrown in. We really enjoyed that experience. Finally, we jumped on a cruise ship and sailed to Sydney.

As I told Colin, with the land tour you get a bite of everything. With a cruise, you only get a nibble. However, the two compliment each other really well and there is almost no overlap. If you can pull it off, it’s worth doing both.

The itinerary is split between the two main islands, so we had two drivers. Dean and Paul were both awesome! We had an assistant guide who was half Samoa and half Māori ancestry and she shared a lot of culture (we got almost zero of that from the cruise ship). Colin packs a lot into the tour and does so in a very good way. No skimping on anything. If anyone starved, it was their own fault!!

Coach driver Paul ended our trip with a nice compliment to Colin. He said that he had been driving tours for 25 years and learned new things on our trip. Colin guides for Rick in the NZ “off season” so he learned how to do things things in that manner. If you like Rick’s tours (we’ve done 8), you will be right at home on this one. We were very pleased with the whole experience. You can “meet” Colin if you bring up Rick’s 3-part Scotland series from a few years ago. Have fun with whatever you do.

Side notes:

We flew to Honolulu and stayed overnight. Then it was just a short 9 hour flight the next day. Actually cost a lot less than a nonstop. Food for thought!

The optional Dart River jet boats in Queenstown were a high point. Don’t miss them. You will not get that experience anywhere else in the world.

We used Mondumo tours with Colin Mairs. It was a small group of 20. Perfect! Our friends had toured NZ with him prior to Covid and I knew I wanted to use this group because they had such wonderful things to say. It was fantastic, beginning to end!!! Well organized daily group activities but free time usually everyday to do individual activities too. As a side note, I was pleasantly surprised by the food. I am a pescatarian and each meal was well thought out to my dietary needs! We will definitely tour with Colin again and I highly recommend Mondumo!!

I took the Mondumo tour with Colin Mairs, and it was an excellent trip. There is so much to see and do in New Zealand-Colin's an amazing guide and has pride for his adopted country, and the Mondumo tour touches on many of the must see things in New Zealand. Colin is very responsive if you have questions-both prior to the trip and on the trip. There is built in free time to add activities on some days, and options for different levels of activities. My biggest regret-not doing the airplane ride from Milford Sound back to Queenstown. It's not cheap-but everyone that took it said it was the most amazing flight ever. Highlights for me of the Mondumo tour of New Zealand was the greenstone carving and the Hobbiton tour. If you go and see visit Hobbiton, you must watch the Lord of the Rings movies before you go. The scenery in New Zealand is amazing, but throughout my world travels, I have never come across a more friendly country, and the respect the country has for their native Maori people.

My wife, long time friends, and I toured NZ with Colin Mairs and Mondumo Tours in March 2023. It was a fantastic tour. It was a small group and the best tour we’ve ever taken because of Colin’s superior organization skills, caring nature, and the itinerary. The mix of Māori culture and natural wonders of NZ, like Milford Sound, made this trip memorable. Just go to Mundomo Tours website and book the tour and you’ll not regret it.

I toured with Colin and Mondumo in 2019. Like everyone else, I loved Colin and New Zealand. Colin is exceedingly nice, responsive, and reliable. And he sings! Everyone loves him for a reason.

Not much to add here as others have captured the experience with Colin very well. We met Colin during a Rick Steves Tour of Scotland. When we learned that Colin created Mondumo we jumped at the opportunity. No regrets!

Check out moatrek tours.
https://www.moatrek.com/