Travel in the North Island , New Zealand

I’ve been to New Zealand and absolutely loved it, but I had 5 weeks there, not 7 nights. I totally get you’re enthusiastic, but I’m afraid you’re trying to do too much.

Whether or not your itinerary is enjoyable or even feasible, depends on a few things.
First; How much time do you actually have? In days, not in nights. This is important because if you arrive somewhere at 9 pm and leave the next day at 7 am, you will have spent 1 night there, but you wouldn’t have had any time to see anything. So the number of nights doesn’t say much.

Secondly; where will you be flying in from? Will you be impacted by jet lag?

Thirdly; have you written out your day by day itinerary, including the time it takes to drive from A to B to C? If you do you will have see that your proposed itinerary from Auckland to Rotorua via the glow worms and Hobbiton takes at the very least 5 hours of driving. That’s 5 hours of non-stop driving without any time included for sightseeing, stops to admire the view, coffeebreaks etc.

Fourth and last; I suggest you to check out the New Zealand forum of TripAdvisor. The experts on that forum were incredibly helpful in preparing my 5 week stay in wonderful New Zealand.

You asked if it was overly ambitious to see the glow worms and Hobbiton in the same day with an overnight in Rotorua - we did that on our visit there a couple of years ago. We went to Hobbiton first (in the morning) and then to see the glow worms and are glad we did it in that order since we got pretty wet using inner tubes to see the glow worms in a cave in Waitomo with the tour company we used. LOVED Hobbiton - even my daughter who wasn't a big LOTR fan thought it was great. And it's pretty amazing to see the glow worms.

Enjoy your trip even if it is short. New Zealand is an amazing, beautiful country.

You can review our self-drive itinerary for the 7-day North Island Tour in New Zealand.

DAY 1 : AUCKLAND
Collect your rental car at the airport and drive to your hotel.

DAY 2 : AUCKLAND - COROMANDEL
Depart Auckland travelling along the Seabird Coast to visit Miranda Shorebird Centre. Continue through Thames and Coromandel town, visiting the Rapaura Watergradens and taking a ride on the Driving Creek Railway narrow gauge train en route. Continue to Whitianga for the night.

DAY 3 : COROMANDEL
Visit or view the from the mainland the most famous beaches in the Coromandel area today including – Hot Water Beach, Cathedral Cove, Hahei, Cook’s Beach. The timetable of today’s tour will dependant on local tides. There will be pleanty of time to enjoy a swim if weather permits.

DAY 4 : COROMANDEL - TAURANGA
At leisure in Whitianga this morning. Optional activities: golf, fishing, horse-riding, visit local museums or shops etc. This afternoon depart for Tauranga visiting Matatoki Cheese Farm en route.

DAY 5 : TAURANGA - ROTORUA
This morning is free to enjoy Tauranga before continuing through to the geothermal city of Rotorua at your leisure. This evening enjoy an authentic Maori Hangi (feast) and Concert.

DAY 6 : ROTORUA - AUCKLAND
Visit Te Puia Thermal Reserve to see boiling mudpools and roaring geysers. Following this, visit Rainbow Springs to see New Zealand’s trout, birds and wildlife before continuing to the Agrodome for a New Zealand sheep and farm show featuring sheep dog demonstrations, cow milking and an introduction to the stars of the industry. This afternoon return to Auckland through the lush Waikato region.

DAY 7 : DEPARTURE DAY
Return of your rental car.

The tour we were on also did the glowworms in the morning and Hobbiton in the afternoon of the same day. It was fine.
Robert, you need to add Hobbiton to your tour. It was one of our top reasons for going to your beautiful country,

Take this with a grain of salt since I haven’t been yet and am planning my trip for January.

But I would probably head to Napier from Auckland. Then work your way back up. So 2 nights Auckland, 2 nights Napier, 2 nights Rotarua, and maybe your last night in Hamilton. It’s only about an hour from the airport and has Hamilton Gardens.

Thank you all for the great comments/suggestions! I am realizing that we will just be scratching the surface of all there is to do. I’m now looking at this as a scouting trip for future visits. :)

Regarding Napier, and the suggestion to scrap it, I was wondering if that was a good investment of time. I was thinking we’d use it as a base and see Te Mata Peak and Cape Kidnappers, as well as hit some wineries. Not sure if that’s a reasonable plan, though. Do you think Lake Taupo would be better?

Other questions…what are some thoughts on going to a hangi?

What are absolutely must-sees in Rotorua?

Where is the best free glow worm experience? (I ❤️ free; thanks for bringing that to my attention!)

If we were to cut our journey on the way back (from Napier or Lake Taupo), would a stop for the night be best in Raglan, Hamilton, or Cambridge? (We would be driving from wherever to the airport on our last day. Our flight leaves around 4pm.)

With respect to reversing our order of locations, we were thinking we’d keep the distance driving shorter at the beginning due to jet lag and getting used to driving on the other side of the road. ( I can let everyone know when we’re there if you want to avoid being on the road with us, lol!)

Thank you all again for all the wonderful ideas!!

Phew we won't be there until April/May so won't have to worry about the crazy Americans on the wrong side of the road lol.
It is 24 years and 41 years since I have been to the North Island (we did a Sth Island trip back in April/May).
On both of those long ago trips a highlight for me was Tongariro National Park and I will certainly be heading back there on the next visit. So maybe have a bit of a google look at it. Just a thought.

2 of my kids were actually reminiscing about their glow worm boat tour of Waitomo Caves on Friday night. They were 7 and 9 at the time so it left a strong impression.

If you are planning on returning to NZ in the future I would highly recommend a good bit of time on the more spectacular South Island. We spent 3 wonderful weeks roadtripping predominantly the Southern Alps and Fiordland. Extraordinary scenery everywhere everyday. I did write a trip report of sorts, I am too inarticulate to do the area justice though.

Have a great trip.

We enjoyed the hangi dinner but I especially liked the school where they teach traditional Maori crafts. This school was part of a trip to a geothermal area. Having been to Yellowstone, the visit to the geothermal area did not thrill me.