A New Zealand itinerary from the UK: the long-haul version

The flight, and the day it costs

There is no non-stop flight. The fastest routings go through Doha, Dubai or Singapore at roughly 24 to 25 hours door to door, and Air New Zealand is relaunching its London service via Los Angeles in 2026 for people who prefer the westward direction. Whichever way you go, you land at either end of the day having lost a night, and the time difference is 11 to 13 hours depending on the season.

Don’t drive a rental car. Get an early night to adjust to NZ time zone.

Frangipani08, Tripadvisor New Zealand forum, on a London to Auckland arrival

That is the rule, and it is the one British arrivals break most. Day one is a walk, a meal and a bed in the city you land in. The car is collected on day two. If the budget allows a night in Singapore or Doha on the way, take it; a broken flight lands a different person.

Fly into one city, out of another

The single most useful thing a UK traveller can do is book the flights open-jaw: into Auckland, out of Christchurch or Queenstown, or the reverse. Every major carrier sells it, the fare difference is small, and it removes the day of backtracking that a return-to-Auckland itinerary spends on the motorway. The rental car goes one way for a modest fee that our itineraries include.

Fourteen days away: one island, done

With twelve days on the ground the South Island loop is the answer for most first trips: fly into Christchurch, a rest day, the TranzAlpine to the West Coast, the glaciers, Haast to Wanaka, Queenstown, two nights in Te Anau for Milford, Mount Cook, and out of Queenstown or Christchurch. The two buffer days go to a second night in Wanaka and a spare morning at the fiord. It is written day by day in the 10 day South Island itinerary, and the fourteen day version simply breathes more.

The North Island version suits winter travel and families: warmer, gentler roads, Hobbiton and Rotorua, and the Tongariro Crossing with its weather day. The trade is scenery for culture, and the island comparison says plainly which temperament wants which.

Three weeks: both islands with rest days

1. Days 1 to 3, Auckland. The rest day, then Waiheke or the west coast beaches, then the car.
2. Days 4 to 6, Hobbiton and Rotorua. Two nights in the steam, the hangi, the Redwoods after dark.
3. Days 7 to 8, Taupo and the Tongariro Crossing. The walk with its spare day at National Park Village.
4. Day 9, Wellington. Te Papa, the harbour, an early night before the ferry.
5. Days 10 to 11, the Cook Strait ferry and Kaikoura. Three and a half hours across, and the whales the next morning.
6. Days 12 to 13, Christchurch and the TranzAlpine to Franz Josef. Or drive Arthur’s Pass with the kea.
7. Days 14 to 15, the glaciers and the Haast Pass to Wanaka.
8. Days 16 to 17, Queenstown. Glenorchy, Arrowtown, one big thing.
9. Days 18 to 19, Te Anau and Milford Sound. Two nights, the cruise, the spare morning.
10. Days 20 to 21, Aoraki Mount Cook and out. The Hooker Valley on the new bridge, Tekapo, a flight from Christchurch or back to Queenstown.

That is nineteen nights with two-night stops in seven places, and it is the trip the three week guide unpacks in full. A UK couple who did roughly this shape over 24 days posted their costs in pounds on the New Zealand travel subreddit afterwards, and the opening line is the one we hear on the phone.

We had an absolutely wonderful time traveling around the North and South Island on our 3 week trip to New Zealand last month.

r/newzealand_travel, costs of a 24 day trip from the UK

The paperwork, and when to go

• British passport holders need an NZeTA before travel, applied for online in minutes, and pay the International Visitor Levy with it. The levy tripled to NZ$100 on 1 October 2024. The entry guide has the steps.
• A UK driving licence is valid as it is for the length of the visit. Driving is on the left, which is the one thing that makes New Zealand easier for British drivers than for anyone else.
• The seasons are reversed, which works in your favour: the British winter is the New Zealand summer, and a February half term is high summer at Lake Wanaka. The catch is that Christmas to late January is also the New Zealand school holiday and the peak inside the peak.
• Prices on this site show in pounds when you arrive from the UK, and the money protection page explains how a deposit is held for a company on the far side of the world.

The UK holidays page compares the one-stop flight routes and lists the touring packages priced in pounds. The New Zealand Discovery is the three week shape above as a self drive from Auckland to Christchurch; the 21 day South Island Grand Tour is three weeks on one island for people who have already done the north.