The Ultimate Guide to New Zealand

Have you been looking to pay a visit to New Zealand for 2022 or beyond? If so, then there are numerous stunning locations in New Zealand that you may wish to explore – and today, we’ve summarised some of the key things you should know about exploring New Zealand to help you make the most of the experience. After all, there’s so much to see in New Zealand. And so, it’s undeniably one of those destinations that we’d all like to visit at some point in time!

Exploring New Zealand – The Top NZ Destinations You Should Know

There are numerous destinations you should visit when it comes to exploring New Zealand, and we’ve outlined several of our key picks for the most stunning NZ destinations to help you pick an excellent place to visit.

1. Abel Tasman National Park

One of the key destinations we recommend you visit while exploring New Zealand has to be the Abel Tasman National Park – a stunning destination that feels like something out of Thailand, rather than New Zealand. This stunning national park offers an immense array of wildlife and sights to see, and this makes it undeniably one of the most popular and stunning regions in all of New Zealand. 

Its hiking opportunities, in particular, are second-to-none, with a 60km hiking trail along. In fact, the Abel Tasman National Park is considered one of the 9 great walks of New Zealand, and so, you can be confident of a great experience when you visit the region.

2. Relax at the Waiotapu Hot Springs

After a busy day exploring New Zealand, few things can be more soothing or relaxing than a visit to the iconic Waiotapu hot springs – a stunning destination that’s found on the fault line of two major tectonic plates. These stunning hot springs billow out steam and offer a simply incomparable experience overall, making them one of the key attractions for anyone visiting New Zealand to try.

3. Try Extreme Sports

One of the most commonly mentioned reasons that people visit New Zealand is for the extreme environment and opportunities – and as such, while exploring New Zealand, it’s critical that you consider giving extreme sports a try. Indeed, New Zealand offers a whole host of different extreme sporting opportunities, including bungy jumping, white water rafting, zorbing, skydiving, and paragliding; if it’s a taste of adventure that you’re looking for, then, extreme sports could be just the option you need.

4. Glacier Trekking 

If you’re looking for a more exciting and adventurous experience while exploring New Zealand, then we highly recommend Glacier trekking on Franz Josey and Fox. Of course, the experience is an expensive one considering that you’ll need to get a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier – but if it’s an unforgettable experience you’re looking for to add to your bucket list, then glacier trekking is one option you absolutely need to consider. 

5. Helicopter Tours

We’ve mentioned glacier trekking – but what if you don’t want to experience glacier trekking itself? If this is the case for your trip, why not just pay out for the helicopter tour instead – an exciting experience that offers a huge number of different photo opportunities from a bird’s eye view of the sky.

6. Check Out the Stunning Waitomo Glow Worm Cave 

If it’s an unforgettable experience you’ve been looking for, then a visit to the iconic Waitomo glow worm cave is well worth considering. This stunning cave system on the North Island of New Zealand features natural colonies of glowworms that light up the darkness of the cave in one of the world’s most stunning natural light shows. 

What’s more, the cave systems have been professionally opened as a modern visitors center, and you can even enjoy a boat tour underneath the stunning colonies of glowworms. From time to time, there’s even the opportunity to enjoy music from professional singers in the caves, so it’s truly an incredible experience and one to behold for any New Zealand visitor.

7. Visit the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

We’ve mentioned a visit to the Abel Tasman national park already, and it’s undeniable that the destination offers an incredible experience for nature lovers. Meanwhile, glacier trekking is an excellent opportunity for anyone wanting to add a bit more excitement to their hiking. However, for the best possible hiking experience while exploring New Zealand, we highly recommend a visit to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing – the iconic setting of Mordor in the Lord of the Rings. 

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing offers several difficulty levels and some of the most stunning landscape views for hikers of all experience levels, so it’s well worth considering as part of your explorations.

8. Discover Maori Culture

What exploration of New Zealand would be complete without discovering the truth behind Maori culture? Maoris were New Zealand’s original inhabitants, and they originally arrived between 1320 and 1350 In the country. The people are friendly, and welcoming, and have a rich and diverse culture – and, as such, it’s well worth considering a visit to one of the region’s incredible Maori cultural shows to learn more about this incredible experience.

Generally speaking, shows last around 2.5 hours, making them excellent opportunities for anyone visiting the region to consider truly immersing themselves in the history of New Zealand culture.

Getting Around New Zealand

At this point, we’ve outlined some of the most stunning destinations you could visit while exploring New Zealand – but how are you supposed to get there? Well, don’t panic! In fact, there are numerous ways you can get from destination to destination to make the most of your holidays in New Zealand, and these include the following: 

• Public transport systems such as the bus offer an easy solution
• Tour groups (which arrange the entire agenda for your visit)
• Self-driving is one of the most popular options to get around NZ
• Car and van hires are an increasingly popular alternative
• If you’re going longer distances, domestic flights offer an excellent way to get between cities

These are just several different options you could consider for getting around New Zealand. Of course, it’s well worth considering that, the more time you spend traveling the less time you’ll have free to make the most of the region’s beauty and all it has to offer.

Final Thoughts 

If you’ve been looking to explore New Zealand, then you may want to consider the ideas and tips we’ve given today to help you make the most of the experience. After all, with hundreds of stunning destinations (we’ve only covered a few!) and so much to see and love, there’s something for everyone in New Zealand – and it might just be the ideal destination of choice for your future travels.