Reviews of Three Week Best of New Zealand Vacation Package

We had a wonderful time during our 24 days in New Zealand, our longest holiday ever. Our only regret was not staying longer. We rented a car and driving was very easy. I think people don't realize how rural most of the country is, and that you are usually driving on two lane roads, with lots of single lane bridges! Not like the autobahns in Europe! And the scenery everywhere is breath taking. The itinerary from First Light was perfect - drive times, locations, experiences. I don't think we would have had such incredible encounters if we had booked this ourselves. We thought this would be a once in a lifetime trip, but we might be back!

We had a great trip! Essentially, it was everything we had hoped and thought it would be. We especially loved the South Island (we thought this would be the case before our trip and it turned out to be so). Heidi listened well and heard us (activities we enjoyed, kinds of places we liked to stay). She patiently went back and forth with us and developed an itinerary that we thoroughly enjoyed. Now, having traveled to New Zealand, there are changes we would make (e.g., wouldn't stop in Rotorua, spending the time in Christchurch instead, maybe go to an outlying island for our stay in Fiji), but we would say that our itinerary allowed us to see so much of New Zealand in our 4 weeks visiting, soaking in the local flora, fauna, and culture. The itinerary also had some built-in free time which we appreciated and enjoyed. It allowed us to book some things on our own such as the National Museum (Wellington), Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, Highlanders/Blues Rugby match in Dunedin, wine tasting (South Island), and just wander into and through interesting places (The Wool Company in Utiku, Foxton Beach, Cardrona).

New Zealand is a beautiful and welcoming country. Food was delicious and services informal but professional. Hotels, in general, lack charm and character but First Light's choices were all comfortable and clean with everything one could need available.

First Light Travel is a first rate travel service. Our travel assistant Micala created our 3 week itinerary to include all of the sights and excursions we requested. Micala was also there when we needed to make a last minute change. The team is very accommodating and professional. We highly recommend their services.

Thank you Kirsty! We had a blast. New Zealand is a stunning country and the first country my husband wants to return to very soon. It was a perfect celebration of his 60th birthday. It was a seamless few weeks, well though out and given us many fond memories.

We've used several companies over the years to travel with and First Light Travel is among the top travel agencies that we have experienced. Our time in New Zealand was almost magical due to their planning. Everyday was like a new adventure to experience and we looked forward to the variety of activities that were scheduled.

Heidi, From the very first contact (your phone call to me) following my initial email, you were extremely helpful and informative while we thought through what we wanted from our first NZ holiday. Your very first proposal / itinerary was amazing, and exceeded our expectations. With just a little modification, that was the one we went for. Everything was clearly detailed day by day. We just needed to mention my name at each hotel / motel, and each activity, and we were checked in. All so easy. Heidi, we can't thank you enough for bringing this holiday of a lifetime to life. Thank you.

First Light worked hard for us from the beginning to be sure we had the experiences we wanted. Yet, with enough time to really enjoy them. Everything was seamless, easy and well organized. Even, when we had to unexpectedly alter our plans to return home, First Light came through to make our remaining time in NZ wonderful and got us into activities we had planned for future days. All of our accommodations exceeded our expectations.

We loved our first visit to New Zealand! Two weeks was barely long enough but we covered a good amount of highlights on both the North and South Island. Now we know which areas we’d return to spend more time exploring! Nicole did a wonderful job of getting to know what we were interested in and incorporating everything we requested as well as leaving us time to do some hiking throughout the trip. It was so helpful to use First Light Travel to plan our trip as we were traveling during a busy time of year and had left our planning fairly late. I knew it would be best to use a local company that are experts in the field. We had some busy days and some slower days but they all flowed smoothly. The itinerary Nicole created for us kept us on track to see what we wanted at a pace I knew would work for us. Our family favorite was Rotorua Canopy Tours. My adventurous kids from the get-go were excited and, although I was more apprehensive, the guides on the tour made it easy for me to feel comfortable and have such a great time! With all the accommodation, rental cars, domestic flights, and activities to organize, I would definitely recommend First Light Travel to plan your travels!

Highest of praise for FirstLight Travel (FLT) an incredible team and Natalie, who put together a truly epic adventure. First, we booked our New Zealand tour in 2019 for travel in 2020. The world had other plans. Throughout the COVID years FLT kept us informed of the situation in NZ and provided good advice about the travelling situation. So when our adventure finally began after 5 years the expectations were high. The expectations were not only met but far exceeded. The 18-day travel adventure was exceptional, every accommodation was flawless every excursion was exceptional! Seriously it was that good, we would go to sleep every night saying Wow it cannot get any better and then a new day would dawn and it was. A few of the highpoints were Essence of Waiheke Wine Tour on our first full day, perfect introduction after 30 plus hours of travelling, fresh sea air wonderful wines and lovely vineyards such a great kickoff. While I could list everything we did I’ll just hit a few not to miss activities – North Island the Kiwidundee tour was a lot of fun and informative with a thoughtful and knowledgeable guide, The Church – Hahei wonderful peaceful and a magnificent restaurant; Waimangu Volcanic Valley: Waimangu Thermal Reserve Self Guided Walk and Boat Cruise probably one of my favorites on the north island a beautiful park and spectacular and easy hike. The cultural experience in Rotorua was really interesting and informative and of course Hobbiton – a blast. The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves: not to be missed – truly an otherworldly experience. For the South Island the train from Christchurch to Greymouth was epic and not to be missed followed on by the drive down to Frans Joesph Glacier a stay at Glenfern Villa wonderful views and an unbelievable Milky Way – wow. Penguin viewing was a lot fun as was a few day respite to explore Queenstown. Truly everything on this tour was spectacular and so much fun highest of praise to FLT for putting this trip together.