Visiting April 2026
Discussion
We are coming to NZ in April '26 and are at the planning stages of our tour of both islands. We will fly to Auckland for the north island leg then fly to Christchurch for the southern island. I have some questions that I hope someone can answer :-
1. Tomtom maps, are they any good in NZ?
2. It appears that Hobbiton and Milford Sound tours etc are already getting booked up, is that right ?
3. We are thinking of hiring a car rather than a motorhome. Is accommodation at motels and hostels likely be busy and need pre-booking or is a motorhome recommended, especially for the south island ?
4. Any difference in accommodation availability between the two islands ?
We are aware of the time needed and have allowed 10 days for the north island and 15 days for the south. We have planned a route that hits the key tourist spots so will probably be predictable by any NZ resident!!
Any info and or tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
1. Tomtom maps, are they any good in NZ?
2. It appears that Hobbiton and Milford Sound tours etc are already getting booked up, is that right ?
3. We are thinking of hiring a car rather than a motorhome. Is accommodation at motels and hostels likely be busy and need pre-booking or is a motorhome recommended, especially for the south island ?
4. Any difference in accommodation availability between the two islands ?
We are aware of the time needed and have allowed 10 days for the north island and 15 days for the south. We have planned a route that hits the key tourist spots so will probably be predictable by any NZ resident!!
Any info and or tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
A quick web search suggests that Tomtom Maps is OK for NZ, but possibly a bit out of date, with incorrect speed limits in places and missing traffic cameras. We use Google Maps when we need to and have found it to be generally very good. Note that whatever form of transport you choose, speed limits are rigorously enforced when police are on the road, and by mobile unmarked camera units. Permanent cameras are often not sign posted either.
Motorhomes are very popular with tourists, less so with locals. They can be large and are generally slower than day-to-day traffic, especially on some of the narrower, twisty and hilly routes that you will no doubt cover. Parking for motorhomes is not always straightforward or available where you want as well. As Mark says above, do not underestimate how long it can take to get from point A to point B in NZ.
Google Maps times are generally reasonably realistic for tourists, especially as you'll want to stop to look at things along the way. Some of the drives are just spectacular (e.g. Volcanic Plateau, Bay of Islands, Coromandel Peninsula in the north; Kaikoura Coast, Westland, Milford Sound, Mt Cook Region, Central Otago in the South).
April is not a bad time to visit. Weather should be reasonably settled, but the few days either side of Easter will be packed with local holidaymakers wherever you go.
Quality of accommodation varies hugely, depending on how much you want to spend. Generally speaking, you can get a pretty good indication from motel/hotel/B&B web pages and reviews. I think it would be well worth your while to book ahead, especially if you are here over Easter.
Yes - some attractions do book out well in advance. However, if you are prepared to be flexible, there are usually slots available for all but the very high demand attractions. Excellent walks are on offer at many locations free of charge if you are not averse to a bit of exercise.
Hope that is useful. If you have any questions, just ask.
Motorhomes are very popular with tourists, less so with locals. They can be large and are generally slower than day-to-day traffic, especially on some of the narrower, twisty and hilly routes that you will no doubt cover. Parking for motorhomes is not always straightforward or available where you want as well. As Mark says above, do not underestimate how long it can take to get from point A to point B in NZ.
Google Maps times are generally reasonably realistic for tourists, especially as you'll want to stop to look at things along the way. Some of the drives are just spectacular (e.g. Volcanic Plateau, Bay of Islands, Coromandel Peninsula in the north; Kaikoura Coast, Westland, Milford Sound, Mt Cook Region, Central Otago in the South).
April is not a bad time to visit. Weather should be reasonably settled, but the few days either side of Easter will be packed with local holidaymakers wherever you go.
Quality of accommodation varies hugely, depending on how much you want to spend. Generally speaking, you can get a pretty good indication from motel/hotel/B&B web pages and reviews. I think it would be well worth your while to book ahead, especially if you are here over Easter.
Yes - some attractions do book out well in advance. However, if you are prepared to be flexible, there are usually slots available for all but the very high demand attractions. Excellent walks are on offer at many locations free of charge if you are not averse to a bit of exercise.
Hope that is useful. If you have any questions, just ask.
Many thanks for this info. Seems to confirm much of what we've read. We are considering hiring a smaller motorhome as the worry of booking accommodation then finding we are unable to stop enroute without jeopardising the overnight stop, means the trip is more route march and less spontaneous.
As for the walking, my wife has just completed a 260km walk through Portugal and is keen to inflict more walking on me !! Lol.
Getting lost is one worry I have, hence the question about Tomtom. I am planning to download the Google offline maps to my mobile phone and may even buy an old fashioned paper, or book, map.
An alternative is to buy a local sim card with data purely for navigation. What is the phone coverage like across the south island ?
As for the walking, my wife has just completed a 260km walk through Portugal and is keen to inflict more walking on me !! Lol.
Getting lost is one worry I have, hence the question about Tomtom. I am planning to download the Google offline maps to my mobile phone and may even buy an old fashioned paper, or book, map.
An alternative is to buy a local sim card with data purely for navigation. What is the phone coverage like across the south island ?
A local sim is a good idea. Phone coverage is generally quite good, but can drop out or become sporadic in some very remote areas. However, it s difficult to get lost in such places as there will likely be just the one road. You could specify a rental with GPS.
Edited by antipodes40 on Wednesday 22 October 21:03
we hired a car at Auckland and dropped it off at Greymouth on the South Island. A total of 30 days, so not that much longer than your 25 days you have planned.
If you are going as far as Wellington, then why not get the ferry across the Cook Straight to the South Island, or are you planning on returning your hire car back to Auckland?
I can't answer about phones or tomtoms. We had GPS in our car and our phone plan had NZ included
If you are going as far as Wellington, then why not get the ferry across the Cook Straight to the South Island, or are you planning on returning your hire car back to Auckland?
I can't answer about phones or tomtoms. We had GPS in our car and our phone plan had NZ included
One factor you might want to think about, considering that you are on PH after all... your travels will take you on many enjoyable driving roads, which will generally be much more fun in a car than a campervan.
Accommodation shouldn't be hard to find at that time of year (hotels, motels, airbnb etc), you'll be outside peak tourist season - though as has been said around Easter will be busy with holidaying locals.
I'd recommend trying to keep plans somewhat flexible as our weather can be quite variable. Things like Milford Sound boat tour you might have to book well ahead, but it can be equally spectacular in bad weather - just a different character.
April is very much autumn weather, you could get anything from warm sunshine to cold wind/rain and even a chance of early snow on the hills in parts of the South Island. But autumn is a lot more settled and predictable than spring!
Don't be scared to explore side trips away from the main roads and tourist routes too, you can find lots of interesting places that way.
Accommodation shouldn't be hard to find at that time of year (hotels, motels, airbnb etc), you'll be outside peak tourist season - though as has been said around Easter will be busy with holidaying locals.
I'd recommend trying to keep plans somewhat flexible as our weather can be quite variable. Things like Milford Sound boat tour you might have to book well ahead, but it can be equally spectacular in bad weather - just a different character.
April is very much autumn weather, you could get anything from warm sunshine to cold wind/rain and even a chance of early snow on the hills in parts of the South Island. But autumn is a lot more settled and predictable than spring!
Don't be scared to explore side trips away from the main roads and tourist routes too, you can find lots of interesting places that way.
Edited by GravelBen on Sunday 26th October 22:32
Callerton said:
On the South Island in particular, you can be a long way from anywhere.
We've adopted a policy of not letting the fuel go below 50% - it makes for a much more relaxing time!
The main (South Island ) areas I can think of to keep this in mind are the West Coast (fuel stops are further apart and more expensive than most other places) and the Milford Road (fill up in Te Anau before heading to Milford). And maybe the Catlins if you are going there, it's not really that far following the main road through but you can clock up more distance than you think with interesting side trips to explore waterfalls, beaches etc.We've adopted a policy of not letting the fuel go below 50% - it makes for a much more relaxing time!
Edited by GravelBen on Sunday 26th October 22:28
GravelBen said:
The main (South Island ) areas I can think of to keep this in mind are the West Coast (fuel stops are further apart and more expensive than most other places) and the Milford Road (fill up in Te Anau before heading to Milford). And maybe the Catlins if you are going there, it's not really that far following the main road through but you can clock up more distance than you think with interesting side trips to explore waterfalls, beaches etc.
Thanks for this info. We have decided on a car rather than a camper for this very reason although, having never driven a hybrid car, it should be extra interesting.Edited by GravelBen on Sunday 26th October 22:28
We have already booked Milford Sound and Hobbiton as well as most accommodation along the way. We'll be looking at other attractions such as aircraft museums, hiking trails etc.
We will also be getting a local sim card data package, can you recommend which one ?
Grandad Gaz said:
we hired a car at Auckland and dropped it off at Greymouth on the South Island. A total of 30 days, so not that much longer than your 25 days you have planned.
If you are going as far as Wellington, then why not get the ferry across the Cook Straight to the South Island, or are you planning on returning your hire car back to Auckland?
I can't answer about phones or tomtoms. We had GPS in our car and our phone plan had NZ included
We are flying from North to South rather than driving across. I am hoping the hire cars include gps but need to have a plan B if they don't. If you are going as far as Wellington, then why not get the ferry across the Cook Straight to the South Island, or are you planning on returning your hire car back to Auckland?
I can't answer about phones or tomtoms. We had GPS in our car and our phone plan had NZ included
Paul-427 said:
Thanks for this info. We have decided on a car rather than a camper for this very reason although, having never driven a hybrid car, it should be extra interesting.
We have already booked Milford Sound and Hobbiton as well as most accommodation along the way. We'll be looking at other attractions such as aircraft museums, hiking trails etc.
We will also be getting a local sim card data package, can you recommend which one ?
We have already booked Milford Sound and Hobbiton as well as most accommodation along the way. We'll be looking at other attractions such as aircraft museums, hiking trails etc.
We will also be getting a local sim card data package, can you recommend which one ?
Well there is certainly no shortage of hiking trails! A full spectrum from short easy walks to rugged multi-day trips.
Spark (or their sub-brand Skinny on the same network) are generally regarded as having better coverage in rural areas, at least in the South Island - I don't spend much time in the North Island to comment on coverage there. Most of the country has pretty good coverage in populated areas but there are plenty of localised dead spots and some more remote areas with bigger gaps in coverage - you can see Spark's network coverage map here https://www.spark.co.nz/shop/mobile/network/ and other providers should have coverage maps on their websites too.
For hiking etc, there are some good phone apps which can download NZ Topo maps for offline use (the topo data itself is free open source from govt database but app makers generally charge for the apps using it). You can also get the topo maps free on websites like https://www.topomap.co.nz/ - just remember the elevation is in metres not feet, and everything looks easier on a map!
One network, formally Vodafone, are claiming the best coverage as they use starlink.
https://one.nz/why-choose-us/satellite/#eligible-p...
https://one.nz/why-choose-us/satellite/#eligible-p...
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