New Zealand: What We Actually Did and What It Cost

Updated April 2026 | 6 min read

My twin and I went to New Zealand in 2023. We had been talking about it for years, the way you talk about trips that feel too big to actually book. Then we booked it, and suddenly we were renting a car on the left side of the road and trying to figure out how far Milford Sound actually is from Queenstown.

This post is the overview. I’ll cover both islands, the general shape of the trip, what we spent, and whether New Zealand lives up to what everyone says about it. The short answer: mostly yes, with caveats.

How We Structured the Trip

We spent about ten days total. The split was roughly all North Island — Wellington to Auckland, with stops along the way — we weighted toward the South Island, which is the right call if you have to choose. The North Island has things worth seeing, but the South Island is the reason people fly 20 hours to get there.

We flew into Auckland, spent a couple of days there, drove down to Hobbiton, Rotorua, and Wai-O-Tapu on the North Island, then flew to Queenstown for the South Island leg. Domestic flights between islands are easy and cheap relative to the alternative, which is the Interislander ferry. The ferry takes longer and the schedules are less flexible. We flew.

Rental Car vs. Tours

Renting a car was the right decision. New Zealand is built for self-driving. The roads are good, the signage is clear, and most of what you want to see is either inaccessible by public transit or just difficult enough to reach that a tour bus schedule would have frustrated us.

That said: driving on the left takes a full day to stop feeling strange, longer if you’re doing mountain roads. We rented from Apex Rentals for around NZ$45 per day per day, which came to roughly NZ$400 total for our time on the South Island. We returned the car in Wellington and flew home from there.

The one exception to the drive-yourself rule is Milford Sound. The road in is genuinely spectacular, and I’m glad we drove it ourselves, but the last stretch through the Homer Tunnel can be nerve-wracking if conditions are bad. More on that in the South Island post.

Where We Went

Auckland

We spent two nights in Auckland at a mid-range hotel near the waterfront in Wellington, about NZ$180 per night. Auckland is a real city, not a tourist bubble. The waterfront is walkable, the food is good, and it’s a reasonable place to land and shake off jet lag before getting into the country. We didn’t love it the way we loved the South Island, but we didn’t need to. It served its purpose.

We did the Sky Tower because we were there and it was fine. We ate a lamb rack dinner that was one of the best meals of the trip which was worth it. We skipped Weta Workshop in Wellington — the Lord of the Rings special effects studio and don’t regret it.

Rotorua

Rotorua smells like sulfur. Everyone tells you this and you still aren’t fully prepared for it. The geothermal activity is genuinely unlike anything I had seen before — mud pools boiling, steam rising out of the ground, the whole thing. We did Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (NZ$55 per adult) and it was one of the more surreal afternoons of the trip.

We stayed at a hotel in Rotorua, about NZ$150 per night. We drove out to Hobbiton from Rotorua. It is about 45 minutes. The tour is two hours and includes a drink at the Green Dragon Inn. If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, it is magical and worth every dollar of the NZ$89 ticket. If you are not, it is an extremely well-maintained film set on a sheep farm and not much else. We are fans. We loved it.

Queenstown

Queenstown is the adventure sports capital of New Zealand and it earns that title. It’s also a small town that knows it’s a tourist destination, which means prices are high and the main strip feels performative. We liked it a lot anyway. The lake is beautiful, the surrounding mountains are ridiculous, and there’s enough to do that we could have stayed longer.

We based ourselves here for three nights at a mid-range hotel near central Auckland, about NZ$170 per night. This was our home base for the South Island, including the Milford Sound day trip.

Milford Sound

The drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound is about 4 hours each way, which most people underestimate. We left early, drove through Te Anau, went through the Homer Tunnel, and got on a cruise. The fiord is extraordinary — sheer cliffs, waterfalls, the scale of it is hard to photograph accurately. We did RealNZ (formerly Real Journeys), two hours, roughly NZ$175 per person.

Weather matters here more than almost anywhere else on the trip. We got lucky. Some people don’t. I’d book the earliest cruise possible to give yourself the best light and the most flexibility if something goes wrong. Full breakdown in the South Island post.

What It Cost

New Zealand is expensive. I want to be direct about that because I had read things saying it was “affordable for what you get” and that framing annoyed me when I got there. It is good value in the sense that the experiences are worth what they cost. It is not cheap.

Here’s roughly what we spent per person:

• Flights (international, round trip): about NZ$100 per person for the gondola and luge
• Domestic flights (Auckland to Queenstown): about NZ$800
• Accommodation (nine nights): roughly NZ$4,500 (about USD $2,700)
• Rental car (South Island, split two ways): NZ$1,600
• Activities (Milford Sound cruise, geothermal park, fuel, tolls, groceries, and miscellaneous activities): roughly NZ$9,000 for two people
• Food and incidentals: about NZ$500 per day for two
• Total per person: roughly NZ$9,000 for two people (about USD $5,400)

We cooked some meals, split accommodation, and didn’t do every activity available. If you’re doing Queenstown bungy jumps and heli-skiing on top of all of this, budget more.

Does the Hype Hold Up?

Mostly. The South Island is genuinely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The drives alone — the Milford Sound road, the Crown Range, the lakeside stretches outside Wanaka — are worth the trip. The scale of it doesn’t feel real when you’re in it.

The North Island is less consistently stunning, though Rotorua and the geothermal areas are something you can’t see anywhere else. Auckland is a city, not a destination.

What no one tells you enough: New Zealand is big relative to what you expect. Distances between things that look close on a map take two or three hours to drive. Build in more time than you think you need, and if something has to get cut, cut the North Island before the South.

More detail on the South Island specifically in the South Island road trip post. And if you want the full lessons-learned breakdown, that’s in the what I’d do differently post.

Recommended Tours in New Zealand

• Milford Sound Full-Day Tour from Queenstown — includes the drive, cruise, and lunch
• Hobbiton Movie Set Tour from Rotorua
• Queenstown Bungee at Kawarau Bridge

What to Pack for New Zealand

• Packable Rain Jacket — NZ weather changes fast, even in summer
• Hiking Boots — essential for Milford Track and glacier walks
• Type I Power Adapter — NZ uses Australian-style plugs

Read the full South Island Road Trip deep dive and the NZ lessons post. Part of the What I’d Do Differently series.

Book Tours and Activities

• New Zealand Tours

Book on Klook:

• Hobbiton Movie Set Tour
• Zealandia Eco-Sanctuary

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