New Zealand may be small, but it has a lot to offer. From big, sprawling cities on the waterfront to the wild and beautiful mountains and lakes of the South Island, it can feel overwhelming to plan only 7 days in New Zealand. However, it is possible! You’re not crazy.
You can use this guide to plan your own 7 day New Zealand tour or tweak it as you see fit. If you’d rather spend more time in the South Island you can always do that and take off some of the stuff in the middle.
Make this itinerary your own, but remember you can enjoy New Zealand in 7 days.
Tips for 7 Days in New Zealand
Taking on New Zealand in one week can be intimidating, but one thing that will always help is if you start your days early. New Zealand is a relatively small place, so if you get an early start you can be at your next destination pretty quickly, leaving the rest of the day free.
The best part about a self-driving New Zealand is it’s the journey that’s so amazing, not the final destination.
You might also like to read about self-driving the Great Ocean Road in Australia.
7 Days in New Zealand Itinerary
Days 1-2: Christchurch
The first stop on your 7 days in New Zealand is Christchurch. I knew before leaving for New Zealand that Christchurch was in a state of disarray and destruction, but I wasn’t prepared for the almost post-apocalyptic feel to it. Walking down the streets in the center, shops are boarded up and buildings sit vacant with curtains flapping in the wind.
The sound of construction follows you everywhere, a constant reminder of the hardships the city faces. However, in stark contrast, the city is still beautiful, with its quaint little river running through the center of the city surrounded by blooming magnolias and green grass.
Christchurch may still be being rebuilt, but there’s still a lot to enjoy. The Christchurch Botanic Gardens are lovely and at 52 acres, you’ll never be bored. Nearby is Hagley Park, where you can rent kayaks and canoes to float down the river. This is also a wonderful place to walk around and admire nature.
Another site you should make your way to is the Christchurch Air Force Museum, which is well worth a stop.
The Air Force Museum is a bit further out of the city and kind of a pain to get to, but it has awesome planes and an interesting exhibit on prisoners of war, plus lots of interactive activities as well. Even better? It’s totally free of charge.
Some notable mentions are the Big Green Chair, the wheat sculpture and ReSTART, the new outdoor mall made out of shipping containers. This shopping mall was so unique and sort of bizarre, but also totally awesome and you don’t even really notice that the shops are shipping containers.
Where to Stay in Christchurch
- BreakFree on Cashel: Approximately NZ$100/night
- Novotel Christchurch Cathedral Square: Approximately NZ$150/night
- Rendezvous Hotel Christchurch: Approimately NZ$115/night
Day 3: En Route to Wellington
Next up on your 7 day New Zealand tour is the train from Christchurch to Picton. The most popular train from Christchurch to the tip of the north island is the TranzAlpine. This train goes through the mountains and has breathtaking views, but it’s quite expensive and wasn’t necessarily in our budget, so we chose to take the KiwiRail Coastal Pacific.
Sadly, the route suffered extensive damage due to earthquakes and is indefinitely closed. It’s likely to open again in late 2018 and when it does you can also have stunning views of the mountains and ocean.
The train takes you along the coast and past the Kaikoura Ranges, which are probably some of the most impressive and beautiful mountains I have ever seen. The train has a back car is a viewing deck with it has no windows so you get an unobstructed view of the gorgeous scenery.
Although I’m sure the TranzAlpine train is lovely, it’s hard to imagine more spectacular views than what I saw on KiwiRail Coastal Pacific route. If you want to read more about trains and how to get around New Zealand, read up on this New Zealand travel guide.
The train is about 5 hours and arrives into Picton, a coastal town on the tip of the South Island. From there you make an incredibly easy connection to the ferry across the channel to Wellington. Two ferries go across, but the Interislander is the better one because it’s more modern and it has a bar so you can enjoy a couple of drinks during the 3 hour voyage across to the North Island.
The views from the ferry are breathtaking. We sat in an enclosed area full of windows facing the rear of the ferry, which was best because we got to see Picton, nestled among the mountains, disappear into the distance and enjoy the amazing view of the mountain islands in the channel.
I’ll be honest, because of an incredibly early start that day I slept for about half of the journey, but I was still able to capture some photos of the incredible view and our first glimpse of Wellington.
Days 3-4: Wellington
My one big regret from this New Zealand trip was that we didn’t build more time into Wellington because it’s such a cool city with a great vibe and some super yummy food. It’s said Wellington has more restaurants and cafes per capita than New York, and after walking down just a couple streets it’s obvious that is the case.
We ate dinner at a southern style restaurant called Sweet Mother’s Kitchen, and oh man was it ever delicious. I think I ate my jambalaya in about 2 minutes so I can highly recommend it.
The first thing you should do is take a tour of the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings (also known as the Beehive). You’re not allowed to take anything with you on the tour so I haven’t got any photos for you of the inside, but the tour lasts an hour and is really informative and you see everything from the chambers, to the library and to various conference and function rooms.
Fun fact: Wellington is the capital of New Zealand because it’s approximately right in the middle of the country. Back in the day when people needed to travel via horse and cart, it could take them three months to get from the bottom of the South Island to Auckland. Clearly, this wasn’t viable, so it was moved to Wellington.
Following the tour of Parliament we wanted to take the cable car up to the viewing area overlooking the whole city, but the line was so long we figured we’d be there at least an hour and a half. We shall walk! Now, it’s not far, but if you think San Francisco has hills wait until you see these. I felt like I was dying.
The walk is worth it though because on the way to the viewing area, in the Botanic Gardens, you pass an observatory, which I found fascinating, and some beautiful areas to sit and have a much-needed rest.
Walking up was even better because there was zero line for the cable car going back down so we still got to go on it and didn’t waste any time waiting below. If you plan on taking the cable car, it’s $4 one way and $7.50 for a return fare.
The view is amazing and there’s also a cafe and a free cable car museum. The Botanic Gardens themselves are beautiful, and they even have a whole section dedicated to my favorite flower – the tulip. They had them in white, yellow, orange, red, multicolored and even frilly. I didn’t even know that many varieties of tulips existed.
After that we wandered the city a bit and then picked up our rental car and made our way up to Auckland via Taupo and Rotorua. For more tips on car rentals and driving tips, check out these practical tips for traveling to New Zealand.
Where to Stay in Wellington
- Intercontinental Wellington: Approximately NZ$270/night
- Rydges Wellington: Approximately NZ$110/night
- CityLife Hotel: Approximately NZ$100/night
Days 4-5: Taupo
Taupo is the third stop on these 7 days in New Zealand and it is probably one of the coolest. It’s a very volcanic region and is also where they filmed some parts of Lord of the Rings, so if you’re like me you can geek out.
I highly recommend driving the volcano scenic route, where you get amazing views of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe, the real-life Mount Doom in LOTR. The drive is really pretty and crazy impressive and you also pass by the waterfall where Gollum went fishing and alternated between good and evil in LOTR, so I won’t lie, I was pretty excited.
There’s also the huge Lake Taupo surrounded by mountains. I’m sure in warmer weather it’s filled with people, but since it was still a bit chilly when I was there it was pretty much deserted. From the lake you get incredible views of the volcanos as well.
Another must-see in Taupo is Huka Falls. These impressive whitewater rapids go for miles and drop off the edge with incredible force (the falls) and flow out into a beautiful clearing. I was shocked with how blue the water was and the speed of the rapids. There is a walk where you get lots of views of the rapids (further down called Aratiatia Rapids) but it takes a couple of hours and we didn’t particularly want to go but I’m sure it’s amazing.
From Taupo, Rotorua is just a couple of hours drive away, but it quickly turns from a volcanic landscape to geothermal hot springs and geysers. You can easily arrive into Rotorua by late dinner time.
Where to Stay in Taupo
- Judges Pool Motel: Approximately NZ$75/night (I loved this place! So well located for driving)
- Taupo DeBretts Spa Resort: Approximately NZ$140/night
Days 5-6: Rotorua
Rotorua, the mid-point of New Zealand’s North Island, is amazing in a way that no other part of New Zealand is. We were staying at the Holiday Inn and it had an awesome geothermal outdoor pool. Don’t mind if I do. We enjoyed a night swim in the chilly weather in the steaming pool.
One thing to note about Rotorua is a lot of the attractions cost money, but very few are worth paying for. What we found is it’s better to shell out a bit more for one impressive attraction than small amounts for a bunch of mediocre ones.
The first must-visit place is Kuirau Park because since this is a public park it’s free and it has lots of hot springs to admire, including a steaming lake, my personal favorite.
Another free area that’s worth a visit is Okere Falls. The falls and river here are superb, with many easy and enjoyable walks, plus a really cool cave.
The best part about Okere Falls is there are quite a lot of glow worms at night. This isn’t something that’s advertised anywhere, but we read it somewhere and went to check it out and were blown away by how many there were and how amazing it was. We were the only people there and since there are no lights for miles there are also incredible views of the stars.
It was truly an experience I’ll never forget.
Hamurana Springs is another free attraction that you absolutely must visit. The water is the clearest I have ever seen in my life, there’s a redwood forest, and the spring that fuels the river pumps out 1 million gallons of water each hour. If that’s not impressive I don’t know what is.
So what’s the paid attraction you should shell your money out for? That would be Orakei Korako – an island filled with mud pools, hot springs and more. The boat ride over takes about a minute and the walk through the geysers and hot springs is more than impressive.
An adult ticket is $36, but you get a discount if you book online ahead of time.
The walk is about 2km and includes an impressive cave and gorgeous views. Although the price is a bit on the steep side, it’s well worth the money and you see everything you could possibly want without needing to visit any other attractions.
From Orakei Korako it’s approximately three and a half hours up to Auckland.
Where to Stay in Rotorua
- Holiday Inn Rotorua: Approximately NZ$100/night
- Hamurana Lodge: Approximately NZ$130/night
Days 6-7: Auckland
The last stop on your one week New Zealand itinerary is Auckland. By the time you reach Auckland, you may be a little worn out and don’t want to do as much exploring as normal. I can tell you that definitely happened to us. While you can do New Zealand in one week, it can be exhausting!
The city is nice though, although I’ll be honest I preferred Wellington.
The highlights of Auckland are the waterfront, the Sky Tower and Aotea Square. If you want to go to the top of the Sky Tower it’s $29, a price I think is a little steep. If you want to be really adventurous, you can even bungee jump off. (That was a hard pass for me though.)
The black sand beaches in Piha are only about an hour from Auckland and are worth the extra driving because it’s even more impressive in person. The volcanic rock basalt is what makes the sand black and they’re fairly rare.
The road there is very steep and windy, but seeing the beaches makes it worth it.
Where to Stay in Auckland
- Quest on Beaumont: Approximately NZ$170/night (but you get a kitchenette and laundry)
- Grand Mercure Auckland: Approximately NZ$120/night
- Heritage Auckland: Approximately NZ$200/night
- Grand Millenium Auckland: Approximately NZ$115/night
What to Know Before Spending 7 Days in New Zealand
If you plan to spend only 7 days in New Zealand then you need to have a firm plan on what you plan to do with that time. While it’s totally possible to see a vast amount of this amazing country if you go into it without knowing exactly how you’ll allocate your time you may not make the best use of it.
We planned out where we needed to get to each day and then played each day in the destination by ear. I don’t love having a rigid itinerary, so this felt like a good halfway house.
Don’t forget there’s so much more to New Zealand than Lord of the Rings destinations. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lord of the Rings, and at one point in my life I was sure I was going to marry Legolas, but just remember to diversify your locations and plans. Don’t neglect some other incredible stuff just because it doesn’t have the same glamourous clout.
Ultimately, you could probably get around your 7 days in New Zealand by train if you tried really hard, but in my opinion, you’re really going to need a car. Plus, it gives you the freedom to choose when you’re going to wake up and where you’re going to go that day and that’s a big bonus.
The weather is super changeable so make sure you pack appropriately.
I absolutely loved New Zealand and I feel like we saw everything it had to offer from the breathtaking mountains and volcanoes to rolling hills, to the ocean, black sand and amazing cities.
It’s a wonderful country full of natural beauty and with just these 7 days in New Zealand you will able to witness far more than you ever thought possible in a one week itinerary.
You don’t need to spend 3 weeks backpacking and spending all of the money in the bank to see what New Zealand has to offer and experience the beauty of the country in its entirety. Have you taken a one week New Zealand road trip? Tell me about it in the comments below!
Don’t forget to follow my Instagram account where I regularly post photos from all of my adventures!
