Recommend a bus tour for NZ

Jimmy81

Hi All,

Will be heading to New Zealand towards the end of the year, probably sometime in Dec. I am planning on staying for about 3 weeks. Since I don't have much time I am planning to book one of the organised bus tours. Can anyone recommend a company that they went with? I heard the Kiwi Experience is good if you are in your early 20s but to avoid it otherwise (im 28 btw).
If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations please post :-)


ps will probably concentrate on the south island

hussey

Jimmy81 wrote: »

Hi All,

Will be heading to New Zealand towards the end of the year, probably sometime in Dec. I am planning on staying for about 3 weeks. Since I don't have much time I am planning to book one of the organised bus tours. Can anyone recommend a company that they went with? I heard the Kiwi Experience is good if you are in your early 20s but to avoid it otherwise (im 28 btw).
If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations please post :-)


ps will probably concentrate on the south island

I know some peole who did it who are > 28 and it is fine, yes it has young people and yes it does concentrate on fun as well as just sites, but unless you want an much older tour group this is pretty much your choice (as in travel with youths)

http://www.magicbus.co.nz/
http://www.straytravel.com/
are two other, but you'll find the age group the same ...

Delorian

From what I've heard, and I don't mean to contradict hussey, the Kiwi Experience is known as the party bus and also the Chlamydia Experience. You can draw your own conclussions from that but it definitely has a reputation for 18-20 year olds having 'good times'.

I've heard great things about the Magic bus, and another friend spoke highly of the Stray bus. Both are for an older crowd, although you get a broader age range than on the KE. I was 27 and was recommended Magic by a girl who was a little younger than me.

As an aside, you may also want to consider doing your own thing rather than going on a tour. The reason I ended up doing this is because of time constraints, I wanted to do A & C, but on a tour you have to spend a night in B as well. Should you want to do this, obviously it means you can rent a car, but the Intercity and Naked Bus are very good, and cheap. And you may get a running commentary from the driver as you go. And you can go to the same hostels the tour buses go to, so you won't be alone.

Lastly, it's easy to think that NZ is a small country as the massive Oz is next door. This is not the case, there's a lot to see and do. Given that you've only 3 weeks (I had 2 and a half but had to go to a rugby tournament in the middle of it), you may want to consider doing one island properly than trying to do both. In this case, most ppl will tell you do the south island, but I think the north's under-rated by tourists, and it does depend what you're looking for.

Lastly, lastly, have a great time, it's a wonderful country. After spending those 2 1/2 weeks here, I've relocated to Wellington.

_blank_

I can't recommend The Magic Bus enough, good crowd, and a little bit older than what seemed to be on the Kiwi Experience (I was 26 doing I think).

The bus drivers are excellent and good fun and very knowledgeable. The hostels on their brochure are all very good (in fact all NZ hostels are like the ritz compared to some of the holes in Aus tbh).

If you go to Napier stay in the Prison

Also, just taking a quick look at their website, they have a very good deal on at the moment.

book one of their popular tours and get a free skydive at Taupo. that is well worth considering

http://www.magicbus.co.nz/main/special/

the Magic Adventure pass looks very good

http://www.magicbus.co.nz/main/productDetail/index.cfm?productID=3

I'd be booking that one for sure.

Jimmy81

Thanks for the replies. I think i am going to go with the stray bus. They have a route that seems to link up with what i need pretty well.

mdu

I did the Stray bus. went around the whole place in 4 weeks. Defo recommend it . Tho be careful with the short time frame cos there were times where people didnt get onto a bus because it was full. (queenstown especially)

belleray

Highly recommend stray as well, had a fantastic time with an amazing crowd on it. Its a great way to meet people and get to see little parts as well as the major areas.