Northern Choice

NZ is gorgeous I highly recommend it. The contiki trip management was not great, however was great to have a guide from NZ. Was not informed that we would just be tacked on to an existing large group who had already been travelling for 2 weeks together through the South Island. Nothing was explained or shown to us about how and when activities were scheduled or booked or details on the extra activists we could book. Rooming situation was very uncomfortable at times when 2 strangers were asked to share a double bed. We weren’t asked about any dietary requirements/ medical issues until our very last day of the trip. I didn’t feel there was enough include activities in the tour however the ones that were included were great. Would have loved to see more bonding activities as there were 3 different tour groups packed into our tour by the end and it was very uncomfortable.

The trip itself was fun- lots of activities to choose from and really jumped into the Maori culture and learn experiences which was amazing. I wasn’t aware I was joining the trip half way through, therefore more could have been done like ice breakers as original group were not overly open about welcoming new people onto the bus. Greater organisations skills would have been good to see from the trip manager. I’ve done multiple contiki’s before and trip managers are on top of things and willing to help anyone and everyone out. I didn’t quite get that experience here but was overall a good trip and will be back to NZ to experience more (although probably not with contiki)

Guides/driver: are super mega nice, happy people, super friendly and they do their best to make you feel very comfortable. Opportunity: more Knowledge on history, culture, arts, food on country/ town of visit and share it through the bus rides. “Hotels”: they all include some breakfast, all have internet, and somewhat clean. Opportunity: breakfast are bad with awful coffee, in some cases you have to pay a premium to improve the meal. Internet is super slow or wont work on rooms. They will put you up always on 4bed rooms (normal 2 bed rooms with 2 random spare beds to Make it cheaper for them), making it impossible to have a good night sleep Or shower on time or bathroom share. Also most of them did not had A/C. Bus: super comfy wiith a/c, tv (they put lord of the rings which was fun), really good driver with good space for your bags and they always play music. Opportunity: music super loud gives everyone a headache and dont let you talk to other people. They repeat a awful song every morning at the maximum level starting your day off a bad vibe. Lots of hours spent on bus. Maybe include some documentaries or historic movies on the bus related to the country of visit. Activities: all are very fun and with good variety for all tastes. You will want to do all the “add ons optional” ones to make the most of your trip. Opportunity: almost none are included on the tour package, spending as much on the “add ons” than the actual “full tour”. Sunset cruise sailed at night (not sunset lol). Prices are too high (contiki should negotiate better prices, i did 1 activity by myself that i negotiated with the independent tour and got 50% discount vs contiki price for same activity). Also should include swimming with sharks (@aquarium), penguin encounter (@aquarium) and Museum of Modern Art (@auckland), as options. Also, Giapo’s icecream experience was AMAZING. Dont not do it. People: are nice, tend to be on the younger side (18-25), half of them first travels outside their country, the other half contiki aficionados. Mostly Australian and high income heritage. Tour experience itself: being a “hop in and off” type of tour, makes it hard to people make friends if you enter the bus halfway instead from early start. Its nice for people who dont want to travel alone. Value for money is low, meaning you can get much more for your money doing it alone. Be prepare to feel like in “highschool” again lol with all drama and fun stuff that happens when 20-30 people gets in a tour together for 10 days. Contiki customer service: they lied to me saying that the tour included one of the days an option to ski (instead of mountain bike). I brought my ski clothes and carry it for 2 weeks which over there i learned that ski was not possible due to not being the season for it.

Amazing loved my group , places I went, etc

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Everything was perfect. No faults. Maybe need longer time in Lake Taupo

New Zealand is absolutely stunning and this trip showcased it brilliantly.

New Zealand was beautiful, I got to see majority of it thanks to Contiki.

New Zealand was absolutely beautiful, the north island really blew me away cannot wait to go back to do the south.

My trip manager Susie was incredible. Always punctual and organised, she was seriously the best person for the job - making sure that the trip was awesome for each and every one of us. I cannot thank her enough. The North Island itself was beautiful (and clean!) everywhere we went. The scenery was just stunning - especially considering that I travelled towards the end of Summer. The genuine warmness of the local people was contagious. I cannot wait to go back and explore the South Island!

Loved it! But I kind of wish I did the South Island as well... time was a factor for me!

Great value for the all the activities we did and places we stayed

The Northern Choice exceeded my expectations, the destinations were great and the tour manager/bus driver were very friendly

I personally think this tour was bad value for money. It included basic accomodation, bus transfers, a few included meals and tours. There were lots of fun add on activities, but some were incredibly overpriced and nothing like their advertisement. There were positives to this tour, as I got to see the beauty that the North Island of New Zealand had to offer. In saying that, I would only recommend this tour if you want to travel very quickly or don't have a lot of time. It doesn't give you much time in places, sometimes only one night which means you barely get to explore the area. This tour was not for me, but I met some great people and am thankful for the opportunity to travel in the first place.

Optional activities were expensive but worth it

Worth it, optionals we’re the highlight but the included aspects were personally pretty good

Could have included a few more activities within the tour, e.g. more included dinners

Sites were amazing and there were so many things to do

amazingly beautiful, no where in the world quiet like it