This post was very long in the making. Buried for months under a pile of successive lockdowns, Corona measures and impossible travel restrictions that shifted all my attention to day-to-day life. This was our last overseas trip before Corona became more than a beer brand.

But with measures easing and Europe getting back to some sort of normal, it is my way of showing optimism for 2022 travel. Buckle up for the ultimate, day by day, 4-week itinerary in New Zealand’s North and South Islands with lots of tips on accommodation and great restaurants and activities for kids all ages.

We flew out from Europe in mid-February 2020. Our son was 4 and our daughter 5 months at the time. We combined it with a long, 5-day stop over in Singapore as we wanted to break the flight from Europe and enjoy some Asian foods and mild February weather. We absolutely recommend a stop over in Singapore as it is super compact to allow for some exploration. There is some amazing food there too!

We spend about a week in Singapore before braving the second leg of the trip to Auckland. We were supposed to stop in Malaysia (in April 2019) on the return leg but COVID happened! Let’s go back to the beautiful New Zealand and see how you can spend a full month exploring the highlights of the country.

The ultimate one month itinerary for a family road trip in New Zealand

Day 1 day of arrival in Auckland– we came from Singapore and were exhausted so we spend the first night at an airport hotel. Lesson of the day: Do not underestimate jet lag! It is a killer for the adults and the children also need to recover from a the long flight.

Day 2 : We drove about 3 h to Hot water beach 🏖 where we would spend 3 nights to acclimate to the time. We had a cabin at a rather old but good quality Top 10 Holiday Park. There are many scattered around NZ and it pays to get their card as it gives you a 10 % reduction in accommodation. We also booked the first 2-3 accommodations of our itinerary in Top 10 cabins about one month in advance as they are very popular in the New Zealand Summer holidays.

Day 3: Start exploring the area of Hot water beach . We took a short ferry ride to Whitianga. There is a lovely riverside playground for the kids and nice coffee shops. The short hike to Whitianga rock leads to some great views on the bay. The starting point is just after the ferry landing. In Whitianga, sample the delicious natural ice cream at Earth Store and consider a drive to Shakespeare cliff for more great views.

Day 4: Hahei beach 25 min and Cathedral Cove 45 min walk. Most of the track is stroller friendly but there are several flights of stairs at the end of the walk down to the beach. The Pour house is a gastronomic bar and brewery that also has high chairs for kids for a quick dinner. Behind the Pour house, there is a lovely ice cream and a few meters behind the Richardsons, a lovely playground.

Day 5: Drive to Rotorua via Coromandel township and west coast Coromandel viewpoints. Stop to take some fresh air and a quick exercise at Karangahake gorge. There is a 1 h easy walk through an abandoned mine (follow the windows walk). There are longer easy tramps in the woods. Just a great stop on a rather long car ride to Rotorua.

Day 6 Rotorua. Take in the Maori culture at Te Puia visitor center (guided tours and a Haka show can be bought as an add on) and visit the Kiwi bird conservatory as well as the geyser field. There is the possibility to witness the Maori woodcarving craftsmen and experts in traditional weaving at work. You can easily spend the best part of the day here.

In the afternoon, get high above ground at the Redwoods tree walk, a few km outside the city. Alternatively, there are several geothermal hot springs that you can take a dip in. We had a couple pools at our Top 10 Holiday park Rotorua so did not take an extra trip to Hells Gate or Polynesian Spa.

Day 7: Rotorua You can enjoy more Geothermal activity at Waimangu Park. It came highly recommend by a couple of families we met on the road. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side for an outdoor activity on this day so we decided to take a detour and visit the Waitomo Glowworm caves. We really enjoyed our tour and can recommend it also with little ones. It is 2h from Rotorua and about the same from Auckland. In the evening, we drove to Taupo Top 10 Holiday Park for another 2 h. In the evening we had a walk in Taupō town and dinner at the South American Kitchen bistro. They have high chairs and colouring crayons for little ones.

Day 8: Taupo : visit Huka Falls and the scenic lookout over the lake. As skydiving and kayaking (both very big activities in Taupo) were out of reach with the kids in tow, we heads for a visit at the falls and a bit of tramping in the area. There is an easy 1h30 walk upstream if you want a bit more activity. We continued to Artdeco Napier , 2 h from Huka Falls. In Napier we had a great lunch at Ajuna Eatery and a walk around the pretty town center and marina.

In the evening, we drove from Napier to Welly (about 4h), where we arrived close to midnight. Here we had an amazing duplex AirBnB and a great host. It was, hands down, the best AirBnB we have EVER stayed in.

Day 9 : Full day walking tour of Wellington. Start with a walk at the harbour area, check out the Parliament , CBD and and Civic Center. In the afternoon, check out Te Papa Museum, an interactive show of what makes NZ such a great place to visit. Te Papa was the highlight for the kids, there is so much to explore about volcanoes, seismic activity and wildlife that is endemic to the island.

Day 10: Second day in hipp Wellington: Grab a coffee in one of the many coffee shops ( Pandoro had amazing coffee and avocado toast) and head to the Mt Victoria neighbourhood and look out. Bring a carrier if planning to reach the look out as not stroller accessible. In the afternoon: In the afternoon, we took the cable cart up the hill and visits the cable cart museum and the botanic garden. There are playgrounds in the botanic garden and it is huge so a great place to take in the views and take easy walks like the cable cart loop.

Day 11: It was time to leave Wellington. We left the car in the parking at the ferry and took the Interislander through the fjords and reach Picton. Here we got a new rental and drive down to NZ wine valley to Renwick township. We spent the night in a lovely cottage among the vineyards at Straw Lodge. The owners are great, breakfast was homemade and we went to bed in the middle of the vineyards. We had a great time at Straw Lodge and would recommend them if travelling with family. A stop on the wine route is definitely a must.

Day 12: we toured a few wineries on the South Island wine route in New Zealand‘s wine growing region. We throughly enjoyed smaller estates like Misty Cove, Clos Henry and Bladen. The best atmosphere was at Clos Henry, with a huge lawn for kids to run around in front of a small church. It helped that we were pretty much the only ones there. If you are a fan of red wine, than Fromm vineyards is another great stop, although bigger and a bit less atmospheric than the first three. This day fell on my birthday so the excess of wine tasting felt somehow justified :)!

Day 13: Drive to Saint Arnaud village. Set in the Nelson Lakes National Park, this is a beautiful and uncrowded corner of Tasman. Head to the Lake Rotaiti for a lovely view and a picnic. Kids can splash in the lake and feed the ducks and eels. The views of the mountains reflecting in the lake are simply out of this world. In the late afternoon we drove to Motueka

Day 14: Motueka day 1 : farmers market and tractors museum. Motueka is a small township famous as gateway to Abel Tasman NP. WE scheduled to spend the next day exploring the park so we spent the first day relaxing in Motueka and enjoying the local products at a farmer’s market. Our little explorer loved the tractor museum.

Day 15: Motueka day 2: Boat and walk in Abel Tasman NP: different tours can be arranged from Motueka or Nelson township. You can do it independently of course but we preferred to have a company that is reliable with small children and free time in the park to explore at leisure. There are many day trips, including walks and hikes of different duration can be booked at the tourist office the day before.

Day 16 drive the South Island West Coast – this is the region with the most dramatic natural landscapes in the whole country. Tip: Please remember to fuel the car in Motueka or Nelson before heading to West Coast as there is no gas station for miles! The drive between Motueka and Punakaki is very picturesque and a must experience on the South island. On the way, visit Pancake rocks and the park. Allow for one hour here. The views are beautiful and is the park is very well laid out with wooden boardwalks above thundering waves and steep cliffs. Drive to Greymouth. The Top10 holiday park in Greymouth has a perfect location on the beach and newer cabins compared to the previous parks we have stayed at in New Zealand .

Day 17 restocking and driving to Glacier Country: if you want to make some bigger shopping, go to the New World in Greymouth. There is no big supermarket between Greymouth and Glacier County. Allow for 3 h drive to Fox Glacier.

Day 18: walk or fly to the Glaciers. We took the 2 h forest walk each way. It takes you to a view point where you can admire the glacier. The fly over – and even land – with a helicopter was possible even with our 6m old explorer in a carrier but the weather did not cooperate with our plans for both days we were there. All helicopters were grounded due to strong winds on both days.

Day 19: We took the lake Matheson hike for 1h15 round trip. There is a lovely cafe for cakes and coffee on site. The best part of this trail is the mesmerising reflection on the lake of the two highest mountain peaks in New Zealand; Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. But there should be absolutely no wind, which is tricky in this area. We still enjoyed the different look outs and the beautiful nature.

Later in the day, we continue to Wanaka and, on route, stopped at Blue Pools for another scenic hike. The turquoise blues of the lakes are absolutely gorgeous. Allow 1h to do the hike both ways. There are some suspended bridges that were super fun for kids. We also saw some people bathing and went to the water edge to check but be warned, water is ice cold !

Day 20 Full Day in Wanaka: Wanaka Puzzling World was a treat for everyone- the kids loved to play with the games, I got dizzy in the included room and we all had fun taking photos. It is said that Wanaka has the vibe of Queens town before mass tourism and we could’t agree more. The pretty downtown, a relaxed walk by the gorgeos Lake and even a playground with a Dino slide made it for a charming stop in our journey. You can easily loose track of time here. We were there for 3 nights and would have happy stayed longer.

Day 21 More fun in Wanaka: We explored the Wanaka National transport and toy museum and had more fun by the lake with a kayak tour. We took a drive to explore . As we were already travelling for 3 weeks, we felt the need to catch our breath for another day in this beautiful corner of New Zealand. There are some amazing hikes form here, in particular Diamond Lake Track and Rob Roy for medium length hikes. If you love hiking, it is worth spending more time here.

Day 22 We drive to Queenstown. We checked out quirky Arrowtown on the way for a walk among old houses. The drive from Wanaka to Queenstown is my favourite roadmap in NZ. The views are out of this world so we took our time to get to QT.

Day 23 Queenstown full day – Queenstown is as photogenic as it gets. Yes, there are plenty of extreme sports available but just walking around the marina, looking over the lake is an unmissable experience. Nature was very generous with this place! We had planned to spend 3 nights in QT and then move on to Te Anau and the Fjords for 2 nights . However this was March 2019 and, on our second day in Queenstown , the PM announced a national lockdown that was to start in 48h. Spending the lockdown is a remote location did not seem like a good idea so instead of taking the two nights in Te Anau (which we defineltely recommend as it is a NZ must see) we headed directly to Christchurch, the larges city on the South Island.

The rest of our one-month itinerary involved : 2 nights in Te Anau and a full day trip to Fjords, 3 nights in Christchurch and 2 nights in Kaikoura, the whale watching capital of NZ. Our flight was set to depart from Christchurch to Auckland about 30 days after our arrival in NZ and then we had 3 more night in Auckland before returning to Asia.

DAY 24: Our last week of the itinerary in NZ never happened. On the way from Queenstown to Christchurch we stopped shortly in Twizel for some shopping and to enjoy a last bit of nature before the lockdown started. The views of the blue lake are gorgeous and is a nice place to have. pic nic. It is a great place to admire Mt Cook and the starting point for many nature hikes. The peaks and trails of Mount Cook National Park are just up the road so it a great base if you want to explore the National Park. We arrived late, tired and stressed to our AIrBnB in Christchurch as we had no idea how the next weeks would unfold.

On our 24th day in NZ we entered lockdown. We made Christchurch our base but of course, there was no travelling possible so we only left the house for essentially shopping and taking the kids for fresh air once per day. We would spend there 3 weeks before being repatriated to Frankfurt by the German authorities …but that is a travel story for another time 😊.

We loved the natural beauty of New Zealand and the 24 days we spent exploring both islands were an absolute highlight of our travels around almost 70 countries in the world so far. We are sorry we never made it to the fjords but that is just another reason to go back 😊.

So once the borders re-open, keep an eye out for airfares to NZ. It is an amazing place to explore with a family and blessed with more natural beauty that you can imagine. The above itinerary took quite a bit of research to combine both islands and a variety of experiences, from beaches to mountains, hot springs, glaciers and caves and top it up with some Maori culture. We wold not change anything to it and we loved every experience we had on the way. We hope you find it useful to plan your trip. We definitely want to head back!

Drop us a coment of your favourite place to explore in New Zealand with a family. It will help other families find inspiration for their next adventure!

Safe travels! CGK