Our 5 Favourite Spots In New Zealand (North AND South)
At the beginning of 2023, we road-tripped by camper van through both the North and the South Island of New Zealand. Literally every place we visited was STUNNING, but to make your trip planning easier, here’s our 5 favourite spots in New Zealand (North AND South Island).
Egmont National Park
Not only is Egmont National Park in such a beautiful area of New Zealand called New Plymouth (think beaches, hiking, volcanoes…), but it’s home to our all-time favourite hike in New Zealand (yes it was SO hard to pick this). For this hike alone, it’s made it into our favourite spots in all of New Zealand – the Pouakai Tarns hike.
You can find our full outline of the Pouakai Tarns hike (and everything you need to know BEFORE you go), here on our website.
Mt Cook / Aoraki National Park
This is a common one that’s likely on everyone’s list, but it’s for good reason. Whilst this place can get overrun with day trips and tourists throughout the day, staying overnight in the park or even hiking your way up to some of the stunning mountain huts in this park will give you the full Mt Cook experience.
If you want more information on Mt Cook / Aoraki National park, check out our guide right here on this website.
The Catlins
The Catlins is one of our favourite places in New Zealand that doesn’t make everybody’s itinerary – and they are missing out. As one of the more remote regions of New Zealand, this place doesn’t get visited by everyone and those who do visit, often find themselves a slice of heaven. Without the crowds of tourists AND the fact that theres so much to explore in this region, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy this region.
If you want more of our insight into this stunning area in New Zealand, check out our favourite spots in The Catlins. From waterfalls, beach walks, hidden spots, and stunning camping locations. you can’t go wrong in this area.
Queenstown
This town blew our minds away. We often try to steer clear of central hot spots in countries as cities aren’t usually our vibe, however this town isn’t your average tourist hotspot. Although it’s busy, it’s the gateway to SO much more. Here we were able to easily walk around, head for a small hike, go for a run along the water, head for a swim with noone else around, admire to mountains, the list just goes on. We would recommend atleast two nights here on your trip to make sure you’re able to atleast enjoy one full day in Queenstown, and it’s a GREAT base to fly into to enjoy a few days then head out on a road trip to places like Milford Sound, Wanaka, Mt Cook, and more.
In Queenstown we really enjoyed the Sunshine Bay Track which led us to the water for a fresh water dip (it was COLD), enjoying the iconic Ferg Burger (their morning juices are to die for too), heading for happy hour at Cookie Time (all SORTS of cookie options, but the chocolate chip cookies were the best), and enjoying the evenings at the Wharf. It’s honestly such a nice town to just take it easy and enjoy the scenery!
West Coast North Island
Technically, Egmont National Park in New Plymouth is a part of this area (which makes it even better), but this spot made it for other reasons. The West Coast of the North Island is a spot often overlooked by many people that visit New Zealand as they choose to head out to the east coast or central on the North Island. However, they’re missing the black sand volcanic beaches found ALL along the North Island. Plus, as it’s often overlooked, you’ll find fewer tourists and often empty beaches.
Our favourite spots along this route were Marakopa and Waikawau Tunnel Beach. These spots are both located on the West Coast and have the iconic black sand with none of the tourists. We stayed at a local campground in Marakopa for a night, and minus the locals who were making some noise, the stunning beach just a few minutes away with stunning sunsets made it all worth it. The tunnel beach was also almost completely empty (one fisherman rocked up when we were leaving) and walking through the dark tunnel to get to the black beach enclosed in the cliffs was something else! We should also mentioned that driving in this area, although a *little* scary at times, was so different from the rest of our drives in New Zealand – surrounded by rolling mountains, dramatic scenery, jungle/forests surrounding you, and quiet along the coast (tip: make sure to fuel before you head out this way – theres not too much out here in terms of fuel!).
If You Can’t Choose…
If you can’t choose a favourite spot and they all look SO good, consider heading over to our thatch profile where we sell our itineraries and post more travel information so you can follow our EXACT routes and have our insider information from what we think is the best way to see these countries based on our personel experiences. You can find our thatch profile here! Otherwise, see our New Zealand page right here on the blog for so much more of our New Zealand information.
