Walking in New Zealand

One hotel on an Explore walking tour is always disappointing. We have come to expect this after 6 previous walking trips with Explore. Unfortunately on this trip we experienced several questionable accommodations, including 2 stays in hostels. When travelers are unable to sleep due to the temperature in the room, they open the windows. In this case all windows lacked screens which allowed biting insects to enter. Noise was also an issue in several locations. The tour leader was great and New Zealand was great despite being overwhemed by tourists, but the accommodations were inexcusable. We no longer trust Explore to provide a restful place to sleep at night.

This tour involved many great walks to experience the spectacular scenery, flora and fauna of New Zealand. Our minibus was comfortable for travelling in but it was also fun to use various types of water transportation. Our guide, Robbie, did a wonderful job of driving and guiding. He was always energetic, cheerful, patient and attentive to any needs. My fellow travellers were fun and supportive also! A great trip!

Overall the trip was amazing and with Vaughan we also had a great guide From a fitness level it is absolutely for beginners or intermediate level as only 1 walk was above 12 km The only criticism we're the many motels where no real breakfast is available so you need to calculate for extra expenditures as this will not be sufficient given you will be travelling the whole day Also in the hotels don't expect to much of variety re breakfast And you one note re the itinerary- maybe having the last night in Christchurch rather than akaroa might make sense

This was the most expensive (by far) holiday I've ever taken and it exceeded expectations. We were fortunate that the group of 7 + guide all got along very well together. There's a comment on your website from a previous trip that there wasn't enough walking, and this was a concern for me in advance, but looking back I think it was just right for me. The members of the group had different walking capacities, and our guide ensured we were each able to achieve our respective goals.