New Zealand Solo Tours for Single Travelers

Excellent trip. Covered many highlights within Australia and New Zealand. So many memories were created during our visit. The only change would be to add an additional day at Christchurch to explore its downtown beauty.

We had a truly wonderful time exploring the South Island, and I would like to sincerely thank AAT and Travel Key for such a memorable and well-organised experience. From start to finish, everything was seamless and professionally managed. A special mention must go to our incredible guides, Chantavee and David, who made the trip even more enjoyable. Their warmth, professionalism, and outstanding knowledge of the South Island brought every destination to life. They were attentive to every detail and consistently ensured we were comfortable, well-informed, and making the most of each day. I also want to highlight the excellent service throughout the tour, as well as the high quality of the hotels selected. Each hotel was beautifully located, comfortable, and a pleasure to stay in, which made the entire trip even more relaxing. It was clear that the accommodation choices were carefully selected with genuine thought and experience, and they added greatly to the overall enjoyment of the journey. Thank you again to AAT and Travel Key for such an unforgettable South Island experience. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a premium, professionally run tour with exceptional guides, excellent service, and outstanding accommodation.

We had a wonderful time exploring the South Island, and we would like to sincerely thank AAT for such a memorable experience. The combination of Chantavee and David made our trip even more enjoyable. Their professionalism, friendliness, and deep knowledge of the South Island truly brought every destination to life. They went above and beyond to ensure everything ran smoothly, and their passion for what they do made the entire journey both relaxing and exciting. We highly recommend AAT to anyone looking for a well-organised and unforgettable South Island experience.

I could not recommend the ACTIVE NZ Contiki more, it was my first Contiki and I will cherish the friends I made with everyone else and also Brit the Tour operator and Rob our coach driver, best decision ever!

Fantastic tour. Mesmerising sights with wonderful leaders Chanthavee and hilarious Dave the driver. Banter had us in fits of laughter but seriously we learnt a lot about the geography, geology, history, economy and social history of the European settlers and Maori community. From Auckland to Rotaria, glow worm caves and a boat trip, hot spas and Hobbiton and zip wires for some. A traditional Maori dance presentation and dinner after seeing the geyser will be lifelong memories. We learnt about the new road as we approached Wellington. Recommendations for dinner lead to a Crab Shack gourmet meal with coach friends. A 1 hour tour of the capital by coach with commentary was helpful to understand the city, wind and all. Fortunately, we were always a week ahead of the bad weather when a landslide happened. The journey by ship to Picton, South Island was wonderful, marked by orcas in the bay at Wellington. A quaint motel stay and group dinner was lovely. Kaikōura with seals and shags in vast numbers was awe inspiring. Fish and chips for lunch en route, then Christchurch. A free evening with a salad in the Riverside Market before a stroll in the beautiful Hagley Park, ended in an outdoor comic theatre production of Lord of the Rings in 90 minutes by The Rollicking Theatre Company. Sir Peter Jackson don’t miss it! The Ibis hotel bed mattresses were the most comfortable! Next we journeyed to the phenomenal turquoise Lake Tekapo & the church of The Good Shepherd. The space centre experience appealed less to us. Omararau was a pleasant overnight stay with a group dinner. Coach bingo enabled fair distribution of seats and we met some new people alighting in Christchurch. Moeraki Concretion boulders on the beach sighted before Dunedin. Lots of additional experiences were available including the castle but the free Settlers Museum and Speights Brewery tour and meal afterwards stand out. Te Anau and the fjords jet experience with delightful Alex is a key memory. Sandflies nibbled but the beauty and solitude of the area of outstanding natural beauty with fantail displays on the island was wonderful. Team dinner at the hotel and an after dinner stroll rounded up a brilliant day. Milford Sound next with an amazing boat tour. Sun cream essential. The long but beautiful journey with scenery unknown completing the day in Queenstown. Dave the driver managed difficult roads with ease. A free evening and some pub Italian Food enjoyed with Chanthavee rounded up the day. Promenade music, fire eating and young people created a young and happy vibe. The Kiwi Bird Park seeing displays and birds and Taratua was peaceful and comprehensive. The second themed dinner after a 45 minute journey by a 1912 steamboat tour Walter Peak with a delicious buffet meal, ending with a sheep shearing demonstration, then Kim the sheepdog rounding up the flock on the mountain. Brilliant as did this with a hard stare only. Hokitika for lunch after Arrowtown and then an evening in Franz Josef. Some did helicopter flights to the glacier. We liked the museum in Hokitiki. Apricots from Jones Family Farm were the best ever. Finally the wonders of Haast and Arthur’s Pass were spectacular with the quaintness of the Transalpine Railway. Unmissable! Thank you AAT Kings. We loved the leadership, the friendships we made and the unforgettable scenery and dinners. And NZ pies from the tender lamb and steak from all those sheep and dairy cows were a cut above a U.K. pie in quality. Dave will remain in our hearts when we see a braided river and the description of subduction resembling a Toblerone. Chanthavee arranged trips and dinners smoothly and is forgiven for forgetting my 60th birthday shoutout. Thank you, thank you thank you. The most wonderful holiday ever.

I had a fantastic tour with these people. It is in fact the Southern Leg of a longer tour of North & South Islands of New Zealand, which meant that two touring parties combined to make for me a large overall group size of 43. Most of the group were Brits but there were tourists from Australia, Canada and US (and a Dutchwoman) in the party. The tour was superbly led by Tour Manager Chanta who with Coach Driver Dave formed a brilliant double act that kept everyone entertained, informed and managed the transition between the two tours expertly. Everything worked like clockwork. Simple as that. The overall journey was 29 hours for me and so I perhaps should have considered staying longer in New Zealand. In fact, I think I was unique on the South Island only trip in that I did not spend more time, as my companions did, visiting relatives of friends elsewhere in NZ or possibly in Australia. The Southern Spotlight tour focused on sight seeing through the majestic lakes, small coastal towns and mountains of South Island and there are a number of optional excursions available which added to the set tour. I probably went on too many - but I was delighted to go airborne on one excursion which was my highlight. The hotels were entirely satisfactory, with Chanta taking care of all the checking in formalities etc and as part of the tour we had 3 or 4 dinners included, because apart from Dunedin and Queenstown, there is not much going on in some of the smaller places we stayed. As a single supplement person, there were no issues and all the hotels understood that I had a single occupancy room ( a double to myself) The coach was very comfortable indeed and just large enough to accommodate us all. If you are travelling from the UK like me - I would take an extra day at the start to attempt to get your body clock acclimatised for what is a 13 hour time difference. Overall, do it - and feel confident to trust in AAT Kings.