Best time to travel to New Zealand

Travellers come to New Zealand for many reasons:-

• To view the scenery
• For skiing holidays
• Hunting and fishing activates
• Attend or participate in sporting events
• Adventure travel and activities, sky diving, kayaking, jet boating or bungy jumping, etc
• JR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings and Hobbiton fans
• Not to forget those who have heard how popular and beautiful New Zealand is and just want to travel to New places.

Many of these reasons are weather and season dependent, and as New Zealand is known as the country of four seasons in a day, it can be hard to predict the exact time to travel to New Zealand. However, this post can help you to make an informed decision.

Skiing

As I am writing this post in winter, I'll start with those activates best suited to this time of the year, winter, June through August.

The ski season doesn't get going untill late June early July but can carry on until October most years. The North Island only has two primary Ski fields, Whakapapa and Turoa. However, the South Island has much more, with four large ski areas around the Queenstown area. The Remarkables, Coronet Peak, Cardrona and Triple Cone. Mt Hurt ski field, not far out of Christchurch, is usually the first to open and last to close.

Best time to visit for a skiing holiday is July - September.

Scenery​

Whether you want to explore beaches of Northland, the geothermal areas of Rotorua or the mountains and lakes of Central Otago, the summer and shoulder seasons are the most preferred, being November through March.

These months are traditionally the warmer months, especially February and March.​

November will still have a reasonable amount of snow on the mountains which always adds that special extra to photos. February is the busiest month as far as tourists, visitors to New Zealand goes. The peak season also adds to queuing times, traffic congestion and naturally hotel rooms and prices are at a premium.

Best time to view the Scenery is December to April​

Sporting and Special Events

At the time of writing this post, we are well into the British Lions, rugby union, 2017 tour of New Zealand. Recently the World Masters Games were held in Auckland. As New Zealand is now the 2017 holder of the Americas Cup, winning the regatta, recently sailed in Bermuda, means another major sporting event will come to New Zealand.

Being well organised many of these types of events include scenic tours provided as part of the package deal.

So unless you are coming for such an event, it may pay to check what events are scheduled to be held here to avoid these busy times and possible booking issues.

Hunting and Fishing​

New Zealand is world renown for its Trout fishing rivers like the the Tongariro River and the Mataura Tiver along with the Rakia River for Salmon.

Travellers come from all over the world to take advantage of our different rivers and mountainous hunting regions. Some of which have very long seasons.

The Fish and Game NZ site is a great resource for the particular species and times you wish to hunt.

Adventure travel​

Whitewater Rafting, Bungy jumping, Heli Skiing​, Skydiving, Jet Boating, Canyoning or Caving, etc.

Adventure travel in New Zealand is available all year round. However, it pays to take into consideration the typical seasonal temperatures when planning your trip.

I.E. you wouldn't be advised to go skydiving in the winter, but then there is those that would see that as an extra challenge. Whereas, extreme heli-skiing, would be best suited to the winter.

Middle Earth​

Filming in New Zealand of Lord of the Rings, Hobbiton and The Chronicles of Narnia, to name a few have opened up a whole new tourism industry.

Lord of the Rings and Hobbiton tours are open all year round and not usually affected by weather. Many of the movies sites in the south island may be covered in snow over the winter and not look quite the same as in the movies. Hobbiton is the only all weather durable set, and if raining, they even provide umbrellas.

Weta studios in Wellington is also open year round and being a top-rated indoor attraction; it is advisable to book well in advance of your anticipated arrival.

Best time to travel to middle earth - all year round

Just because of New Zealand's reputation​

New Zealand is one of the destinations that travellers have wanted to come to for many years.

Often voted as a top destination by international travel writers, New Zealand tourism has risen to the task and now offers world class attractions, venues and services. In fact, tourism in now the countries number one income earner closely followed by dairy and agriculture.

Again depending on particular interests the traveller has will depend on when the best time to travel to New Zealand is. The most popular travel times are October to April.

If you would like more detailed information for a particular reason that you are going to New Zealand, then please use the contact form, and I will endeavour to answer your questions.