If Waipoua Forest was not visited the day before, you have the option to explore it this morning via a complimentary local shuttle, giving you a second chance to stand beneath Tane Mahuta before continuing your journey.

The route today crosses the width of the Far North, moving from the wild west coast to the sheltered waters of the east. Along the way, stop at a local winery for a wine tasting, a relaxed break amid rolling farmland and native bush.

By afternoon, you arrive in Paihia, the main town in the Bay of Islands and one of New Zealand’s most historically significant regions, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.

A full free day to design entirely as you choose. The Bay of Islands is home to 144 islands scattered across sheltered turquoise water, and there are countless ways to explore them. Popular options include a scenic cruise through the bay, a dolphin-spotting excursion in search of the resident pods that call these waters home, or a kayaking trip to secluded beaches only accessible by water.

For those interested in New Zealand’s history, the included Waitangi Treaty Grounds Combo Pass grants entry to the site where the country’s founding document was signed, including the historic Treaty House and an intricately carved Maori meeting house.

The evening brings one of the tour’s true highlights: a traditional Hāngī dinner at Waitangi, where food is slow-cooked for hours in an underground earth oven lined with hot stones, producing a smoky, tender feast unlike any other dining experience in New Zealand.

Leaving the Bay of Islands behind, the journey heads south, stopping in the coastal village of Matakana for lunch and a wine tasting at The Vintry, set among the vineyards and boutique wineries this small region has become known for.

The afternoon continues back to Auckland, giving you time to relax before tomorrow’s flight south, or to explore the city one more time if this is your first visit.

Depart Auckland this morning and travel toward Tauranga, pausing along the way in the small town of Paeroa for a stroll and lunch. Paeroa is best known as the birthplace of the iconic New Zealand soft drink L&P, and its oversized bottle statue remains a favorite photo stop for travelers passing through.

The route follows the coastline into the Bay of Plenty, arriving at the beach town of Mount Maunganui, set beneath its namesake volcanic cone. Spend the afternoon relaxing on one of New Zealand’s most photographed beaches, with the option to walk the base track around the mountain for sweeping ocean views.

The day finishes with a group dinner, a great chance to reconnect with fellow travelers as the North Island leg of your journey continues.

Today brings a visit to Hobbiton, the real-world film set built for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and preserved ever since as a fully realized version of the Shire. On a guided walking tour, wander past 44 individually detailed hobbit holes, each with its own tiny garden, chimney smoke, and personality, while your guide shares behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the films.

Lunch is included at the Shire’s Rest Cafe, set with sweeping views over the surrounding farmland, before continuing on to Rotorua, a city built directly on top of geothermal activity, where sulfur steam rises from parks, lakesides, and even sidewalk cracks throughout town.

A full free day to build your own adventure in one of New Zealand’s most activity-packed towns. Popular options include white water rafting down the Kaituna River, home to the tallest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, or a more relaxed soak in the mineral-rich Polynesian Spa, where thermal pools overlook Lake Rotorua.

Adventure seekers can walk the treetop canopy at the Redwoods Treewalk, illuminated with lanterns after dark, explore the region by e-bike, or tackle the steep hike up Mount Tarawera, the volcano responsible for reshaping this entire region during its catastrophic 1886 eruption.

This morning, visit Huka Falls, where the full volume of the Waikato River is forced through a narrow rock channel, producing a startling wall of turquoise water moving at extraordinary speed. From there, continue to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a geothermal park filled with bubbling mud pools, steaming craters, and mineral lakes in vivid shades of green, orange, and yellow found almost nowhere else on Earth.

In the afternoon, arrive in Taupo, a lakeside town built on the shores of New Zealand’s largest lake, itself the flooded caldera of a supervolcano that last erupted around 1,800 years ago. For those with energy to spare, an optional sunset cruise on Lake Taupo offers sweeping views of the lake and the distant volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park.

Another free day, this time centered on Taupo’s mix of adrenaline and relaxation. The most popular option is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, widely regarded as the best single-day hike in New Zealand, crossing volcanic craters, emerald lakes, and dramatic red crater rims.

For a gentler pace, choose jet boating on the Waikato River, fishing for trout in one of the world’s best freshwater fisheries, a scenic flight over the volcanoes, or a soak in one of Taupo’s many natural hot pools.

Travel west to the Waitomo Caves, an underground network of limestone caverns hung with thousands of glowworms whose soft blue-green light mimics a starlit sky. On a guided tour, drift beneath the glow while your guide explains the extraordinary biology behind these tiny bioluminescent creatures.

From there, continue to Hamilton Gardens, an award-winning garden complex where each themed section, from an Italian Renaissance garden to a traditional Japanese garden, transports you to a different culture and era. The day finishes in Raglan, a laid-back surf town on the North Island’s west coast, known for its black sand beaches and world-class left-hand break.

Spend the morning exploring Raglan at your own pace, whether that means a walk along the black sand beach, a coffee at one of the town’s relaxed cafes, or simply watching the surfers ride the famous break.

In the early afternoon, travel back to Auckland, where you are dropped at the airport for your included domestic flight to Christchurch, marking the halfway point of your journey and the start of the South Island leg.

Arriving in Christchurch, the second half of your journey begins aboard the TranzAlpine, widely considered one of the most scenic train journeys in the world. The train climbs steadily into the Southern Alps, passing snow-capped peaks, dense beech forest, and winding river valleys, before descending into Greymouth on the West Coast.

From here, continue on to Punakaiki, home to the famous Pancake Rocks, a stack of layered limestone formations shaped by millions of years of erosion, where blowholes send spray high into the air during rough seas. The evening includes a group dinner among your fellow travelers.

A free day to explore the coastal wonders of Punakaiki at your own pace, including further time at the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, walking trails through coastal rainforest, dramatic limestone cliffs and caves, or a kayaking trip through Paparoa National Park.

Travel the wild and largely untouched West Coast, taking in seal colonies and remote lighthouse views along the way, before heading inland through the Nelson Lakes toward Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand’s smallest and sunniest national park.

A full free day in Abel Tasman National Park, with options including sea kayaking along the coastline, hiking sections of the famous Abel Tasman Coast Track, canyoning through waterfalls and swimming holes, or skydiving above golden beaches and turquoise water.

Drive through the Marlborough region, New Zealand’s largest and most famous wine-growing area, celebrated worldwide for its Sauvignon Blanc. An included lunch and wine tasting stop at a local winery offers a relaxed introduction to the region’s rolling vineyards.

Continue to Kaikoura, a coastal town where the Kaikoura Ranges rise dramatically straight from the Pacific Ocean. The afternoon is free to spot fur seals along the rocky shoreline, join a whale-watching cruise in search of resident sperm whales, or swim alongside wild dolphins in the surrounding waters.

A relaxed morning taking in the mountain views of Kaikoura, followed by a return journey to Christchurch, with a stop at a local winery along the way to round out your time in the region’s wine country.

The final week of your journey begins with a scenic drive through the Canterbury Plains toward the Southern Alps, passing through the dramatic Rakaia Gorge, where the braided Rakaia River cuts through steep canyon walls, before a lunch stop in the small farming town of Geraldine.

Continue on to Lake Tekapo, instantly recognizable for its striking turquoise water, a color created by finely ground rock particles suspended in the glacial melt. The lake sits beneath the Southern Alps and within the largest Dark Sky Reserve in the world, making it one of the best stargazing locations on the planet. This evening, the group comes together for another shared dinner.

Head south through the golden tussock landscape of the Mackenzie Basin, stopping at Mt Difficulty Vineyard in Central Otago for an included lunch and wine tasting. Set on terraced hillsides overlooking the Cromwell Basin, Mt Difficulty is known for producing some of New Zealand’s finest Pinot Noir, shaped by the region’s extreme temperature swings between summer and winter.

From there, continue on to Te Anau, a small town on the edge of Fiordland National Park and the gateway to some of the most remote wilderness in New Zealand.

Today brings one of New Zealand’s most celebrated experiences: Milford Sound, a fjord so dramatic it has been called the eighth wonder of the world. Board an included scenic cruise that carries you past sheer rock faces rising more than 3,000 feet straight from the water, beneath cascading waterfalls fed by glaciers and rainfall, and past resting colonies of fur seals. Lunch is served on board as you take in views found almost nowhere else on the planet.

In the afternoon, continue to Queenstown, a resort town wrapped around Lake Wakatipu and framed by the jagged peaks of The Remarkables mountain range.

A full free day in the self-proclaimed adventure capital of the world. Options here are almost endless: bungy jumping from the historic Kawarau Bridge, skydiving with views over the Southern Alps, jet boating through narrow canyon walls, or a more relaxed day exploring Queenstown’s lakefront cafes, boutiques, and walking trails.

Travel from Queenstown toward the West Coast, pausing in the lakeside town of Wanaka, often described as Queenstown’s quieter, more laid-back cousin. The route climbs over the Southern Alps via the Haast Pass, one of New Zealand’s most scenic mountain crossings, before descending into dense rainforest along the wild West Coast, arriving in the small township of Franz Josef.

A free day to explore the glacier region at your own pace. Popular options include a guided glacier valley walk through ancient rainforest to a viewpoint over Franz Josef Glacier, a soak in the nearby thermal hot pools, or a helicopter flight that lands directly on the ice for sweeping views over the Southern Alps.

The final day of your journey retraces the route back across the Southern Alps toward Christchurch. Along the way, stop in Hokitika, a small West Coast town famous for jade carving, before crossing Arthur’s Pass, one of the most spectacular mountain passes in New Zealand.

Visit Castle Hill, where enormous limestone boulders rise from open tussock land in formations that look almost otherworldly. The tour finishes back in Christchurch, bringing an end to a 25-day journey covering the full length of New Zealand.