I have been asked to provide a sample Itinerary for a short vacation in New Zealand. So here it is. The fact that you are reading this shows you are looking into 6-day holiday in New Zealand. If I can have it my way, I’ll tell you to please extend your NZ holiday. Seven days in New Zealand can be summed up by a Chinese proverb, transliterated : “riding horse see flowers” (走马看花). What this means is that everything will be blurry and a whirl, much like what flowers appear to the rider on a horse: you simply will not be able to enjoy them as much.

For whatever reasons you might have, I am going to provide you with some suggestions on how you can enjoy a 6-day vacation in New Zealand. This first post will provide a sample itinerary for the North Island. In a future post, I will write about how you can travel the South Island in 7 days. I am making some assumptions here: you intend to pick up  your car from Auckland Airport and returning it to the same. There are a number of variations to a 6-day north island tour, which will be covered in future posts.

As this was originally a fairly long post, I have divided it up into several smaller posts, so that it is easier to read. Eventually I will be posting a few North Island itineraries, so I am giving each itinerary a code. This first itinerary of New Zealand is coded as N6A.

Summary 6-Day Itinerary of North Island: N6A (click on each day for details)

Day 1:
Arrival in Auckland and tour of the city

Day 2:
Auckland to Rotorua

Day 3:
Rotorua to Mt Ruapehu

Day 4:
Mt Ruapehu to Mt Egmont National Park

Day 5:
Mt Egmont National Park via Waitomo to Te Aroha

Day 6:
Te Aroha via the Coromandel to Auckland