The Road Trip New Zealand — Local services in North Island

We had a phenomenal experience with The Road Trip. The whole team that we worked with (Alex, Shani, Denina, Matt and others who worked behind the scenes) was incredible! I tend to be a demanding customer, because I have high expectations and I'm very detail oriented. There are 6 key things I look for when selecting a travel agency and The Road Trip delivered on all of those things!

LOCAL - they are a local agency, and actually have visited the places they are recommending. I want a recommendation from an EXPERT who truly understands me and the experience I am hoping to create for my trip. The Road Trip team are EXPERTS and I knew I could fully trust that they were speaking from personal experience when they crafted all the details of our trip.

LUXURY - Splurging on travel is my vice. I live for it and if I am not planning a future trip I feel sad! The Road Trip did a great job of delivering on what I was looking for while still sticking to the budget I provided.

CUSTOM - Alex was the main person I worked with in the initial planning stages and he truly listened to what I was looking for: luxury, adventure, and a good use of our time to maximize the 2.5 weeks we had. The first itinerary he set for us showed me that he knew what I wanted and it only took us a few small tweaks here and there to land on the final.

TIMELY - Gosh, they work fast! It took only 5 DAYS between the first time I spoke to Alex for an introductory call and initial discussion to landing a near final itinerary. I also loved that I was able to schedule a call to start, instead of trading emails. It's just more personal and easier to chat through what you are looking for.

ORGANIZED - The team uses a great tool that lays out every detail of the trip starting from the drafts to the documents provided for the actual trip. Everything was in an app and the level of detail satisfied my insanely Type-A personality that craves information. I could simply pull up the app and I knew everything in store for us that day.

TRUTH/TRANSPARENCY - I had asked to add Bay of Islands into the itinerary after the first couple of drafts and specifically asked to stay at specific luxury accommodation. Alex looked into it for us and then informed me that there was a promo (Pay 2 nights, get a 3rd free) that was only open to guests booking directly. It was not available to bookings via travel agency. He openly told me this and recommended we make that booking ourselves to take advantage. This shows that The Road Trip is transparent and dedicated to making sure their customers get the best possible experience. I already trusted Alex, but this made me trust him even more!

CUSTOMER SERVICE - (this last one is most important to me). Everything went super smoothly on the trip, until the last 3 days when high winds (despite gorgeous sunny days) caused a couple of things to be canceled, most importantly our Fly-Cruise-Fly to Milford Sound, which I was SO looking forward to. No one to be blamed of course, not The Road Trip, or any of their vendors - sometimes it happens, weather is weather and safety is critical! However, I called the Road Trip team and spoke to Matt and asked if there was ANY WAY we could get rescheduled before we left the country and within LESS THAN AN HOUR he had managed to reschedule all our activities for the last couple of days so we could still go on ALL OF THEM. I was so impressed and SO grateful to him for making this happen for us. Not to mention, after he reorganized everything for us, he gave us his personal cell number just in case we needed to contact him urgently if anything else came up. Thankfully I didn't need to use, I certainly didn't want to bother him, BUT it made me feel like an incredibly valued customer!

I knew pretty much right after speaking to Alex that I was going to book our trip with The Road Trip and now I've given you many reasons to do the same. You won't regret it, let them plan the trip of a...

My fiancé did a residency in New Zealand 25 years ago and has dreamed of returning. Furthermore, his dream has always been to get married on a volcano. So, in 2023, I was able to make both items happen BUT not without the help of The Road Trip.

Upon first contact, I knew this travel agency was different…they listened and advised. For instance, there was one beach that I wanted to see but a gentle reminder was provided that the drive would take 8 hours and with all other excursions it would be difficult. It was refreshing to receive this assistance/feedback and so very much appreciated.

We started our trip with 13 days on the South Island where we were promptly greeted by a Road Trip member who helped with our luggage and ensured our rental car was correct. The team placed us in wonderful premium accommodations with jaw-dropping (I’m not kidding) views and simply amazing food. During this time, there was a cancellation and very quickly we were informed of the change with all available options.

After 13 glorious days on the South Island, we took the ferry from Picton to Wellington for another 13 days on the North Island. During our first stop in Wellington, the Road Trip ensured we had accommodations where we could do laundry. A great and thoughtful gesture. After leaving Wellington, we continued our journey north with accommodations ranging from the beach to the rain forest to a beautiful marina to a hotel room with a 270-degree view of Auckland (see pictures). STUNNING!

During one of the last five days, my fiancé and I were married on a volcanic island only accessible by helicopter as the sun set. Simply an amazing location and experience. As you may imagine, finding a photographer to go on such a journey was tough. But again, the Road Trip came through with a suggestion. We could not have been more satisfied with the locations the photographer picked: Bastion Point, Mission Bay, the Viaduct region, and The Cove - Devonport.

During our 26 days, there was never a time where we felt we could not reach a Road Trip team member if there were questions; email and phone communication was suburb (thanks Shani). The Road Trip made our time in New Zealand unforgettable. We cannot wait for the Road Trip to plan our Australia/New Zealand vacation. Thank your Road Trip for making our marriage/honeymoon...

We were a group of 4 seniors and a family of 4 with 2 kids (7 and 10 years old), and we started planning our trip quite late (Oct for a trip starting in mid Dec).

The folks at the Road Trip were incredibly supportive, helpful and patient as they guided us through what we would want to include in our itinerary, taking into account the different profiles and preferences of the group that we had. Matt was really kind as we changed our minds multiple times about how much ground we wanted to cover vs what would be the best value. He kept at it, giving us his best advice while also consistently listening and responding to our requests.

On the ground, I cannot say enough good things about Chris. He was with us almost throughout the entire trip (which was 13 days), ALWAYS in good spirits, ALWAYS patient and never short of a joke or two on hand. He also went out of his way to make sure we covered everything that we wanted to cover, and gamely helped to call up places to make reservations or check for availability last minute as we travelled and discovered new things to explore. He also helped us find great restaurants which accommodated our dietary restrictions (one person in our party is a vegetarian). We had very long days during our trip but he never once complained. One of the key reasons we wanted a guide was also because we needed someone to help with the driving given the size of our group and the long distance driving which we were worried we wouldn’t be able to manage - Chris is a very safe driver and we knew that we were in good hands with him always. Thank you so much Chris for everything - we feel like we have left New Zealand with a new friend!

Also a shout out to Bruce who accompanied us for one day, who was also amazing.

In short - you’d be hard pressed to find a better bunch of folks to help you plan your holiday in New Zealand. Thank you The Road Trip for a great experience, we hope that we will have the opportunity to be...