Lonely Planet New Zealand's Best Trips

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• Publisher: Lonely Planet
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781786570253
• eBook ISBN: 9781786573018

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Discover the freedom of open roads with Lonely Planet New Zealand's Best Trips, your passport to uniquely encountering New Zealand by car. Featuring more than 30 amazing road trips, plus up-to-date advice on the destinations you'll visit along the way, seek out alfresco dining and seductive wineries, follow New Zealand's premier wilderness highway to Milford Sound and discover spectacular natural landscapes, all with your trusted travel companion. Get to New Zealand, rent a car, and hit the road! Inside Lonely Planet New Zealand's Best Trips: Lavish colour and gorgeous photography throughout Itineraries and planning advice to pick the right tailored routes for your needs and interests Get around easily - easy-to-read, full-colour route maps, detailed directions Insider tips to get around like a local, avoid trouble spots and be safe on the road - local driving rules, parking, toll roads Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Useful features - including Detours, Walking Tours and Link Your Trip Covers Marlborough, Bay of Islands, Akaroa, West Coast, Central Plateau, Milford Sound, Waiheke Island, Kaikoura, Mackenzie Country, Waitomo Caves, Canterbury, Rotorua, Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet New Zealand's Best Trips is perfect for exploring New Zealand via the road and discovering sights that are more accessible by car. Planning a New Zealand trip sans a car? Lonely Planet New Zealand, our most comprehensive guide to New Zealand, is perfect for exploring both top sights and lesser-known gems. Looking for a guide for New Zealand's South Island or North Island? Check out Lonely Planet's New Zealand's South Island guide or New Zealand's North Island guide for a comprehensive look at what each island has to offer. Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travelers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. eBook Features: (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones) Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the ima

Canterbury & the West Coast Trips

Some of New Zealand’s finest road trips are found in these contrasting regions, lying astride the Southern Alps.

Most start in Christchurch, the country’s second-largest city, still recovering from devastating earthquakes but inspiring with its attitude and spirit. South Island highlights lie in all directions, from bay-lined Banks Peninsula to wineries, hot springs, and tussocky high-country across the plains. NZ’s highest peak, Aoraki/Mt Cook, stands sentinel in the south. Alpine passes lead to the wilderness West Coast. Its long, often winding highway is loaded with end-of-the-road vibe, even around hotspots such as Punakaiki and the glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox.

Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park Mt Cook reflected in Hooker Lake (Trips 19, 20 & 21)
MATTEO COLOMBO / GETTY IMAGES ©

Canterbury & the West Coast Trips

The West Coast Road 6–8 days

A spectacle of epic wilderness, flinty history and big, blue ocean.

Alpine Pacific Triangle 3–4 days

Encounter Kaikoura’s marine-life and relax in Hanmer’s hot springs.

Coast to Coast 2–3 days

Survey the distinct landscapes either side of the mighty Southern Alps.

Two Passes 4–5 days

Wilderness scenery, hot springs and historic sites along Arthur’s and Lewis Passes.

Inland Scenic Route 4–6 days

Survey NZ’s highest mountain, golden highlands, surreal blue lakes and bucolic countryside.

Alps to Ocean 3–4 days

Big skies and ever-changing, colourful landscapes from mountain high to valley low.

Southern Alps Circuit 12–14 days

A seriously grand tour taking in sublime scenery and stacks of sights.

DON’T MISS

Oparara Basin

Discover a hidden wonderland where ancient forest conceals limestone arches on Trip

Lake Kaniere

Go jump in the lake then dry off and warm up again on a rainforest walk on Trips

Ship Creek

Combine rainforest wilderness class 101 with sublime beach scenery on Trips

Lake Ohau

Venture into a remote, glacier-carved valley filled with wild waters and surrounded by rocky ranges on Trip

Akaroa Summit Rd

Get a bird’s-eye view winding around the crater rim of an ancient volcano on Trip

Oparara Basin Moria Gate Arch
MICHAEL RUNKEL / ROBERTHARDING / GETTY IMAGES ©

THE WEST COAST ROAD

Running the length of New Zealand’s longest and least populated region, the West Coast road reveals spectacular natural landscapes and flinty pioneer history alongside eyefuls of big, blue ocean.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

6–8 DAYS

530KM / 329 MILES

GREAT FOR…

BEST TIME TO GO

March through May sees generally settled weather and fewer crowds

ESSENTIAL PHOTO

Capture Aoraki/Mt Cook’s reflection in mirrorlike Lake Matheson

BEST FOR WILDERNESS

Oparara’s freaky forest and limestone arches

VENTURA69 / GETTY IMAGES ©

The West Coast Road

A serious contender for NZ’s most scenic road trip, the end-to-end journey along the West Coast offers deep immersion in the rich wilderness that covers 90% of the region. Nature is interrupted by a series of rustic old gold- and coal-mining towns, dotting the highway and nestling into nooks in the mountain ranges. Along the way, the wild Tasman Sea beats an ever-present rhythm.

Top of Chapter

1 Westport

Flinty Westport typifies the towns of the West Coast, its fortunes waxing and waning on the output of its mines. The coal that has kept it stoked up for much of its existence is on the way out, but it leaves behind a legacy of low-rise heritage buildings, an old wharf precinct ripe for rejuvenation, and myriad industrial curios both in town and beyond. Lo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• How to Use This eBook
• Contents
• Welcome to New Zealand
• New Zealand Classic Trips
• New Zealand Highlights
• If You Like…
• Need to Know
• City Guides
• Auckland & the North
• Rotorua & the Central North Island
• Wellington & the East Coast
• Marlborough & Nelson
• Canterbury & the West Coast
• Queenstown & the South
• Driving in New Zealand
• Behind the Scenes
• Index
• Our Writers