3-Day Auckland to Wellington Tour

This was not a tour. It was a series of intercity connections and reservations that I could have done myself. Not pleased with what we got. The first day started with a shuttle that took us to one venue, the Glow worm Cave, and then dropped us in Rotorua at midday. I think he had a plane to catch because we were shuttled along at a break neck pace. In Rotorua we were left to our own devices except for a couple cabs to and from the Māori Village. The Village was a great activity—we loved it. Our hotel was a lovely historic venue, well-situated in the heart of the restaurant district with and along the shore of the lake. The hotel was nice, but did have to switch one room due to mold. The hotel staff was extremely accommodating to our request and made the switch without question. The final day was literally riding on an intercity bus. It was NOT a tour and we saw nothing except for the trees and sheep passing at a breakneck pace. Stopped in some beautiful towns but never got to experience them. We were literally on a greyhound bus. Also did not get an accurate indication of this itinerary and our arrival to Wellington until we were committed and on our trip. The lengthy IC bus ride through a circuitous route didn’t get us in to Wellington until 1750–NINE hours of start and stop twists and turns. Not my idea of a chartered service or a guided tour to our destination. As a result we had no choice but to travel all the way to the Wellington train station and then have a super shuttle drive us 30 minutes to our hotel. We expected our transportation would get us to our hotel, NOT get us another cab from the train station. I am very disappointed with what was advertised as a guided tour and really was just a series of reservations on public transportation with two events. Seemed extremely expensive for what we got. Not living up to the Viator standard in earlier scheduled activities.

While the trip so far has been fine, I would just like to caution folks that this is not end to end tour where you are accompanied by a guide. It seems like tourist agent booking individual components. The first part the trip was through Flexi Tours. The guide was knowledgeable. There was some confusion as different people had different understanding of what their “tour” was. On closer inspection, it looks like the last trip from Rotorua to Wellington is on a bus. Overall, I would this is fine if you want someone to book everything for you, but possibly not if you are expecting a guided tour experience. So buyer be aware.

I had read several not so nice reviews regarding Viator.. I still went for it and am so very happy with the way I was looked after, the coaches/ Vans were very comfortable and the Driver’s were experts at the wheel and absolutely informative . Reservations at all the different locations were done to precision. The Hotel, “Prince’s Gate” in Rotorua was charming , comfortable with helpful staff . 100/100 for Viator, I will surely recommend them to my contacts and social media forums.