New Zealand adventure holidays travel guide

New Zealand basks in a well-earned reputation for thrill-packed outdoor activities, with more grand adventures than 100 hobbits could handle. But in some ways the country has been a victim of its own success. During peak season, the Great Walks can slow to a Not-so-great Crawl due to the amount of people on the trail, while bungee jumping in popular locations can feel like a factory assembly line. That being said,


If you like your holidays with a big side order of adrenaline, nowhere else comes close.![]()

It doesn’t hurt of course that these activities, from kayaking and trekking to white water rafting and bungee jumping, take place against backdrops of such astonishing natural beauty that Hollywood came calling with ‘Lord of the Rings’ and never left. The scenery here is a big part of the overall experience, and if you can go when it’s not full of other people doing exactly the same thing, not only are you going to have a better time, you’ll be reducing the pressure on the environment too.
Our New Zealand adventure Holidays
New Zealand holiday, small group
Combining the best of New Zealand's North and South Islands.
From
£5859 to £6499
22 days
inc UK flights
New Zealand self drive holidays
Spectacular scenery and dynamic culture
From
£7367
19 days
inc UK flights
New Zealand adventure holiday
An active adventure exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud
From
£6549 to £6749
21 days
inc UK flights
New Zealand trekking holiday
Explore New Zealand's incredible landscapes
From
£6599 to £6949
22 days
inc UK flights
New Zealand self drive tour
A self-drive tour of outdoor activities & natural wonders
From
£4400
14 days
ex flights
New Zealand Christmas tour in Taranaki region
Christmas in Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand
From
NZ $2690 to NZ $3190
5 days
ex flights
New Zealand hiking & adventure holiday
Hike into New Zealand's stunning south island landscapes
From
US $3795
10 days
ex flights
Ross Sea Antarctic Islands cruise from New Zealand
A unique and exciting adventure to the end of the world!
From
US $23000
4 weeks
ex flights
New Zealand Lord of the Rings tour
Natural wonders & Lord of the Rings filming locations
From
£10900
19 days
ex flights
Doubtful Sound and South Island tour, New Zealand
Doubtful Sound & West Coast Odyssey 7 Day Small Group Tour
From
NZ $4390
7 days
ex flights
Best time to go on a New Zealand adventure holiday
New Zealand is a year-round destination for adventure activities: think of it like the UK, with the potential for four seasons in one day, but with the climate flipped 180 degrees, since it’s on the other side of the world of course. Winter (June through August) is ski season, but less suitable for trekking or water-based activities that can be disrupted by heavier rainfall. Summer (December to February) brings with it warm, sunny weather but also big lines on popular trekking routes and in iconic destinations such as Queenstown, Wanaka and the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers. Go in spring or autumn then, for generally pleasant weather, fewer crowds and to catch New Zealand’s magnificent scenery, from coast to mountain to rainforest, bursting with colour.
Go on a New Zealand adventure holiday if…
you want a practically endless amount of activities to choose from, and you’re prepared to accept a bit of a risk for a big reward.Don’t go on a New Zealand adventure holiday if…
you’re looking for a totally exclusive experience – some of the most popular activities operate to an almost factory production line routine.Our top New Zealand adventure Holiday
New Zealand holiday, small group
Combining the best of New Zealand's North and South Islands.
From
£5859 to £6499
22 days
inc UK flights
Small group travel:
2021: 13 Nov, 18 Dec
2021: 13 Nov, 18 Dec
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about New Zealand adventure or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.
What do adventure holidays in New Zealand entail?
If ‘adventure’ is your middle name, then New Zealand should be your return address. Here are white water rapids, climbing routes through blue ice caves, and eye-popping plunges into canyons, rivers and lakes with just a thin cord of rubber between you and a squidgy demise. Here are pitch-black leaps of faith over subterranean waterfalls, high-octane jet boats twisting and turning and bringing you so close to the rocks you smell the moss on them, and the chance to swim alongside pods of curious dolphins as they play off the coast.
All of these activities tend to have two things in common: 1) no previous experience or training is necessary to have a go, and 2) before slipping into your wetsuit or strapping on your parachute, you will almost certainly be asked to sign a waiver of legal responsibility for death or injury, drastically limiting your ability to seek compensation if anything goes wrong. The likelihood of anything going wrong is minimal of course, but if it does, you may well struggle to find justice in the courts. You can tip the balance of risk to reward in your favour by travelling on an organised tour – that puts the burden of making sure an activity is suitable on the operator, and means that if you have an accident that’s not your fault, you’ve got someone to sue! As Kelly Reid from our specialist operator Exodus explains, you’re in safe hands: "New Zealand is a very regulated environment and our local operator only deals with licensed operators with excellent safety records. There are stringent processes and checks in place in regards to safety that all local activity operators must go through in order to obtain the approved accreditation required to operate. Furthermore, Exodus conducts and reviews risk assessments for all our trips at least on a yearly basis or when we change any part of the tour. Our local team also is required to sign and adhere to our H&S policy which covers areas like this.”
Rare is the New Zealand holiday where you stay in one place for long. This is a country that invites overlanding, spoilt rotten with stunningly picturesque landscapes, and with as many adventure activities as there are sheep, which is to say, a lot. Much of this is what we’d call ‘soft adventure’ – trekking, kayaking, swimming with dolphins; then there are the classics which are not for the faint of heart – skydives, bungee jumps, white and black water rafting, and then there are the quintessentially kiwi activities that are mad, innovative and will leave you buzzing for days – jet boating, or the bizarre sport of zorbing which is about as close you’d probably want to get to being in a washing machine.