With its world-famous scenery and clean green image, it is hard to imagine a more beautiful country to explore than New Zealand. To make sure that you see as much of it as possible, the best way to travel New Zealand is at ground-level with an overland journey.
In this post I explain how to easily travel the length and bredth of New Zealand by train, ferry and coach. Whether you’ve got a week or a month, New Zealand’s transport network can take you in safety and comfort between all the major centres and far off the beaten track too.
To keep things simple I’ve concentrated on the major train-based tourist route down the spine of both islands in this post. (I’ve lived here nearly half my life and taken all the journeys that I detail on By Sea, By Land. You can read about some of my more off-track New Zealand adventures on the blog.)
Overland travel in New Zealand from Auckland to Queenstown
As the map above shows, the most popular overland journey of New Zealand involves train travel between Auckland and Christchurch with a three hour ferry trip between the North and South Island.
From Christchurch, an easy day long coach journey will then take you to Queenstown. From there your adventures can continue in New Zealand’s picturesque. Or, if you prefer, you can use Queenstown’s International Airport to continue your travels elsewhere.
Trains in New Zealand
New Zealand’s rail network is not large and, thanks to the decommissioning of the Southener, is incomplete. But it can get you three quarters of the way down the country and it is cheap and utterly beautiful.
The three key trains are as follows:
The Northerner: this travels daily from Auckland to Wellington and vice versa, meaning it will transport you in reasonable luxury and style the entire length of the North Island.
Because there are
Buses
Sample overland itineraries for travel in New Zealand
