Travelling to New Zealand

Please book your flights into Auckland International Airport.

It is the largest airport in New Zealand and has the most flights incoming per day. Some suggestions of airlines to book with from ..

North America: The main hubs to depart from are Vancouver, LA, San Francisco, Houston.

If flying from Toronto we recommend transiting though Vancouver to avoid USA security and potential missing a connection.

Main Airlines that fly from North America with are Air New Zealand, Qantas, Qatar, United, Delta, American Airlines, Virgin Australia

UK: The main European hubs are London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt.

Main Airlines that fly from Europe are Air New Zealand, British Airways, Cathy Pacific, China Southern, Emirates, Singapore Airlines Qantas, Qatar, American Airlines, Virgin Australia.

The best time to purchase flights is 6 months in advance so in late July early August and remember to search for flight in incognito mode on your web browser.

If you don’t have a NZ Passport you will need to apply for a Tourist Visa ( similar to Canada)

You can easily apply online for a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) Visa which is $23 NZD and is normally issued within 72 hours.

At the same time you will need to pay for a International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) which is $35 NZD.

Please check the NZ Immigration page linked below for all the requirements

New Zealand has a population of 5.2M but land mass is larger than the UK (60M). Since it has a small population it does not have some of the infrastructure or retailers you would expect to see ( there is no Amazon here). What that means is it has a great small city vibe and many small local business across the country.

New Zealand is known across the world for its wine and craft beer. You will find wineries serving up Fruity Sauvignon Blanc and light Pinot Noir all across the country. Or you can stop into Wellington which is the Craft Beer Capital of New Zealand.

Talking about the Capital you can find a lot of great Lord of the Rings spots in Wellington .. including Smaug at the airport. Lord of the Rings hot spots are located near (and hour or two drive) Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown.

We recommend checking out the Plan a holiday page in which guest of the wedding who are locals have made personalised recommendations for our international guests

New Zealand is similar to Canada that it only has good public transport in the major cities. For ease of travel we recommend hiring a car (all major rental car company’s can be found here) ….or if you want to do a classic kiwi holiday book a camper-van ( Juicy, Maui, Britz ).

There is a bus network called InterCity throughout both islands as a cheaper alternative in which you can get a ‘hop on, hop off’ ticket called a TRAVEL PASS for across the country - this is the traditional backpacker route.

Domestic flights to the major cities , Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin will be reasonably priced if you book well in advance. The two local carriers are Air New Zealand (premium) and Jetstar (often more affordable).