New Zealand Bus & Coach Tour Reviews

Georgina Heenan was professional, knowledgeable and helpful right from the first contact point. She went 'above and beyond' to accommodate our requests including scheduling a phone conversation at our convenience, providing relevant information in relation to the possible options. Once we decided on the tour she continued to check in with us regularly in the lead up to our holiday providing helpful information and answering any questions we had. We were extremely impressed with her timely professional information and assistance and would absolutely recommend Georgina to anyone who might be planning to travel in New Zealand! Thank you Georgina!

Barry and I have travelled on 5 bus tours and would highly recommend touring with aat kings again. The tour guide and driver were excellent, accommodation was great, scenery was magnificent, the tour was very well organized but the best part was the way the group interacted with each other.

We highly commend and recommend Kayla, on her pre tour support. She was prompt to reply to any of our questions, and there were many. She helped us when we could not fill all the fields on some of the documentation. We enjoyed the tour, and while we did not opt for the optional activities, this gave us time to relax and look around the towns at our own pace and take in the New Zealand culture and history.

Sarah Pollard was our Travel Specialist and I couldn’t have been happier with her. She was so lovely and nothing was too much trouble for her. She was able to source the perfect tour for us, continued to check in with us from beginning to end and always got back to me quickly. I’ve already recommended her to someone who is considering a tour. Just a shame that she’s not here in Perth. Give that girl a star. ⭐️

Quick response and very helpful.

Travelling from the UK and staying in Australia I found it very easy to sort out travel plans to New Zealand and have any queries answered from afar. It was a wonderful trip and ticked all the boxes. The organisation of the trip was smooth Chantivee a great guide and Simon an excellent driver - and of course the scenery was amazing!

Everything was perfect. Country, landscape, people, food, travel group and travel director were all outstanding (even the weather!). All our few special requests were accommodated. Good mix of group activities and time for individual experiences.

We had a wonderful time, tour guide and driver were very friendly and informative. Tour itself was well planned and exciting. Sabina, our travel coordinator did a great job helping us book the trip. It was a fun time, lots of memories.

I first want to thank you and you at your company for an extraordinary trip to New Zealand. We in Norway say when we are very satisfied that we got currency for money (valuta for pengene) and I will say it now: I got more than expected! The organization was excellent, the bus was comfortable, the hotels were very good, the food, too, but most of all for us passengers, the guide and driver did it, with extraordinary knowledge and fantastic humor! I thought for a long time before deciding to take this arrangement, whether to go around New Zealand by plane or maybe by car. I must admit, I had a mistrust of the bus. But it turned out that I chose the right way: I certainly could not have gotten to know your beautiful country better and more comfortably! Therefore, I will be happy to recommend this fantastic bus adventure to everyone who wants to read what I am writing!

It was an amazing experience! Our point of contact, Tia Chesser, provided exceptional assistance from inception to departure. She answered every question thoroughly and timely, we couldn't have asked for a better tour specialist. Marty, Eric, and Darryl were the best local team that made sure we were having a good time; and sharing their knowledge of New Zealand and the Maori culture. I would definitely recommend Contrasts to others.

It was everything we hoped for and more, very intensive itinerary, great Travel Guide and Driver, lovely hotels and great extra activities. Harriet was very helpfull and knowledgeable and I felt she was like a friend, it was a pity I would have liked to say hello when we passed through Wanaka but it was a Sunday. Many thanks Harriet for your great service we will reccomend you to all our friends. Cheers Jo and Warren.

This holiday was very well organised. The only hitch was someone else's, such as the ferry to the South Island. We felt we had seen a good cross section of New Zealand and what it has to offer. Hope was our guide and her organisational skills, experience, knowledge, sense of humour and unfailing patience were exactly what was needed. She showcased New Zealand and its history and culture very well and with great enthusiasm. All the hotels with one exception were fine. Being older, we found it tiring when we were spending only one night in a place but having been on similar holidays, we knew what we were getting into. Also the organisation made it easy for us to be where we were supposed to be at the right time. The heavy lifting, literally, was taken from us. We saw some amazing places and wildlife. We enjoyed the experiences that were arranged as part of the holiday. There were optional excursions but there was no pressure to be involved if we chose not to. The rotation of seats on the bus worked very well and we all had views of the stunning scenery. We spent three years thinking about this trip during covid and we were not disappointed. Our driver throughout was Mark who was safe and experienced. Always on time and helpful and with a sense of humour. We had total faith in his driving. The price was very reasonable for what we were offered and we would not hesitate in advising anyone who is hesitating, to go and have the experiences we did. The trip was made much easier because of Hope and Mark and we will always remember our lovely holiday.

Brilliant, well worth, thank you and great service from Harriet.

Firstly, the tour was great and I was very happy with all aspects of the transport, accommodation and the personal service from the Tour Director and Driver. They were both very professional and friendly and did an excellent job over the 14 days. The accommodation was very good, probably better than I was expecting - and always good hotels in a great location. Made it easy to get around and find my way home later. Tour coach was always clean and quiet. I felt very safe with capable and competent driver. Cheers to Dave. Tour Director Nathan was very good keeping us all informed and looking after everyone. Great Customer Service, he’s very friendly and certainly experienced in Travel and Groups. I would also like to thank you for all the work behind the scenes you have done for me over the last couple of years. It was way back in March 2020 that I was booked to go on my original 14 Day NZ Tour, - a week after Covid Restrictions were put in place. Over the years since then you have kept in contact and extended my booking credit, keeping me up to date with what’s happening both with NZ, and my trip. Sometimes, I felt like I had my own PA in New Zealand. 😊 Thanks for your Excellent Customer Service over these last few years.

I had the best time! Had a wonderful tour guide named Isabel, and a great bus driver named Stu. Between the two of them I felt safe, comfortable, the cities/towns were amazing! The Kiwi's know how to spoil tourists..Food was wonderful, and so were the hotels. Isabel had so much info to give us, and gave personal attention to all of us. We had free days to do what we wanted too, and I saw sights I did not see on my first trip to NZ. Shopping was amazing. NZ is so beautiful, you can't take a bad photo. My travel agent, Christina was so helpful and was always ready to answer any question. I can't wait to go back again, you never see everything in NZ!

We had a great time thanks! We would have liked more information on costs of the extra activities prior to the tour - this would enable tourists to plan and budget ahead. We didn't realise that the coach would be taking some people to the different activities while the others stayed on the coach. We have never been on a tour like that before other than when we went to Israel. The Israel tour - all the people went to the same activities except for when we had a morning or afternoon off and then each person/couple organised their own activity.

Nichole is amazing! She prepared everything for our trip and we did not experience a single hitch during our journey through New Zealand. aat kings is a top-notch tour company and Dexter and Yvonne made the trip fun and informative! I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

We had a lovely time touring New Zealand for 14 days. All the arrangements made by NZ Coach Tours and aat kings worked perfectly well. Enjoyed the comments and wits of our tour guide, Gina. However we missed the Milford Sound, the beauty of which we have heard so much about. Thank you Chelsea for booking us for a great tour.

aat kings is a very professional tour company. I enjoyed the trip in New Zealand very much, I won't forget the very good experience for a long long time. The director Katie and Driver Mike did a great job. The lady, Victoria Parrack, also did her job beautifully on help me and arrangement of my South Island and North Island trips. I would like to this opportunity to say thank you so much, and I will be with your company again if I visit NZ again or another part of the world. Once again Thank you very much.

Kia Ora. We have just returned from New Zealand after a truly wonderful holiday. We had a few days in Auckland prior to joining the 8 day tour of the North Island. We found these extra days very beneficial both to get over the long journey from the UK but also to give us time to explore Auckland. Auckland was home from home - we have lived in Bristol for 6 years and throughout that time there have been extensive roadworks and reconstruction! We joined the coach tour and met the tour director, Hope Horsley. Hope was exceptional - it was lovely to hear some of the Maori stories and legends and to be given the Maori perspective on life in New Zealand. This enriched the experience enormously. We found the travel was comfortable - a new coach - in spite of a few long days. The hotels were also very comfortable - all the rooms were spacious and provided all we needed. The food could not be bettered. Hope explained the optional excursions clearly so it was easy to choose between them. I think that the range of excursions was wide and catered for most. The coach travelled on from Wellington to the South Island while we stayed on at the James Cook hotel. Again this gave us the opportunity to see much more of Wellington and to appreciate some of the history of New Zealand. We returned to Auckland by the Northern Explorer train which was quite an experience and then flew down to Tauranga to stay with a niece. Thank you Nicole so mush for organizing the extra nights at the hotels in Auckland and Wellington. We really appreciate all your help and attention to detail.