New Zealand trip

>>1232726
I think the general rule of thumb is if you're going for 2 weeks and under you should probably just stick to 1 island.

I'd imagine this is ESPECIALLY the case if you're taking busses instead of renting a car.

>>1232726

I would recomend to rent a car if possible.
You are more flexible.

I also would recomend to do just the south island. Nelson to Queenstown to christchurch and back is okay for 14 days. You could also go to hanmer springs/ Kaikoura if you have some time left.
Auckland to Christchurch by busses is may be feasible, but you would have done anything.

>>1232825
This, I took Intercity around when I was in NZ and followed a similar route. You COULD do it, but you'll be spending a lot of time on the bus and miss a lot. Just getting to the South island from Auckland takes a few days by bus/ferry and that's skipping anything fun on the North Island.

>>1232812
this,
I was in NZ for a week (drove from Auckland to Wellington). We only did the North Island and we barely had time to see everything we wanted to

With 13 days you would have time to do a loop of the South Island. Starting in Christchurch you could visit Mount Cook, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Wanaka, Fox and Franz Josef, Hokitika, Punakaiki Rocks, Arthur's Pass and back to Christchurch. You could also head up to Kaikoura for a night.

OP here, thanks for the replies.
So you'd suggest for me after landing in Auckland, spend some time there and then fly to Christchurch and then take the south island loop? Or would northern island loop would suffice? I've heard that southern island has beautiful nature, which is nice. Unfortunately, I can't drive thus can't rent a car

>>1233049
New Zealand doesn't have great cities so no need to spend too much time in them. I would head down to Christchurch and do a South Island loop.

You should choose a bus pass that includes Milford Sound and Mount Cook. The InterCity 'Circle the South' looks good for the amount of time you have. It costs extra to add Mount Cook but totally worth it.