Backpacking New Zealand

It may only be small, but New Zealand is a land jam-packed with jaw-dropping scenery, thrilling adventure experiences, world-famous silver screen locations, renowned wine regions and friendly locals. There are so many things to do and places to see in New Zealand, it’s hard to know where to begin!

Planning on backpacking New Zealand? YHA Travel can get you there and help you with car rental, backpacker tours, accommodation at any of YHA NZ’s 50+ Backpacker Hostels and much more!

Things To Do in New Zealand

Take A New Zealand Tour

Get A Driver And Live It Up! Photographer Credit: Julian Apse

YHA Travel’s most popular bus tours of New Zealand start in Auckland and travel south, finishing in Christchurch, or encompass a loop of the South Island.

Tour with Contiki or Top Deck (formerly Connections) New Zealand for an all-inclusive-style travel experience, with 18-30 somethings, including transport, accommodation, guided tours and many meals.

Or, if you’d prefer to travel more independently, use Magic Bus New Zealand or Kiwi Experience to hop-on and hop-off where you please.

New Zealand Ski

Skiing Mount Hutt - Canterbury, New Zealand

The New Zealand Ski season runs from June to October.

Most of New Zealand’s skiing action is based around the Southern Alps, on New Zealand’s South Island. This includes:

• Cardrona and Treble Cone, near Lake Wanaka
• The Remarkables and Coronet Peak, overlooking Queenstown
• Roundhill and Mt Dobson, near Lake Ohau in the MacKenzie Region
• Mt Hutt, near Christchurch

You can also ski on an active volcano, Mt Ruapehu, on New Zealand’s North Island.

YHA Travel can book New Zealand ski packages that include accommodation, car rental, lift passes and ski hire!

Best Places in New Zealand

Abel Tasman National Park - South Island, New Zealand. Photographer Credit: Tourism New Zealand

If you want to see the best of New Zealand, stay in one of YHA NZ’s 52 Backpacker hostels.

On the North Island, YHA NZ has city hostels in Auckland and Wellington, but don’t miss spectacular locations including:

• Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula (Stay at YHA Whitianga or YHA Opoutere)
• Waitomo Caves or Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Reserve (Stay at YHA Rotorua)
• Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, the longest place name in the world (Stay at YHA Napier).

On the South Island, there are two city hostels in Christchurch, as well as hostels in areas of outstanding natural beauty such as:

• Abel Tasman National Park (Stay at YHA Golden Bay)
• Marlborough Sounds (Stay at YHA Picton, YHA Havelock or YHA Anakiwa)
• Kaikoura (Go whale-watching and stay at YHA Kaikoura)
• Mount Cook (Stay at YHA Mt Cook or YHA Lake Tekapo)
• The Remarkables (Stay at YHA Queenstown)
• Fiordland (Stay at YHA Te Anau)
• The Catlins (Stay at YHA Catlins or YHA Dunedin).

New Zealand Adventures

Cave Men and Women - Preparing to go Canyoning in Waitomo. Photographer Credit: Paul Abbitt

New Zealand is world-renowned for adventure activities that no-one else has thought of yet!

AJ Hackett began the first commercial bungy jumping operation, off the Kawarau Bridge, outside Queenstown, in 1988.

Queenstown touts itself as ‘The Adventure Capital of the World’ and this nickname is well-deserved, with over 200 adventure activities to choose from. Stay at one of the two YHA hostels in Queenstown and try:

• tandem sky-diving
• jet-boating
• para-gliding
• quad-biking
• canyon swinging
• 4WD adventures
• ziptreks
• canyoning
• white-water rafting
• hang-gliding or
• rock-climbing.

Book your New Zealand backpacking adventure with YHA Travel!

Found 3 Travel Deals.