The book is written by two New Zealanders and an Australian, and this local background perhaps explains why it is more culturally informed than some other guides in the LP series. The authors have been especially sensitive in their coverage of the Maoris. There is a long and erudite guide to Maori culture and history, including fascinating sections on mythology, art and culture, and very revealing photographs and illustrations. The book also has a superb and beautifully illustrated guide to the country's flora and fauna, which is very well tailored to its market, since many visitors come to experience New Zealand's wealth of outdoor experiences.

Guides are usually best when they come from a deep knowledge of the place being written about, and this Lonely Planet guide to New Zealand is no different: it is eloquent and informative and will be a great help to anyone heading south. --Toby Green

The standard Lonely Planet structure is adopted, providing the reader with a history, general information on the country for the visitor, suggestions for activities and itineries, a vast amount of info on sights to see and lots of useful maps.

The sights info is broken up into region and neatly follows a trip going from the north to the south. The index makes it easy to find details on where you are at any time though. For each location, there's suggestions on where to stay, where to eat, what to see and what to do. I am usually quite wary of following restaurant suggestions in travel guides but found myself using the suggestions in this book a lot, mainly because I found it quite difficult to find restaurants I liked.

During the course of my holiday, there was not a single place I came across that was worth seeing, or was recommended to visit by a New Zealander, which was not covered in Lonely Planet. The maps were also excellent, and although New Zealand is an easy country to drive round, the small maps included with some sights in this book were of great value.

I cannot recommend this book enough for travelling around NZ.


An absolute must have!   September 6, 2004
 6 out of 8 found this review helpful

On embarking on a RTW trip for 6 months and with 3 months in New Zealand - this book provided to be invaluable during our stay. We arrived with just our LP and 3 months of adventure ahead of us.

It was 90% accurate although needs some updating as things have inevitably changed since it was published! We discovered some great new hostels not mentioned.

Would recommend it over other NZ guidebooks but also get a BBH Hostel Guide if you are backpacking for latest quality ratings and new places to stay.


A great series of books.   January 3, 2004
 18 out of 19 found this review helpful

As me and a friend are planning a round the world trip this series of books has been a great help.
In picking places where to go it's helpful to know whats there!
Were mainly backpacking and using hostels so specific country guides aimed at this was essential. We needed to know campsites, country entry requirements, cost of living, activities, etiquette, transport options, do's and don'ts and most importantly what the food was like! As well as info on touring in campervans, car or footslogging.
The book has it all and more. It covers all such topics and then reviews each place in the country individually. It has topics on law, car rental and purchase, gay and lesbians interests and so much more. If your travelling to this country then this book will be very useful. I don't think there is one thing I could think of that it does not cover. It even has places to rock climb in it! There are even phone numbers and addresses of hostels and hotels. Local culture and etiquette is covered, which is very useful in order that you don't upset the local inhabitants. Loads of major city centre maps and tons of colour pictures all add to the books appeal.
In addition their website www.lonelyplanet.com is a great site containing a lot of invaluable information.
The books are very durable and will stand the test of time. I now own five in total, including a Thai phrasebook, as the LP guides are an extensive series, covering more than just travel.
A very worthy and essential purchase, money very well spent indeed!!


Indispensable for a trip to New Zealand   December 31, 2003
 21 out of 21 found this review helpful

There are probably countries you can visit without a Lonely Planet Guide. New Zealand is not one of these. The way to enjoy NZ is to travel from place to place and not to pre-book anything far in advance. Car rental is easy, the roads are very good ( in the right time of the year) and you have accomodation galore. The most important reason not to pre-book is that you are always dependent on the weather. I have made three trips in the past few years to NZ with my family and on all occasions we had to change plans because of the weather.

The more flexible you want to be the more important the guide is, in particular when it's a first trip. The first time we arrived in Auckland with only a general idea what to do in our three weeks and we found that quickly we left other guides in the suitcase and relied solely on the LP to plan our trip. The guide contains all relevant information and is sursprisningly up to date. The most important is that it is not a commercail tourism promoter but that it gives yo an hones impression on what there is to do.

E.g. it was pretty clear from reading the guide that as a family with relatively small children we were better of in Wanaka then in Queenstown as the children were not yet at an age that they could enjoy all the thrills and that Wanaka, whilst offering Jetboating and biking was more appropiate.

Even on the third trip we took we still had the guide with us. You have to be prepared to do some long stretches of driving and nothing helps to drive awy the boredom as creating expectations and anticipation by reading aloud what is said about the next attratction.

In particular for accomodation I found it helpful. Everywhere you pick up the NZ AA guide with all motel accomodation ( very handy) and the LP is there to give you some reviews of the accomodation selected.

The book could haven been priced at a much higher level; I still would have bought it ( in fact, I am on my second edition)


The best guide to New Zealand!   November 12, 2003
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

I backpacked around New Zealand for 3 months with some friends and we just returned some weeks ago. I had the lonely planet guide, the other guys had 'Rough Guides' (rough being the key word here). Both of the friends I was travelling with gave their guidebooks away because they were no help at all.

The Lonely Planet has excellent maps, and brilliant accomodation sections including the largest hostel selection of any guide, as well as contact info and ratings (of the hostels/hotels/camping grounds/b&b's).

It covers the country county by county and lists them in a logical order with 'things to do', 'entertainment - pubs/clubs/bars, restaurants, gay/lesbian venues, cinema/performing arts/casino', how to get to that area, including air, bus, train and hitch-hiking information, 'things to do' including local attractions etc.

It has helpfull information on buying a car (which I found very usefull) as well as getting cheap insurance and MOT validation. There is also a section on Maori culture, wildlife, European colonisation as well as geographical information.

Well worth its weight in gold, (incidently, its quite a heavy book). Do NOT go to New Zealand WITHOUT this guidebook, it will save you hassle and make your experiance much more enjoyable.