New Zealand South Island Express (12 destinations)

Traveler Reviews

• TM

  Trevor4.0•February 2026
  Heads up: I joined this tour of the South Island having come direct from a tour of the North Island with GAdventures....
  Heads up: I joined this tour of the South Island having come direct from a tour of the North Island with GAdventures. My review will reflect the comparison between the two as well as the overall Intrepid tourShow more
  Traveled in February 2026
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Hi Trevor, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to review your feedback. It is nice to know that you are open to experiences with different travel companies, and we know G to be a wonderful adventure tour operator. We are hopeful that our tour lived up to your expectations and that you had a fantastic time while in our care. Thanks again.

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• HS

  Hilda4.0•March 2025
  The tour was excellent, a very good itinerary, our tour leader, Adam had a very good knowledge & his commentary on...
  The tour was excellent, a very good itinerary, our tour leader, Adam had a very good knowledge & his commentary on road while driving from one place to another was very good, he stopped at interesting spots for us to spend time, view & take pictures.Show more
  Traveled in March 2025
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Thank you Hilda for taking the time to post such a lovely review of your tour in New Zealand. We will forward on your lovely feedback for your leader Adam and I am glad to see that you were able to take the time to really enjoy the landscape and scenery. New Zealand is definitely full of great photo opportunities!

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  Elizabeth5.0•January 2025
  The trip was amazing. The guide -Hayley was also wonderful. All in all- 5 stars was not enough. Everything about the...
  The trip was amazing. The guide -Hayley was also wonderful. All in all- 5 stars was not enough. Everything about the whole experience from Day 1 to the end is perfect.Show more
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  Traveled in January 2025
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for sharing your experience with us on your recent New Zealand South Island Express trip. Your pictures look beautiful and we are delighted you had such an incredible time.

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• MH

  Maximilian5.0•September 2024
  Loved the whole trip Our guide Duli was amazing he read our wishes from our lips and made them happen
  Traveled in August 2024
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  Annette5.0•April 2023
  Great tour! We got to see so many places in such a short amount of time, and I had a great time. Made some friends...
  Great tour! We got to see so many places in such a short amount of time, and I had a great time. Made some friends during the whole time! Will be heading to see the North Island next year! I’m already looking forward to exploring! 😄👍Show more
  Traveled in March 2023
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Thank you for your wonderful review Annette! It sounds like you've made some life-long memories and friends during your travels, we're so glad you enjoyed exploring the South Island of New Zealand with us, we'd love to have you explore the North Island with us soon!

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  Janet5.0•February 2023
  Our guide James took great care of us..Seen great sights!
  Traveled in February 2023
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Thanks so much for your review Janet! We're so pleased to hear that James did a wonderful job taking care of you and your fellow travellers, we hope you enjoyed exploring the South Island with us and look forward to welcoming you on another adventure in the not too distant future.

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  Sheree3.0•January 2023
  Due to an Admin error I could not join my tour at the departure point. Although my records were missing I did get the...
  Due to an Admin error I could not join my tour at the departure point. Although my records were missing I did get the opportunity to join the tour a few days in. It was an OK tour. I really enjoyed some of the places visited, accommodation was OK. And most people on the tour were lovely. Of course there is always one person who makes it difficult for others and this tour made it easy to ignore them most of the time.Show more
  Traveled in December 2022
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Hi Sheree - thank you for taking the time to leave us this review. Our Customer Care team will be in touch with you directly regarding your experience. We're very sorry for the complications at the start of your tour, but so glad to read that you've returned home with some lovely memories in spite of this.

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  Donna3.0•November 2022
  Great scenery, length and size of tour is good. More time made for lunch would be good while travelling long distance...
  Great scenery, length and size of tour is good. More time made for lunch would be good while travelling long distance i.e. cardrona hotel, picnic lunches organised for some activities etc. More structure, information and correct pricing required around the activities. The tour guide was informative enough, respectful and polite. However, he was 2 hours late arriving for the tour with apologies, excuses and blaming Hakka tours and the flights. Then he had to pick up his skate board at another hotel. We did not receive our tour around Christchurch as we were behind time. Breakfast could be better prepared and catered for. Would have been insightful to inform everyone about Lake Tekapo designated night sky project. Queenstown -visits to wineries for wine tasting was not offered even when requested by guests and horse riding was not an option. Dinner time was not as advertised. Everything was closing or could not accommodate a large group and when they could many items on the menu were not available. We did not visit Arrowtown as advertised. Wanaka is beautiful however the accommodation was overcrowded (8 in a room) with inadequate bathroom facilities. A bathroom was opened but it was filthy (I was the first one to have a shower and picked up two wads of hair near the drain). Our room was flooded by the water from the shower and peoples bags got wet. The tour to Mou Waho Island was disappointing and overpriced. We were told a large Catamaran would cruise us to the island. What we got was a water taxi with no access to outside and limited viewing. The driver said he was instructed to hurry by our tour leader as we had to be back in time. We arrived back in time but then waited on the street for 2 hours for the rest of the group who were late back from their activity. No body took responsibility. Franz Josef accommodation was great. The green stone carving and the hosts were excellent. The Kayacking was another great activity with lovely guides. The TranzAlpine train was also good. I organised additional accommodation in Christchurch at Urbanz an additional night only to be told I have to be out of the room by 10am and come back for check in after 2pm. What was the point of booking extra accommodation when I wanted the extra to be able to relax before moving onto the next phase of my trip. Please note…people from other countries do not want to be told about their country from someone who has only been a visitor. Tour guides need to be careful how they talk about other cultures. All cultures need to be respected not just Māori. Overall with pricing discrepancy, tour guides blaming each other, price discrepancy for activities, inadequate accommodation, being told I have to leave the accommodation by 10 am and not checkin until 2pm when staying for two nights, being billed twice for pre and post accommodation. I paid $270AU for pre and post accommodation. Then get billed again by Hakka and $250NZD is deducted from the bill of activities. $250NZD is $228AUD. I have not received the correct deduction, invoices or receipts. The list of disappointment continues. This was a disappointing, overpriced and confusing tour that I will not be recommending to others.Show more
  Traveled in November 2022
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Dear Donna – we are very sorry to learn of the multiple issues you encountered our New Zealand South Island Express tour. We have put your review to our Operations team to get a better understanding of your experience and investigate the issues you’ve highlighted: accommodation standards at some properties, missed elements of the itinerary and problems with your final billing. We will be in touch with you directly today to work to resolve this for you.

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• SG

  susan5.0•November 2022
  Callum was a fantastic tour guide he made our trip memorable beside the hickups he had to fix.
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  Traveled in October 2022
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Hi Susan so happy to hear that you had a great Local Leader in New Zealand! Thanks for traveling with us!

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