Silver Fern Holidays Traveller Reviews

This was a holiday which exceeded our (already high) expectations. John arranged an amazing tour for us with an excellent balance between “wow” and “chill” time. One week on North Island (Rotorua a particular highlight). 17 days on the South Island which was a constant delight. Too many highlights to name them all but Mount Cook, Fox Glacier, Abel Tasman and Lake Wanaka were absolute standouts. Holiday of a lifetime.

John was excellent. From the planning stages giving us interesting options to finalizing an ideal fly drive tour. Many useful tips. When a personal issue arose in NZ John acted swiftly to sort things out for us. We always felt John and team were “going the extra mile “. Hard to express how impressed we were with Silver Fern.

We organised a self drive holiday with Silver Fern, starting from Auckland and travelling to the Coromandel peninsula, Rotorua, Tongariro National Park and walked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing then heading down to Wellington and took a ferry to the South Island. From Picton we travelled to Nelson stayed at the Awaroa Lodge at the Abel Tasman National Park, drove the West Coast staying at Hokitika, Franz Joseph, Wanaka, Tea Anau, Milford Sound and stayed on a beautiful boat Navigator at Doubtful Sound overnight. From here travelled to Queenstown and then our final destination Mount Cook before Christchurch and our return journey. All our accommodation was recommended and booked and our specific activities so each day we had a clear plan and this enabled us to get the most out of each day. We travelled over 2,000 miles in 5 weeks knowing each day from our itinerary how many miles we needed to travel our booked accommodation was excellent and hosts very friendly and we had the most amazing time .

We had a couple of zoom calls with John at Silver Fern holidays back in January 2024 looking to gain some knowledge and an itinerary for a proposed self drive trip in January 2025. John has so much knowledge about New Zealand and listened to what our likes and dislikes were and provided an initial draft which we then read and amended accordingly based on the length of time we were travelling number of days in locations etc. John and his team booked out flights , accommodation, car and activities. At each step communication was very clear and helpful and any questions we had were answered promptly this helped us to have a trip of a lifetime and we would very much recommend John & the team to anyone who is thinking of travelling to New Zealand.

Having toured New Zealand once before we chose the Silver Fern Kauri tour because it included stops in places we hadn't visited last time and the route was reversed, North Island first then South Island. We were blessed with great travelling companions and the small group was ideal. The standard of accommodation was excellent throughout and conveniently situated so we could take advantage of the many bars and restaurants wherever we stopped. Being in a smaller coach we were able to travel the smaller less busy roads and also to see other sights of interest that were not on the agenda. The organised excursions were well planned and we were given a real insight into the Maori culture and the history of NZ in a passionate, yet light hearted manner. We particularly enjoyed Napier with its Art Deco buildings and Rotorua for the amazing thermal pools and geysers. But, for us, the cherry on the cake was the time spent in Wanaka. The lake and surrounding area are so beautiful we could easily have spent more time there. The Eco tour was a particular highlight and standing on the top of the little island you really felt on top of the world. Silver Fern organised extra days for us pre and post tour, so we could explore Auckland and its vibrant culture and then have time to relax in Christchurch before coming home. All the arrangements went off without a hitch.

A very knowledgeable driver/guide who went out of his way to make sure we had the best experience possible. The choice of excursions was varied and in most cases we would have liked to have done them all!

We did a 37 day holiday starting in Aukland. We had 3 nights in Aukland before picking up our hire car and hitting the road. We travelled north to the Coromandel which was stunning! One of the highlights of my holiday. We then travelled south and stopped off at Rotorua. Another highlight for us was Tongariro national park. Two nights in the very rustic Skotel Alpine lodge. We loved it! Amazing walks and scenery. We then continued on to Napier, a beautiful coastal resort. We also did a wine tour here. Next stop - Wellington. Quite a shock after being in peaceful places. A busy capital city. Two nights was enough. From there we took the scenic ferry to the South Island. A stunning boat trip. We had 2 nights in Nelson and spent a wonderful day in Abel Tasmin national park. From there we went to Blenheim and had a night in this charming town. Another highlight for us was our next stop : Kaikoura. Another beautiful coastal town where we went whale watching. We also went Kayaking which was an amazing experience. Next stop Christchurch, a beautiful city where it reminded us of Cambridge in the UK. We stayed in a lovely villa which we didn't want to leave! From there we took the transalpine train to Greymouth where we picked up our next car and drove to Hokitika. We travelled through Fox glacier where we did some spectacular walks and then on to Wanaka. Here we did some amazing bike rides, walks and enjoyed the lake. Next stop Queenstown, a town with plenty of life!! We did more cycling here, more walks and more stunning scenery. From there we went to Te Anau and the Milford Sound. Stunning!!! Scenery was unbelievable. Lots of walking. Next stop: Dunedin. My husband was keen to come here. We did the most spectacular cycling here. Hired bikes and off we went for the day. Very bike friendly. Finally, we had Christmas eve and Christmas day at Mount Cook. What a Christmas to remember! Just spectacular. Back to Christchurch and then off to Australia.

Our tour operator exceeded all our expectations. Everything went smoothly! There were no issues, which is quite amazing considering all we had planned. I cannot recommend enough.

New Zealand was everything we hoped it would be. Silver Fern had managed the whole experience expertly. The accommodation was great, and the trips all went to plan. We followed many of their recommendations for eating out and places to explore which were greatly appreciated. There were numerous highlights such as the Abel Tasman National Park, Milford Sound and whale watching at Kaikoura but there wasn’t one day we didn’t enjoy.

I was very impressed with their knowledge of the destination and followed their advice in terms of the itinerary and distances to travel each day. They made the whole process from start to finish very straightforward and offering an individual zoom call pre trip to go through everything was above and beyond any other tour operator I have used.

It was an amazing experience where we got to travel to both islands and see what both had to offer. Truly an unforgettable holiday (my brother even proposed to his girlfriend whilst we were out there!), with a huge range of activities, ones that were pre-booked in the itinerary and ones we booked ourselves.

John and his team were all amazing. We were recommended to use John after some friends used Silver Fern for their holidays to NZ last year. After the initial zoom call to get the gist of what kind of holiday we wanted and our budget, John came back with a detailed itinerary allowing us to see the best of both islands. We only had 2 or 3 things we definitely wanted to see and were pretty easy about the rest of the itinerary and John took that into account. He was happy to have more calls/emails to get the itinerary to be exactly what we wanted. The price came to about £3.8K each (we were a party of 4, 2 couples in their late 20s) which was better than we expected as we had a trip booked for 3.5 weeks (including flights to and from the UK) with great accommodation and a couple of activities booked within that price. You might be able to do it for cheaper but we didn’t want the hassle of finding accommodations and travel and figuring out how long to spend where as we’d never been to NZ before and didn’t want to waste the opportunity. It meant we could go there stress free and really enjoy what was to offer! During the trip, our itinerary had to be changed because of road closures due to rockfall. This meant we couldn’t go on the transalpine train, but we got a letter explaining this at our hotel, as well as emails from John and Sarah (the travel representative in NZ), who were very apologetic. But the whole procedure was so smooth that it didn’t affect us in the slightest. The impressively detailed itinerary was super clear to follow and gave us a really well balanced trip. It was such an amazing experience and we did a range of activities that we’ll never forget. I’d highly recommend using John at Silver Fern Holidays to book your trip to NZ!

We booked a holiday to include Singapore , New Zealand and the Cook Islands . Having travelled extensively this holiday was by far the best organised! From the initial conversation to booking , all our requirements were taken into account . The flight times ( all 7 of them ) were excellent times reducing the layover periods at the airports .

As above , John and Sue from Silverferns Holidays were so helpful throughout , answering queries promptly and making the whole trip run seamlessly. We had a minor issue at the hotel on the Cook Islands and John immediately addressed this with the hotel management with a good outcome . We cannot thank them enough for making my dream of travelling to New Zealand come true .

Singapore, visited Marina Bay gardens at night, had a Singapore Sling at Raffles, went up to Marina Bay Hotel viewing platform. Paihia, Enjoyed the Waitangi Treaty grounds visit, we did not realise the history, went across on the ferry to Russell for the day. On the way to Auckland took the west route via Hokianga Harbour and Waipoua Forrest. Would have loved to visit the timber museum at Matakohe but ran out of time. Auckland, went across on the ferry to Devonport. Coromandel Peninsula, loved the drive over the mountains and forest. Stopped for lunch at Tairua (beautiful) then on to Whitianga. Went on the foot passenger ferry to Flaxmill Bay via the Mercury Bay lookout then onto the Shakespeare nature reserve. Could have stayed in the area for a week. Drove direct to Taupo, we loved Taupo, had a great walk to Huka falls. Napier, chilled out, had a long walk along the beach front. Jackie enjoyed the shops in Napier. Wellington, enjoyed the trip on the cable car. Had a lovely walk around the Botanical gardens. Ferry Crossing to Picton was easy, just a bit of hassle at Picton, bus to collect luggage another bus to collect hire car. Nelson, loved this place, not what we expected, it is quite a big town, walked from the hotel along the river to an area known as the Centre of New Zealand. Abel Tasman, what a day for memories. I under estimated the time it would take us to complete the walk from Medlands beach to Anchorage beach so had to take the short cut across the beach with the tide coming in so we would not miss the water taxi, got wet up to our waist but what a great adventure. Kaikoura, stopped off at the seal colony on route. Walked to the Kaikoura peninsula and stopped off at the Pier hotel for a glass of wine on our way back. We walked up to the Whale station the next morning; we were warned the sea had a big swell so we took some motion sickness pills. So glad we did, some poor people were so ill and missed the whales. This is a trip of a life time saw two sperm whales, Hutton’s Shearwater and an Albatross.

Best holiday ever, great advice planning from yourself. I thought a very fair price. I wish now we had booked premium economy flights to make the long flights more comfortable.

We have recently returned from a small group tour of New Zealand, followed by a short stay in the Cook Islands. It was a fabulous experience and certainly lived up to, if not exceeded, our expectations in every way. The Pure Discoveries itinerary of NZ was extremely well thought out, enabling us to see and experience so much of both the North and South Islands., Our coach drivers/couriers were excellent - very knowledgeable, helpful and professional. We were also fortunate to be with a lovely group of fellow travellers and even the weather played ball! It is a trip that will certainly live long in the memory.

We cannot praise Silver Fern Holidays highly enough. We thank John and his team for their valuable advice, professionalism and efficiency in the planning and organising process and for their patience in answering our (sometimes even silly!) questions. We would definitely recommend Silver Fern Holidays to others wishing to visit NZ and would unhesitatingly award them maximum stars on any review.

We toured North and South Islands in New Zealand by car, catching the ferry from North to South Island and catching the Tranz Alpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth where we collected another car. We also had 2 nights in Singapore going and coming home.

The tour operator was very knowledgeable about the country. It was impossible to do everything on our list, so by listening and understanding what we liked doing and seeing, we were able to devise the itinerary which most suited us. We stayed in 16 different locations and pre-booked several trips across both islands and everything went perfectly well.