Hello,
Tell us how many of you there will be (and if adults and/or kids), what you want to do (hiking or not, and what level...); other outdoor activities (there are tons, especially in Queenstown) or just visiting sites; beach or not; Māori culture or not; geothermal parks or not; animal "safaris" (e.g., the gannet colony in Napier) or not; etc. In May, it will start getting cold on the South Island.
https://www.nzvoyages.com/preparer-son-voyage-nouvelle-zelande/climat-saisons-partir-nouvelle-zelande/In Nov-Dec 2024, I did both islands in 6 weeks, with 2 nights at almost every stop, and I still had to make choices—so in 18 days (and subtracting the first and last day when you’re not really available), it’s going to be very limited or a rush. I think 3 or 4 nights at each stop is too much; the distances are long, and sometimes there’s not much to see (e.g., getting to Wellington from Napier or driving up the east coast of the South Island between Dunedin and Christchurch).
How do you plan to travel between the islands (flight or ferry)? Flying is more expensive, but the ferry takes 3.5 hours and can even be canceled if there’s too much wind or swell!
Have you set any must-dos like Milford Sound, Rotorua, the Tongariro Crossing, etc.?
Here are the stops I made with nights on-site (for a total of about 4,500 km):
Bay of Islands/Cape Reinga 1, Auckland 2, Rotorua 2, National Park (Tongariro Crossing) 2, Napier 2, Wellington 2, Picton 2, Cape Foulwind 2, Greymouth 2, Kaikoura 2, Christchurch 2, Fairlie 2, Twizel 2, Arrowtown (Queenstown) 4, Kaka Point 3, Dunedin 2, Moeraki 1, Akaroa 3, Auckland 2
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