New zealand - north or south island?

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mareeclara

The South Island is considered the more scenic out of the two, but there are some good places in the North Island ...it depends on what you want to see!!!
THere are less people in the South so you will notice that and the North tends to have more cultural things available.
See a couple of websites below to help, but if you like scenery spend more time in the South, if you like clubbing and seeing cities spend more time in the North....if you like a combination...spend half and half....my personal prefernece is the South....but I'm a South islander!

Picola

this was my answer to you in the Australia section...
3 weeks is not very long, you're time would probably therefore best be spent on just one of the islands which is a shame as both islands are uniquely worth a visit!
South island: christchurch is the biggest city in the south, known as the garden city
http://img2.travelblog.org/Photos/18463/101284/f/705687-Littleton-Harbour--Christchurch-0.jpg
Queenstown is definetly not to be missed, its the adventure capital of the world, white water rafting, bunji jumping, sky diving, you name it. aside from that its just a beautiful place surrounded by mountains.
http://www.world-tour-orion7.com/images/Queenstown3.jpg
milford sound is also not to be missed - its a good 3 hours away from Queenstown, or an hour and half a away from te anau which is another beautiful town that gets filled with tourists! - worth checking out in Te Anau are the glow worm caves and if you're not adverse to a bit of walking you could walk up to the first hut on the kepler track, Luxmore hut - takes about 4 hours but i'm not kidding you when i saw how amazing the views up there are!
http://homepage.cs.latrobe.edu.au/ekpardede/images/Milford%20Sound.JPG
http://www.doubtfulsound.com/sites/teanau.info/images/edgewater-view~.jpg
http://www.schmieder.co.uk/NewZealand/Extra%20NZ%20photos%20disk%2011+12/IMG_3828%2050%25.JPG
then theres Dunedin, fox and franz joseph glaciers,
http://laddish.net/events/2005/0227.new_zealand/log/itinerary_photos/thumbs/0314c.%20Fox%20Glacier2.jpg
punakaiki and you must must must visit Nelson and Abel Tasman national park to see some of the most beautiful golden sand beaches in the world!
http://www.iantraffordphotos.com/gallery/postcards/image/kaiteriteri.jpg
http://www.photoseek.com/07NZ-2/bin/images/large/07NZ_4244_Mutton_Cove_Abel_Tasman_NP.jpg
http://www.goldenbayconnections.com/photos/totaranui.JPG

Lakes tekapo, pukaki and Mount Cook also not to be missed!
http://www.union.edu/PUBLIC/ECODEPT/homesite/newsletters/Mt%20Cook%20across%20Lake%20Pukaki%20closeup.14Dec06.ed.jpg

North Island: Auckland is the capital and the largest city in NZ (population 1 million +) its known as "the city of sails" not least because of its lovely watery surrounds and trillions of boats. Waiheke island which is a ferry ride away from Auckland is worth a visit.
http://www.cs.nyu.edu/overton/genearoundtheworld/auckland.jpg
http://www.iho-ohi.org/wp-content/waiheke-island-auckland-new-zealand.jpg
Then theres Rotorua another tourist haven, for good reason, it is admidst geothermal activity and so theres several places that you can visit to see sulphur pools, geysers and all sorts of amazing natural occurences!
http://www.leeabbamonte.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/rotorua.bmp
Bay or islands and coromandel are north of auckland for some more beautiful beachy scenery.
http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/tours/boat-and-sailing-tours/bay-of-islands/fullers-bay-of-islands/otehei-bay.jpg
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1285978-Cooks_Beach_by_BRG-Coromandel.jpg
Also of course you wouldn't miss Wellington the capital city and the bottom of the north island - if you were just doing the north island it woul;d be worth the 3 hour ferry trip across cook straight into the marlborough sounds at the top of the south island, to picton (or vice versa)
http://marktanner.com/art/wellington-large.jpg
Napier and hastings also worth a visit, and taupo.
http://www.lakesdhb.govt.nz/Images/uploads/TaupoMountainsfromJaneshourse.jpg
if you wanted to enjoy yourself then definetly just stick to one island but maybe include the ferry trip at the end of your journey (whichever way you decide to do it).
Otherwise i would probably suggest 2 weeks in the South island and 1 week in the north.

Seanis777

For a purely holiday point of view, for scenery and the like, I would reccommend 2 weeks in the south and 1 in the north.
However if it's for business or other reasons, the north has more people and bigger cities.

txlcck 3

You can get New Zealand travel and accommodation tips at http://www.nzaccommodation.net/

travel_stories

If you want to do either island justice I would recommend just one.The South Island. would be my pick - there is so much to do and see, even in three weeks you will not have enough time to see it all and will have to make choices.Scenically it is just beautiful. If you arrived at Christchurch you could do a good circle and see a lot in three weeks if you plan carefully.

If you look at my website http://holidays-in-newzealand.com this should give you an overview.Wait a day or two as I am about to put some pages on New Zealand scenery on the site which should be very useful.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Nathan M

I lived in both islands and traveled both islands my whole life. If you want culture and shopping best place to be the north island.
If you want breath taking scenery and many more spots worth seeing go south island. Either way you want to get a rental car as most places spread out. you would be able to cover each island in 3 weeks. Like others said it best to just focus on one island. or maybe for a more tourists type of travel fly to Auckland get a rental car for a week go visit Taupo and Rotorua then fly to queenstown hire a rental again and check out that area. you could depart Christchurch as they fly to Singapore I not sure maybe even the states on Air New Zealand which a start alliance member.

Paul G

although I am a north-islander I would have to say that time well spent in New Zealand is time spent in the south island. this depends on what sort of vacation you want. the south island has some stunning scenery, especially if you travel over one of the mountain passes. enjoy your stay!!

Little Miss Sweet As !

The North Island, there is more to do there.

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