The Rough Guide to New Zealand

by Rough Guides, Paul Whitfield, Tony Mudd

The Rough Guide to New Zealand is the definitive guide to the world's adventure capital. Detailed accounts of every attraction, along with crystal-clear maps and plans, will show you the very best New Zealand has to offer -- from white-sand beaches and vast kauri trees in the north to the hairline fiords and penguin colonies in the south. Expert writers give you the tips you need, for experiencing Maori culture and food, striking out on multi-day hikes, or tracking down Marlborough's tastiest sauvignon blancs.

At every point this guidebook steers you to little-known sights, like secluded hot pools, as well as popular places to hang out, such as Wellington's best cafes. Insider tips, planning itineraries, and author picks give you the inside scoop on the best accommodation across every price range.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference

848 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1998

About the author

Founded in 1982, Rough Guides Ltd is a British publisher of print and digital guide book, phrasebooks and inspirational travel reference books, and a provider of personalised trips. Since November 2017, Rough Guides has been owned by APA Publications UK Ltd, the parent company of Insight Guides.
With the company's personalised trip service encompassing over eighty destinations, and 200 guidebooks covering 180 destinations, Rough Guides is a multi-faceted travel platform, with global sales of 100 million guidebooks since their inception.

Reviews

[Caterina · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay guide to New Zealand. Only bought it because I couldn't find a Bradt one. Not repeating the mistake.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of information but I didn't like the layout.

[emmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

i liked learning about New Zealand. i wish there was more imagery. i couldn’t see anything.

[Adam Nott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid Rough Guide. very useful for our month in New Zealand. I suggest supplementing it with one of the Camper Apps if RVing.

[Mojca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[between the covers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great information, including bus options around the city. Note that this is free on Kindle Unlimited because it is an older version.

[Wayward Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

As long as I can remember, it has been a dream, a goal, an ambition of mine to move to New Zealand. I listen to their radio stations every day, all of my social media is set to a kiwi version, I watch their shows and try to pick up the accent, my auto correct is set to New Zealand English, I read their news, do their crosswords... You could say that I am (slightly) obsessed.
This book very nearly managed to ruin that for me. I've read far better guide books. I think this must be the single worst guide book I've ever read and it's unfortunate that it just so happened to be about the place I so long to see. Very thorough, but very "safe", lacking originality, chaotic at times. The number one complaint would be that there are virtually no photos. For a guide books of this size, number of pages and wide topic, there should have been a hundred times more photograph. I had to pause my reading every now and again and consult Google images to get a clearer, better notion of what was being discussed.
All these faults aside, I couldn't bring myself to give this book less than three stars, because, well... Let's face it - this is New Zealand we're talking about. Unfortunately, I haven't gone there (yet), but plan to in the very near future. Reading about all these amazing places, watching breathtaking videos and imagining what it would be like to actually go (live) there means that virtually nothing but New Zealand has occupied my thoughts lately. I even dream about it. Seriously. I literally dream about New Zealand at least two nights a week. Can't wait to actually go there and this guide book, though mundane and colourless at times, will be the starting point for my journey.

[Ambar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had these few months before set off to NZ. It was full of information about adventure activities in this country. I found the book lots better than Lonely Planet which concentrated more on North Island while I traveled in South Island only.

The best things about RG New Zealand is because it has extensively information about backgrounds of the places, stories behind the places and also good review about where we sleep and eat. Oh yes...most of the information are correct, apart from increasing fee from some (this book published 2006).

South Island took nearly more than 60% of the full contents which is quite truth that people tends to spend here. Start from the capital Christchurch, move to Cantebury then West Coast leading to Fiorjland and tip of the Southernmost Slope Point. Indeed I have great help from them. Oh also they review some Lord Of The Ring locations too...

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rough guide was incredibly useful while backpacking around NZ. The 4th edition is a bit out of date (particularly with prices) but a lot of the phone numbers, addresses, maps and businesses were still accurate! Also, even though the descriptions of towns and tourist attractions were a bit sparce, there was always just enough information to make sure you had the basic necessities covered, whether you were in a medium sized town or 50 km away from the nearest civilization! I felt like it was a really well put together travel guide. My only complaint/hope for future editions is that there weren't many photos, and I think added more in to future editions would be immensely helpful since the country is known for scenery. I'm not saying plaster the book with pictures that give all the good parts away, but at least include a few highlights here and there.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spent a month traveling around New Zealand with one of my favorite people on the face of this earth. We each had different travel guides. We decided that Rough Guides are the best. They tell you about places to stay, eat and visit that are REALLY off the beaten path. Some of the other guides tell you more upscale places to stay, nothing unique, this is not the case with Rough Guides. We ended up seeking out some interesting places to sleep, an old prison, an old jail, a train car, a tree house and an old bakery (all of which are now hostels).
I am in the process of planning a trip to Dubai, Jordan, Israel, Cairo and Kenya.... i just ordered the rough guide for all of these places!!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just got back from a 10-day trip around New Zealand in which we used mainly this guide as a resource. It's the first Rough Guide I've ever used, and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it, considering its suggestions were still relevant 3 years after its initial publication. I especially like that it includes a range of accommodation types (for those of us who are happy to be backpackers most of the time but like to "upgrade" sometimes).

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly comprehensive and helpful guide to the many sights and wonders throughout New Zealand. I'm contemplating a trip there in the fall and this was a hugely helpful overview of the various regions and highlights of each one. It's conversational, candid writing style is also an enjoyable change from the institutional language of most guidebooks. Highly recommended for armchair and real travelers to New Zealand.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

although i prefer the Lonely Planet and used it to supplement hte rough guide.. the rough guide is great for background history of places which i adore and read aloud to a certain someone's anguish at times hahaha i love torture!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I preferred the Lonely Planet book for New Zealand, but this Rough Guide still contained a lot of interesting information. Not sure why I bought both books, must have wanted to cover every little part of New Zealand.

[Robert Gerling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helped me a lot during my six months ins god's own country.
But i must say that i personally prefer Rough Guide over Lonely Planet.

[Barrie Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really read it all! Useful when planning or touring New Zealand. My fifth time here, and always bring it. I recommend it to others.

[Agnes Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific. Very detailed.