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New Zealand's South Island 2
Lonely Planet knows New Zealand like our own backyard, and this handy guide brings you the best of the country s South Island in one easy package. Let us help you discover the South s most breathtaking mountain roads, quietest off-the-beaten-track escapes and best city experiences.
Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit. This fully updated edition is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed to give you the information you need to make the most of your trip.
In This Guide:
Comprehensive coverage of the highlights and hidden secrets
Itineraries to inspire great skiing, eating, wine-touring, driving or bushwalking experiences
Practical information on getting around by car, bus, plane or campervan
Lonely Planet guides are written by experts who get to the heart of every destination they visit. This fully updated edition is packed with accurate, practical and honest advice, designed to give you the information you need to make the most of your trip.
In This Guide:
Comprehensive coverage of the highlights and hidden secrets
Itineraries to inspire great skiing, eating, wine-touring, driving or bushwalking experiences
Practical information on getting around by car, bus, plane or campervan
- GenresTravelNonfiction
436 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2009
About the author
Various
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If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 20, 2025
Ok so I know this is ridiculous but in all fairness I read A LOT of this in the last 2 weeks in the van lol and a gals gotta do what a gals gotta do to meet her reading goals ok?
October 14, 2019
What a resource! So many ideas for my trip and so many websites! I had no idea there was an at deco weekend! I really like the detailed hiking info.
September 6, 2024
A very handy travel guide, particularly as it includes a comprehensive map (and location maps within the text). The only criticism is that the print is very small, but they are trying to cram in as much information as possible.
March 7, 2016
I’ve never used a guidebook to plan a trip.
Granted, I haven’t done a multi-destination international trip since high school, where every step was already plotted out for me. My first instinct was to go to the internet.
Before barely any time at all, I was paralyzed.
There were too many sites. Too many options. Too many different perspectives. I spent days poking around without making any real decisions.
A few days later, I had lunch with a friend who had just visited New Zealand for two-weeks. She introduced me to several guidebooks she and her sister used to plan something that was the envy of everyone she knew on social media.
I decided to narrow my sources down to three things. The Lonely Planet Travel Guides, NZFree Guides, and a Lord of the Rings resource for movie locations.
First up: The Lonely Planet New Zealand's South Island Travel Guide. It’s over 600 pages filled with tips on activities, places to stay, and things to eat. This book has a little bit of everything for all the major regions and cities of note in New Zealand, with short 3-4 line write-ups of each. You won’t really get a good sense of the place from this limited info, and there are precious few pictures. It still left me with way too many options, but at least I had narrowed it down to a few dozen points of interest.
Each region has a quick visualization of the 8-10 highlights it has to offer. The book makes it easy to quickly get a feel for what each one is about (Queensland: Adventure. Fiordlands: Jaw-dropping Mountains.).
I didn’t use any of the recommendations on places to stay and eat (I’m planning on using Air BnB), but there were hundreds. The back half of the book was a super helpful logistical guide – what outlets they use, what time of year to visit, how to avoid causing an international incident on the island, etc.
With my list of “maybes”, I can dig in further on the internet and the other books. The ZNFree South Island book will help me make sure I don’t miss any “off the beaten” path sights.
My end goal is to plot everything on a map, see where my clusters of ideas are, and then plan my 5-6 days on the South Island around that.
Granted, I haven’t done a multi-destination international trip since high school, where every step was already plotted out for me. My first instinct was to go to the internet.
Before barely any time at all, I was paralyzed.
There were too many sites. Too many options. Too many different perspectives. I spent days poking around without making any real decisions.
A few days later, I had lunch with a friend who had just visited New Zealand for two-weeks. She introduced me to several guidebooks she and her sister used to plan something that was the envy of everyone she knew on social media.
I decided to narrow my sources down to three things. The Lonely Planet Travel Guides, NZFree Guides, and a Lord of the Rings resource for movie locations.
First up: The Lonely Planet New Zealand's South Island Travel Guide. It’s over 600 pages filled with tips on activities, places to stay, and things to eat. This book has a little bit of everything for all the major regions and cities of note in New Zealand, with short 3-4 line write-ups of each. You won’t really get a good sense of the place from this limited info, and there are precious few pictures. It still left me with way too many options, but at least I had narrowed it down to a few dozen points of interest.
Each region has a quick visualization of the 8-10 highlights it has to offer. The book makes it easy to quickly get a feel for what each one is about (Queensland: Adventure. Fiordlands: Jaw-dropping Mountains.).
I didn’t use any of the recommendations on places to stay and eat (I’m planning on using Air BnB), but there were hundreds. The back half of the book was a super helpful logistical guide – what outlets they use, what time of year to visit, how to avoid causing an international incident on the island, etc.
With my list of “maybes”, I can dig in further on the internet and the other books. The ZNFree South Island book will help me make sure I don’t miss any “off the beaten” path sights.
My end goal is to plot everything on a map, see where my clusters of ideas are, and then plan my 5-6 days on the South Island around that.
May 15, 2019
4 stars
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews