New Zealand Travel Agents

My husband and I finally fulfilled our dream of visiting New Zealand/Aotearoa to celebrate our 15th anniversary, and we could not have done it without our KimKim agent, Uma. We had a general idea of what we wanted to do, and she helped design a travel plan that captured everything we wanted and more.
During the trip, she and her colleagues remained in touch for any questions or support we needed. There were a couple of instances where we had to adjust our plans due to the weather, and Uma and her team were ready with alternate suggestions that were equally as amazing as the original plan.
Everything was perfect--from our hotel accommodations, restaurant suggestions, rental car and ferry arrangements, and activities. We literally could not have planned this trip ourselves.
I highly highly recommend using Uma and her vast knowledge to plan your trip to Aotearoa and anywhere else in the world!

Uma planned an amazing trip to the south island of New Zealand for us. Her suggestion of visiting Stewart Island was great. It was one of our favorite places on our trip. She was also very responsive and made requested changes quickly. She checked in on us during the trip to make sure everything was running smoothly. Uma did a great job!

Hotel Reviews

SkyCity Hotel

Auckland

Was in a central location which made it convenient, but had a casino.

Authenticity & Character

Had a casino

Location

Staff

Distinction Christchurch Hotel & Conference Centre

Christchurch

Convenient location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Langlands Hotel

Invercargill

Had construction going on. Very loud in morning.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scenic Hotel Dunedin City

Dunedin

Convenient location.

Authenticity & Character

Not much character. Standard hotel.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room was clean and okay. Nothing special.

Distinction Te Anau Hotel And Villas

Te Anau

Beautiful room and view. Amazingly warm and helpful staff. Dexter, the cat, was a special added bonus.

Authenticity & Character

Room was beautiful.

Location

Great view! Short walk to town.

Staff

Very friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Bay Motel

Oban

Convenient location. Great view. Friendly staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Rees Hotel

Queenstown

Spectacular view!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Wildlife & Penguin Tour

Dunedin

Great experience. Saw hoiho, blue penguins, fur seals. Guide very knowledgeable and friendly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wilderness Cruise at the Remote Doubtful Sound (Self Drive)

New Zealand

Amazing trip. Two boat rides and one bus through amazing scenery. Guides were very knowledgeable and entertaining.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bus driver and Doubtful Sound guide were very knowledgeable and entertaining.

Transport

This trip exceeded all our expectations, and gave our family a collection of memories we'll keep forever! Our local specialist, Liz, was so friendly, thorough, and responsive throughout our early trip planning as well as making sure we had everything we needed just before we got on the plane. The best thing about our 2 week trip to New Zealand is we had peace of mind throughout our entire trip, knowing we were well-supported and taken care of. Every single guide, driver, hotelier and property host we met were exceptionally friendly, professional, and wonderful! We can't recommend kimkim enough for taking care of us and providing us this trip of a lifetime!

We appreciated the process with Monika and kimkim in planning our 3 week self-driving trip of New Zealand. We'd researched the route we wanted to take and what we wanted to see, plus what we wanted to budget. Monika made suggestions and we made further refinements. She arranged our accommodations, car rental, ferry, plane from Queenstown to Auckland, and some of the experiences we desired. She also advised us on what we'd need in order to enter the country (NZeta), driving rules, and other important items. Once all finalized and paid, we received extensive instructions and vouchers for the items Monika had reserved for us, along with recommendations of other things to see and do in each location. Once in country, she kept in contact and was available for questions, or if not (on her days of) who we could contact. As for the trip, the accommodations (we requested cost in the middle range) were all very good overall and those in cities or larger towns were centrally located for ease in walking to attractions and restaurants. We enjoyed the experiences she'd helped to arrange (Hobbiton, Te Pa Tu Maori dinner, Wai O Tapu, Milford Sound) plus others we we'd planned on our own and some that we were told about by locals or other tourists along the way. Those would be the Art Deco tour with volunteer Judy in Napier, Tongariro and Taranaki National Parks, Zealandia and the Cable Car in Wellington, birds and seals at Kaikoura, the lighthouse and Giants House in Akaroa (east of Christchurch), Arthur's Pass National Park, the amazing night sky in Lake Tekapo, the Clay Cliffs near Omarama, and the drive to Glenorchy and Paradise out of Queenstown. Danny, our coach driver to and from Milford Sound (actually a fjord!), was excellent and shared interesting information on the way out. It was nice to relax and not drive that day after all of the driving we'd already done. On accommodations of special note we really enjoyed the Ruapehu Country Lodge in Ohakune. Our host Bernie was quite the character and happy to share information on restaurants and tracks (hikes) we'd planned to do, things to see, and roads & road conditions. We enjoyed his wife's homemade jams and other yummy things at breakfast. One thing of note is that not all of the accommodations were as accessible as they could have been (stairs/no elevators); we didn't specify with Monika that we required that but if you do, let your planner know. We're in our early 70s and in fairly good shape so didn't have too much of a problem and some of the hotels offered to help with our luggage. We "survived" a hot 6 km hike in Tongariro NP (lots of stairs!) so managing stairs in hotels wasn't a challenge. We came home more fit than when we left. ;-) Overall, we had a wonderful experience and the planning Monika did for us made for a smooth trip, especially as it was our first time in New Zealand.

Activity Reviews

Te Pā Tū - Maori Cultural Experience

Rotorua

Quality of Experience

Food

Transport

Hobbiton Movie Set Tour

New Zealand

Great fun for we fans of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fans. Our guide, Sam (not kidding) was full of fun and facts.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide, Sam.

Transport

Coach and Cruise to Milford Sound / Piopiotahi

Queenstown (NZ)

Very long bus ride, but scenic. The weather at the sound (fjord!) was a bit dreary but the boat ride was fun, though a bit crowded. Wonderful waterfalls, the mountains were hiding in low clouds but still very pretty. We enjoyed the day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver Danny was excellent and had interesting information to share. He also knew a lot about birds and answered my questions about those we heard & saw.

Transport