Auckland is not only North Island’s largest city but also the nation’s. When you stop off here, you’ll find great shopping, wonderful cuisine and inspiring wines which benefit from the wine-growing regions nearby and are ripe for touring. Compared to the South Island, the North has a warmer climate and its great beauty can be seen in the rolling hills, undulating for as far as they can see, the beautiful windswept beaches that stretch for miles and the volcanic wilderness that possesses such an otherworldly quality.
The South Island is the larger and more dramatic of the two; the landscape is full of character from the high alpine peaks to the memorable Fiordland that juts out from the tranquil glacial waters. The scenery of this island is perhaps what has inspired the surge of tourism to the country over the last decade and a half or so after being featured heavily in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy.
The island is also home to great port cities such as Dunedin, which has a proud and rich Scottish heritage and is often referred to as the Edinburgh of the South. Many of its streets share their names with those of its Scottish counterpart and there is wonderfully preserved Edwardian and Victorian architecture prevalent throughout the city. Visiting the aforementioned Fiordland is by far the most popular part of any New Zealand cruise and rightly so - the sheer spectacle of the dramatic slopes that have been carved by glaciers over thousands of years is enough to leave you mesmerised.
Which cruise lines sail to New Zealand?
