Our Customer Reviews

Wasn't sure if kiwi ex would be right for me as at 42 a bit older than the average traveller using these buses but happy to say I had a positive experience. Well organised, smooth system with good flexibility I was able to do what I wished to make my trip enjoyable.

We had a lot of fun on the buses. We met some real good people and have made friends for life. The knowledge from the drivers was outstanding. The guaranteed nights in the hostel was also a great bonus. The only negative was it was a little difficult at times to change your itinerary due to being in the peak season.

We had looked at kiwi before but as New Zealand was our last destination of our 5 month travels we didn't book before we came out. Lucky for us we managed to grab ourselves a Boxing Day bargin for the funky chicken pass which was an absolute steal. After a very stressful time actually trying to get to Auckland from Sydney (don't loose your passport kids it's not clever) I was very relieved to get on the bus sit back and not have to worry about finding accommodation or book activities as it can all be done simply by signing up to the clipboards which get handed round. Our original bus was epic we made so many friends and all became a very tight knit group which became hard when we stayed extra days and they moved on but the good thing about kiwi is many people take extra time in Queenstown which allowed us to reunite with people. All our bus drivers were fab can't say we had a bad experience. Andrea was our original driver and she was brilliant, she helped us draft up an intinery and make suggestions on the things we should do or where we should stay as we hadn't really done much research, basically just turned up in the country. She helped calm me down after a spout of bad luck which was getting me down (smashed phone, lost passport, 6 hour flight delay to get here and then cards decling to name a few) she also showed a lot of concern when I had a traumatic white water rafting experience and ended up injured (bad luck continued) I emailed a couple days later when we had changed buses so she knew I was okay and she sent me a lovely message back. The only qualms I had was that a lot of the guaranteed accommodation is more expensive than If you found your own but out of ease we mainly went along with what was on offer. If we did it again however we would look around as the Base/ nomad hostels are generally quite disgusting and we had issues with a lot of them we stayed in. As we travelled at a really busy time availability for hostel was limited and for extra days I think the drivers need to make it cleared that emailing in advance to request extra days is a must. Some people were made aware of this and given a list of email addresses for the different hostels but others like myself didn't and required it off a friend who had said it's a good idea to email in advance. Still had the most epic time and I would not change the the experiences we had and the friends we made for a minute.

Been traveling since september and booked the kiwi last thing before I went, my friend was supposed to come with me and dropped out last minute. I was so glad I had booked the kiwi as I wouldnt of known where to begin in traveling around a country I have always wanted to visit. I had mainly Dylan as my driver he was so good really organised and super fun. He gave us peace on the early drives and enough information of the areas and history of the country. Music was good fun and played certain music at certain times little touches like that to make you laugh. Met so many new friends on the bus which I think is the major selling point as a solo traveller. The stop offs between places were good enough time to stretch our legs and see more of this beauty of a country! Stay overs were all great location wise and time wise. My only thing is Base..... its awful at every stop especially the check in I really would consider getting contact with them to see if there was an easier away around it for kiwi check ins! Tipi app is pointless! As a whole kiwi exp took me to the places i wanted to go and encouraged activities i wanted to do and met amazing ppl! It has been great and would recommend to anyone. Its not the mad party bus ppl always talk about it is what you make of it.

I had a great time on the big green bus. Great drivers that usually gave us just enough background to the places we went and most importantly, i got to see New Zealand and met incredible people! So worth it!

When I travel, I try to get the most bang for my buck by arranging everything myself. But Kiwi Experience was way more cost efficient than any alternative. Not only does it provide you with transportation in between places, but the drivers are HILARIOUS and serve as tour guides in a way, and then for pit stops, you don't just go to some random and lame rest stop, but a beautiful place people usually add to their itinerary. Everything about my Kiwi Experience was worth it, and I never in a million years could have planned it better myself!!

Pretty cheap for a bus pass and cuddles was a legend. Cheers

This was the perfect way to see New Zealand - the itinerary covers almost everything, and the flexibility of it being a hop on hop off service is so useful as helps you create a personalised itinerary, which is great if you are on limited time or if you have extra time as you can spend more time in places you enjoy the most. They try to include as many activities as possible and the bus schedule is very efficient, ensuring they don't miss anywhere significant on the way to new places. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Kiwi experience and would recommend it to anyone!

I was very satisfied with your service! Very good!

The drivers are awesome - we had two, Murray and Cuddles. Totally different people and both equally as great. The locations are fab. The organisation of it all would make any person feel at ease, it just takes any level of stress away. Each day you drive you go out for a walk mid-journey so you get to explore places you never thought of, including a pretty sweet gold mine. I'm currently trying to pester my partner so we can go again this year... fingers crossed.