Our Customer Reviews

I am traveling with Kiwi for a few weeks now and I figured out the up and downsides so far. An absolute advantage is the fact that you can get in contact with a lot of traveller's in NZ and that you really can become a team, as you got the same aims and destination and you spend a lot of time with them. Also the fact, that you can stay for longer at a certain place, switch buses etc. is really cool and makes everything really flexible. You also have the option for a free bed at the hostels of the partners of Kiwi - so you never have to be afraid of having no bed a night. If you choose not to spend your night in the provided places, you also got the possibility to book yourself another place. An disadvantage is, that there are only a few buses running at the winter times and so you can either stay for example for 1 or 3 nights at a place. When you are traveling with a time limit you will spend a lot of time in the bus, as there are long distances between the stops and the bus is unfortunately not running on nighttime and as I have mentioned already, not every day, so you are loosing days of travel. So far everybody from the company was friendly and helpful and for my kind of trip it's been the best option to travel NZ.

THE BUS DRIVERS WERE AMAZING ESPECIALLY THAT GUY WITH THE BIG BEARD!! he's relatively new but he did a great job. However, one of the drivers by the name of Bods I felt was rather rude and did not seem as enthusiastic as all the other drivers. He was especially rude to this girl because she showed him a soft copy of her itinerary when he needed the hardcopy. He just had to ask her kindly, and even after her saying sorry, he continued to complain about it. I felt it was really unnecessary. Other than this isolated incident, IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE.

Kiwi Experience offered me the great chance to see both islands and make lots of internat. friends. I guess that I couldn't really imagen what it's like to hop on the Bus, but with help by the nice App did I get me quick organized an d focused. It s a bit sad that when I ask Kiwi for my min Day Trip ends of may they couldn't say that the Busplans changes now. That means I didn't now that my min Trip dosen't work. Lucky I planed enough time! Saw some passengers Stressed out. The accoudomation where nice. But you can't really chose if you want to stay for the Dress-up-Party. If not you have to. In christchurch the Pick-up was two times 30 min to late and it was cold to wait there and dark. But customer service is quick available per phone call or mail! Nice. Shame that I had two Nr. from Kiwi who didn't worked :( enojing. But the accodomation where almost nice exspecially Franz Josef. I like the Bus Driver Girls Amilly and Anna. Correct ones. Jason wasn't organized that great. With those Busses you will never miss out the hot-spots.

We travelled from Auckland to Queenstown during a cold time and it was a nice experience.

I started Kiwi at the end of March and finished at the end of May. I had the super funky pass so I got to see all the North Island and most of the South Island (excluding the deep south). I enjoyed kiwi because the drivers were really friendly and helpful and they gave us heaps of information about the places we were going through. I do feel that they sometimes (depending on the driver) push a little too much about buying extras. Also the hostels that kiwi stay with are very rarely the cheapest, I often found much cheaper and hostels with free WiFi. I didn't like that Kiwi stayed mostly with Base and Nomads hostels instead of local independent hostels around the country. I've met some amazing people on kiwi and that is definitely a great bonus about travelling with a bus is that you get to meet other travellers. I enjoyed the places that we stopped at but I wish that there was an option to go to more places on the North Island; Raglan or Mount Maunganui for example. I enjoyed my time on the kiwi bus but I'm not sure I would recommend it to my friends just because other bus tours offer a more comprehensive route around NZ. At times the bus didn't feel super friendly because I wasn't staying minimum time in places I was constantly on new buses, and there was little effort by the driver to integrate myself and other new travellers onto buses that already knew each other, I understand that this us down to passengers rather than the driver but I do feel like more could be done. The first bus I got on we did lots of getting to know each other activities and made the bus really friendly but this was the only time we did this. That being said I really did enjoy kiwi and I don't want it to sound like I didn't, the drivers were funny and I had some amazing times with the bus, I just think that it could've been better.

As my friend and I were traveling individually before we met in New Zealand, Kiwi Experience made it so nice and easy for us to explore, meet people and do a lot of great activities. If you want to you can plan a lot on your own and if you don't you can be very independent. Kiwi Experience is not just a bus ride, it's a community.

I spent the most amazing 8 weeks on the bus. I really believe Kiwi Experience helped me get the best out of my trip, the driver guides are awesome making it so super easy to tour around, get accommodation, book activities and meet people! Also learnt loads about the country I wouldn't of had any idea about if I wasn't on the bus! I got unlimited travel with my pass and I full intend on making my way back to NZ to use it!

First of all, it seemed like a good way to actually see New Zealand - and it was. They have activities pretty much all organised in each place, all you have to do is put your name down and pay and you're good to go. Bus drivers are super friendly and some tell you stuff about the surroundings you're driving through which is actually quite interesting. They could improve majorly if they gave out more information before the trip starts. The Kiwi Experience minimum time schedule is pointless as you don't get to see anywhere apart from Christchurch, Franz Josef and Queenstown. You'll only have the afternoon and night to see any of the places in between because you'll be leaving again at 8am. They need to tell people that minimum time is unrealistic. (We couldn't add any extra time as we had a flight that we couldn't change.) Plus, make sure you are incredibly detailed in any emails or calls with the company or your group could end up getting split up as they'll mess up your bus schedules and book you on different buses... happened to us and ruined out time with them to be honest!

I started my trip last year in November and went through NZ for half a year. I never thought I wasted money. It was such an amazing experience, even the longer trips, e.g. from CHCH to Nelson, didnt feel exhausting because of all the awesome bus drivers; never had that much fun on buses! But they can also help you with heaps of questions about NZ, the trip, whatever. You can also meet many nice people on the bus. I just had a few tiny problems with hopping off in summer, because the buses are booked out for a few days (at least on the South Island), so you have to book in advance. But if you have a Working Holiday visa, you can work during summer - and autumn is even better for travelling through NZ, I think.

When I went to book my trip I had not planned to visit NZ at all but upon speaking to the rep I decided to book in and do the Kiwi Bus. Best decision I have ever made. What an incredible experience. The majority of the drivers were brilliant, the buses were spacious and comfortable and most of them had wifi (although you don't get much). New Zealand as a country completly blew me away and I am completely in love with the place. Met some friends for life on the bus and have made some incredible memories. ONLY WAY TO DO NZ PROPERLY!!!