Our Customer Reviews

Brilliant few weeks on the Kiwi Experience!! We had such a laugh meeting new meeting people and every stop was amazing. Loved all the activities too. Great trip!

Signed up quite shortly before my journey started. Had a very very very good time, buses were good, drivers were good, people were great!

Had the most amazing time, was so easy and a great way to meet so many people.

Despite some minor miscommunication issues I would whole-heartedly recommend Kiwi Experience as a social way to explore New Zealand for travelers of all ages. If you are at all nervous about traveling or perhaps have never traveled alone before I would recommend Kiwi as an easy way to travel the country in a relaxed manner with like minded people. The buses can get extremely busy over peak season as any review will tell you, but KE always did their best to make sure you were on your desired bus at the right day. Most hostels they guarantee accommodation with are pretty great, and the destinations they travel to are definitely the most worthwhile spots to get a great overview of NZ.

Recently finished Kiwi Experience and it was awesome, the best month of my life! It was the start of my travels so great to have organised structure - transport, accommodation were all arranged for us which made life much easier! However I think Kiwi is much better as an under 21, as some of the older travellers felt like they had too little freedom sometimes. Our driver guides were brilliant, especially Helly as they give you heaps of information! The whole thing was so much fun, with the best parts being a beach bonfire at Westport, Dress up party and star gazing at Lake Mahinapua, the Tamaki Maori experience and nights out in Queenstown! One thing that could be improved is adjusting the minimum times on my pass (Sheepdog). I think minimum time in Lake Wanaka should definitely be two nights as it's such a nice town that we didn't really get to see much of which was a shame! Also two nights minimum time in Wellington would be better! And maybe only 1 at Lake Taupo. I would also recommend for people to spend longer in South Island as everyone seems to prefer it! (Sorry northerners!!) So thanks Kiwi Ex for the best fun meeting the best people in the best country!

I had a wonderful time on the Kiwi bus, making some awesome friends who really made the trip spectacular. Did a lot of exciting things which I never would have done if I hadn't been on the bus.

Recommend this by lots of people who had done it before, now we know why! Met some incredible people, visited some amazing places! New Zealand, you're amazing! Kiwi thanks for showing it off to us in the best possible way!

If you want to see a lot in a short amount of time Kiwi is a great experience and you are for sure going to see all the highlights of New Zealand. It is an awsom bustour to meet new people and see this stunning country.

great trip got to see a lot that i wouldn't of been able to. driver are friendly. and it's a great way to see new Zealand

New Zealand was our the main stop for our trip spending 6 weeks doing the Kiwi Experience. Overall, the trip was ace. It was an excellent way of meeting other young travellers and made travelling easy. Just get on the bus and get driven, instead of having to plan your own route, driving, etc... although this is good, it can also be very limiting. Kiwi experience advertises itself as a 'hop-on-hop-off' bus, which is partially true. You can hop off whenever you want, but don't expect to hop back on very easily! The buses are full and over-subscribed every day, operating a waiting list and leaving people disappointed and stuck in a town for an extra day (or longer). We soon realised this at the beginning of the north island and then had to plan our entire trip and organise booking buses for each stop 5 weeks in advance. On one occasion we wanted to move our bus forward and leave a day early to spend extra time at the next stop - nope - bus full. Not a huge problem, but frustrating nonetheless. 'Hop-on-hop-off' it certainly isn't. Most of the bus drivers are great and so knowledgeable. I did witness on multiple occasions rude drivers, for example, one driver was playing loud rock music and multiple people had asked for it to be turned down. This was ignored, and the driver said it's his bus, he will do what he wants, if passengers don't like it they can get off and walk. Is that the experience we are really paying for?? On another occasion I witnessed the same driver make a racist comment to a Dutch passenger. It felt nobody stood up to the driver due to constant threats of being thrown off and made to walk. Overall a great experience and recommended to young solo trvavellers wanting to easily and cheaply explore NZ, but be prepared to plan your entire trip before setting off!