Our Customer Reviews

So happy I chose to go with Kiwi experience, I’ve had one of (if not the best), actually yeah the best 6 weeks of my life. The route is planned to perfection and the stops are interesting and drivers are so friendly, fun and knowledgeable. The major drawback in all this was the somewhat poor updating and changeability of the buses. When I was travelling it wasn’t really hop on - hop off, as as soon as I changed my travel plans it put me on the waitlist for all my other buses and added a lot of stress to an otherwise stress free adventure. My advice would be to prepare for Jan/Feb with 2 buses or at least one on standby as you know it will be very busy. For example, I’m Abel Tasman, there was one day where over 25 people were on the waitlist but no second bus was run - pretty ludicrous. If you could sort out the logistics in the very busy months then it would honestly be the perfect experience! Had the best time ever. Shout out to Cowboy, an all time legend of the game.

Love new Zealand loved people on the bus beats thing I have ever done.

We travelled through the south island, the van suited our needs very well, easy to drive with good facilities. The only slight issue, the rattling of the picnic chairs and the lid over the wash basin.

good times,good crew.New Zealand is a paradise....

Very nice idea!! but not too flexible especially in the summer months, if you don't wanna end up on a waiting list you should have a fixed schedule. Not to many view points on the really beautiful west coast of the southern island. But very good organized and so many lovely people!

This was a trial run to see how we could cope for a week in a van.

Perfect trip with van throughout New Zealand.

I bought this before arriving, would have chosen another way to travel around if I had known some things before.

I started my journey in Auckland and now I'm in Wellington taking the ferry over to Picton, but the driver told me that I am apparently not on the list after I called the office to book my trip 14 days ago and yesterday again.

Kiwi bus There is a lot of time wasting with traveling to and from places that I have experienced meaning there is a lot of time spent on the bus. With pick ups, I can understand people being fully appreciative of getting dropped off and picked up from the hostel but it adds on time to the journey, especially if people are the first ones getting picked up and then doing journeys around the town to different hostels. Lake Taupo is an example, we stopped on numerous occasions where there were 3 different hostels on the same stretch of road. Surely it would make it much more easier and less time consuming if there was a centralized placed in these places. If it is a larger town then may two centralized places for pick ups where people get on and off and walk to their hostels. If people choose to book hostels far out then it should be their own responsibility to get their themselves and make their own way to the bus. Also we had to make a stop to change a tyre as the driver said it was not legal to be on the road. This was because the bus that got swapped over at Taupo. Should this not of been highlighted before on the safety checks? This has resulted in having to have to change the tyre after leaving River Valley resulting in having no time in Wellington. Luckily I had a few nights in Wellington extra. For the whole time in the north island the bus driver couldn’t express how much you should stay in Wellington for extra nights. But if people are on a minimum schedule they can’t, especially as we arrived in Wellington at 7.45pm. Should this not be a place we can spend more time in? On the itinerary it said we were meant to leave River Valley at 12.30pm but we didn’t leave till 1.45pm. Meaning less time In Wellington. Would it be possible in future if the journey from Taupo to River Valley, the waterfall walk was removed which would allow the afternoon for people to go horse riding and water rafting to allow an early start to get to Wellington? Just a thought? I love the concept of Kiwi Experience and it is a great way to meet people, do activities and have hostels sorted. However, the above information that I have highlighted amongst talking to other people on the bus who have agreed would make this experience a lot more comfortable. Anyhow, I’m sorry for being a negative Nigel and eating neggs on toast for breakfast but just wanted to make you are aware of these issues and if this information can be beneficial for future travelers then great. If not, then no dramas and all the best! Kind regards, Stevie