Which N. Zealand ports are best for car rental:

20 Jan 2010 Sydney, Australia VX 06:30 PM

1 21 Jan 2010 At Sea

2 22 Jan 2010 At Sea

3 23 Jan 2010 Milford Sound, New Zealand SC 07:00 AM 08:00 AM

4 24 Jan 2010 Dunedin, New Zealand 07:00 AM 06:00 PM

5 25 Jan 2010 Christchurch, New Zealand 07:00 AM 07:00 PM

6 26 Jan 2010 Wellington, New Zealand 07:00 AM 04:00 PM

7 27 Jan 2010 Napier, New Zealand 07:00 AM 02:00 PM

8 28 Jan 2010 Tauranga (Rotorua) New Zealand 08:00 AM 08:00 PM

9 29 Jan 2010 At Sea

10 30 Jan 2010 Auckland, New Zealand 07:00 AM 08:00 PM

11 31 Jan 2010 Bay of Islands, New Zealand TR 07:00 AM 04:00 PM

12 01 Feb 2010 At Sea

13 02 Feb 2010 At Sea

14 03 Feb 2010 Sydney, Australia VX 07:00 AM

Thanks much!

It really depends on what you want to see and do when you are in those NZ ports.

For example Wellington is a very compact and walkable city. But if you wanted to drive to Martinborough and sample their wine and gourmet food offerings, then you may want to get a rental car. Although an organised tour would be better so you can drink.

Bay of Islands is another small town where you can easily walk - for example a walk from Waitangi to Paihia is only 20 mins and once in Paihia, you can catch the ferry to Russell, another small walkable township. But if you wanted to check out the surroundings of say Keri Keri and Hokianga, then you would need a car.

Lyttelton and Port Chalmers are relatively further away from the towns of Christchurch and Dunedin respectively, so perhaps a car would be best there?

Ultimately it depends on what you wish to do at each place.

Have fun!

I don't understand the question. Do you want to know if car rentals are available in New Zealand? If so, the answer is yes of course (Hertz, Avis, Budget, etc). If you want to know which cities are "user friendly" for driving I'd say all of them, especially if you are confident driving on the left and don't mind the occasional sheep in the middle of the road ;)

Sounds like a car rental would be a great option for Tauranga. I think they'd prefer to rent cars in the larger towns/cities and get out and see the country, wildlife. If these ports that they're visiting are small, scenic towns, then I don't think they'll feel the need to get out and explore.

It really depends on what you want to see and do when you are in those NZ ports.

 

For example Wellington is a very compact and walkable city. But if you wanted to drive to Martinborough and sample their wine and gourmet food offerings, then you may want to get a rental car. Although an organised tour would be better so you can drink.

Martinborough wines are fantastic, but the road to Martinborough is really a pain. I drove it, going back I would take the train to Featherston and then IIRC a bus to Martinborough. Avoids the drive the train cuts under the mountain, and allows for wine.

We rented cars in Dunedin to see the Moeraki Boulders and in Tauranga to drive to Rotorua. We met someone online who provided us with a private tour of Napier. If not we would have rented a car there too. I purchased a memory card for our Garmin GPS for use while we rented in New Zealand and it worked out very well. Although a very nice place to visit, we're not sure we'll make it back due to the distance from our home and will now need to sell the GPS card...

I've rented in Tauranga which offers SUPERB options. :) Also in Wellington, Bay of Islands.

I've taken the city buses in Christchurch, Aukland, Dunedin, ship shuttle bus to Napier.

I've done this itinerary twice. Excellent touring options. :)

We have done this a cruise a couple of times and on each occassion rental cars were lined up on the wharf at Mt Maunganui (Tauranga), waiting to be rented. They went pretty quickly to the first ones off the ship, so if you wanted one it would pay to book ahead to make sure.

We have done this a cruise a couple of times and on each occassion rental cars were lined up on the wharf at Mt Maunganui (Tauranga), waiting to be rented. They went pretty quickly to the first ones off the ship, so if you wanted one it would pay to book ahead to make sure.

The trip I was on this January was all sold out for cars in Mt Maunganui. I would only suggest having reservations in place before you get there.

We have just returned from New Zealand and hired a car at Tauranga, very old and a lot of miles on it. We wouldn't use this company again. Have since found out that you can rent through Hertz for about the same amount and have a much newer car and unlimited kms and they had the car waiting at the Wharf.

Thrifty also had cars waiting, so contact them as well.

We have just returned from New Zealand and hired a car at Tauranga, very old and a lot of miles on it. We wouldn't use this company again. Have since found out that you can rent through Hertz for about the same amount and have a much newer car and unlimited kms and they had the car waiting at the Wharf.

 

Thrifty also had cars waiting, so contact them as well.

Which company did you happen to use? I have a couple of inquiries in on companys I have heard that will have the car on the pier.

Thanks,

Which company did you happen to use? I have a couple of inquiries in on companys I have heard that will have the car on the pier.

 

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Email me at hlrus @ live dot com dot au

We have just returned from New Zealand and hired a car at Tauranga, very old and a lot of miles on it. We wouldn't use this company again. Have since found out that you can rent through Hertz for about the same amount and have a much newer car and unlimited kms and they had the car waiting at the Wharf.

Thrifty also had cars waiting, so contact them as well.

Thanks for that info.

We have found the same. Sometimes the smaller and so called cheaper priced cars rental companies , work out dearer in the long run.