Customer Reviews

Essential New Zealand

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Whether or not I agree with its top ten list, I cross-checked it over and over in planning my upcoming trip. Compact, well-written and informative -- it may be the only guide I put in my suitcase.

This guide's major advantage is its size. The guide highlights all of the major New Zealand attractions with a terse, yet comprehensive, style. It may not have all of the information you need in New Zealand, but it will certainly help!

I bought this book expecting it to be quite useful on our recent trip. We've just returned from 4 weeks driving throughout New Zealand, and this book was worthless. I guess it might be worth buying if you're only going to be in New Zealand for a short week and don't expect to wander far from your hotel, but if you're spending any time there -- or if you're looking for a guide that will help you explore what New Zealand really has to offer -- don't waste your money buying this guide. The places shown as "must see" are very limited, with glaring omissions, and there are a lot of better (and much less expensive) hotels and restaurants than listed. Some of the information is just plain inaccurate, and even some of the maps have errors in them. We wound up trading this guide for a dog-eared Tony Hillerman novel in one of the places we stayed, and we got the better part of the deal. If you're looking for a good guide that will give you accurate information and lots of things to choose from, it's better to spend a little more and buy Frommer's or Fodor's. If you're looking for a good map, I highly recommend the AA New Zealand Road Atlas (paperback) -- it was our bible when it came to finding our way around the country.