New Zealand›Month by month

When to go

New Zealand, month by month

Where in New Zealand is at its best each month, and where to skip. Each verdict comes from the place's stated best season and the closures, weather warnings and festivals Tourisma has for it: in the middle of the season is a great month, its first or last month a good one; a weather warning (monsoon seas, smoke) moves a month down, a closure (a park shut, the boats stopped) moves it down to mixed at most, and a shut place is better avoided.

New Zealand in January

Plan January

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Can fall this month

  • Christmas and New Year holidays

New Zealand in February

Plan February

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Can fall this month

  • Waitangi Day
  • Art Deco Festival Napier
  • Auckland Lantern Festival (dates shift yearly)

New Zealand in March

Plan March

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Can fall this month

  • Auckland Lantern Festival (dates shift yearly)

New Zealand in April

Plan April

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Coromandel, Dunedin, Queenstown, Taupo, Wanaka.

New Zealand in May

Plan May

At their best

Mixed: Abel Tasman, Aoraki Mount Cook, Auckland, Bay of Islands, Christchurch, Coromandel, Dunedin, Franz Josef, Kaikoura, Lake Tekapo, Napier, Picton, Queenstown, Rotorua, Te Anau (Milford Sound), Wanaka, Wellington.

Better avoided

  • Taupo · Tongariro Crossing in Winter Conditions

New Zealand in June

Plan June

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Queenstown, Abel Tasman, Aoraki Mount Cook, Auckland, Bay of Islands, Christchurch, Coromandel, Dunedin, Kaikoura, Napier, Picton, Rotorua, Te Anau (Milford Sound), Wellington.

Better avoided

  • Franz Josef · Snow on Arthur's Pass and the Haast Pass
  • Taupo · Tongariro Crossing in Winter Conditions; Desert Road Snow Closures
  • Wanaka · Snow on the Crown Range and the Haast Pass

Can fall this month

  • Matariki (Māori New Year) (dates shift yearly)
  • Queenstown Winter Festival

New Zealand in July

Plan July

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Abel Tasman, Aoraki Mount Cook, Auckland, Bay of Islands, Christchurch, Coromandel, Dunedin, Kaikoura, Napier, Picton, Rotorua, Te Anau (Milford Sound), Wellington.

Better avoided

  • Franz Josef · Snow on Arthur's Pass and the Haast Pass
  • Taupo · Tongariro Crossing in Winter Conditions; Desert Road Snow Closures
  • Wanaka · Snow on the Crown Range and the Haast Pass

Can fall this month

  • Matariki (Māori New Year) (dates shift yearly)

New Zealand in August

Plan August

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Abel Tasman, Aoraki Mount Cook, Auckland, Bay of Islands, Christchurch, Coromandel, Dunedin, Kaikoura, Napier, Picton, Rotorua, Te Anau (Milford Sound), Wellington.

Better avoided

  • Franz Josef · Snow on Arthur's Pass and the Haast Pass
  • Taupo · Tongariro Crossing in Winter Conditions; Desert Road Snow Closures
  • Wanaka · Snow on the Crown Range and the Haast Pass

New Zealand in September

Plan September

At their best

Mixed: Queenstown, Abel Tasman, Aoraki Mount Cook, Auckland, Bay of Islands, Christchurch, Coromandel, Dunedin, Kaikoura, Lake Tekapo, Napier, Picton, Rotorua, Te Anau (Milford Sound), Wellington.

Better avoided

  • Franz Josef · Snow on Arthur's Pass and the Haast Pass
  • Taupo · Tongariro Crossing in Winter Conditions; Desert Road Snow Closures
  • Wanaka · Snow on the Crown Range and the Haast Pass

Can fall this month

  • World of WearableArt (WOW)

New Zealand in October

Plan October

At their best

Mixed: Abel Tasman, Aoraki Mount Cook, Auckland, Bay of Islands, Christchurch, Coromandel, Dunedin, Franz Josef, Kaikoura, Lake Tekapo, Napier, Picton, Queenstown, Rotorua, Te Anau (Milford Sound), Wanaka, Wellington.

Better avoided

  • Taupo · Tongariro Crossing in Winter Conditions

Can fall this month

  • World of WearableArt (WOW)
  • Auckland Diwali Festival (dates shift yearly)

New Zealand in November

Plan November

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Mixed: Coromandel, Queenstown, Taupo, Wanaka.

Can fall this month

  • Auckland Diwali Festival (dates shift yearly)
  • Lupin season at Lake Tekapo

New Zealand in December

Plan December

At their best

Good, at the edge of the season

Can fall this month

  • Lupin season at Lake Tekapo
  • Christmas and New Year holidays
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