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Étaperia

New Zealand in 10 days: Wellington, Tongariro and Taupo, day by day

Ten days from the capital to Lake Taupo: the cable car and Zealandia, Te Papa, Weta Workshop, Cape Palliser lighthouse, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and the Māori carvings at Mine Bay by kayak.

Compiled by Kylian, updated on Sep 20, 2026

The Emerald Lakes of Tongariro, green pools amid the volcanic slopes
  • 10 days
  • 29 places
  • 10 nights
  • fast pace
Start
Wellington
End
Taupo
Main transport
Wellington on foot and by cable car for the first four days, rental car after that, mandatory shuttles for both ends of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Recommended season
December to March: the day 28 Tongariro Alpine Crossing is exposed alpine terrain, closed or not recommended outside the southern summer, and the Mine Bay kayak trip needs a calm lake in the morning

What you get

  • The complete itinerary: 10 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
  • The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
  • Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
  • The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
  • A PDF file of 21 pages

What the price does not include

  • Flights
  • Hotel nights
  • Tickets and admission fees
  • Travel insurance
  • On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The itinerary preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 1

The heights of Wellington

Morning

Wellington Cable Car and Cable Car Museum

The red funicular climbs from Lambton Quay to Kelburn in five minutes, through three tunnels and over four viaducts, in service since 1902 to serve a hillside housing development. The small museum at the top keeps the original cars and period machinery. Entry is free.

Space Place at Carter Observatory

The former national observatory, at the top of the funicular, now a planetarium. It runs sessions on the southern sky and on Polynesian star navigation, and a historic telescope is still used on clear evenings.

Wellington Botanic Garden

25 hectares (62 acres) on a steep slope between Kelburn and the city, with original native forest, the Lady Norwood rose garden and a tropical glasshouse. The walk down takes you back to the center in thirty minutes.

Afternoon

Ōtari-Wilton's Bush

The only botanic garden in the country devoted entirely to native plants, alongside an ancient forest where 800-year-old rimu survive. Short tracks and a canopy walkway. Entry is free.

Zealandia

Two former city water reservoirs and their entire valley, 225 hectares (556 acres), enclosed since 1999 behind an 8.6 km (5.3 mi) fence and cleared of every introduced mammal. The project gives itself five hundred years to return the forest to its state before humans arrived. The immediate result: tuatara, kākā, hihi and takahē roam free, twenty minutes from Parliament.

Good to know

The Cable Car, the Cable Car Museum, Space Place and the botanic garden are on the same hill: a single ride up covers all four, and the walk down through the garden brings you back to the center. The funicular museum and the garden are free.

Hotel · Night 1

Naumi Studio Wellington

A richly decorated boutique hotel on Cuba Street, in the heart of the capital's liveliest neighborhood, a fifteen-minute walk from Te Papa and the waterfront. Four nights here cover the whole Wellington stay.

Address
· 213 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
Website
· naumihotels.com (new tab)
Check-in
3:00 PM · Check-out 11:00 AM
Book this hotel (new tab) affiliate link

Buy this itinerary

€39 incl. tax

that is €3.90 per day of travel

Billed in euros. If your card is in another currency, your bank converts at its own rate.

  • Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
  • Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
  • Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the terms of sale, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 10 days

Buy

A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 2 business days.

The day-by-day rundown

10 stops, 420 km as the crow flies

  1. Day 1 The heights of Wellington Wellington Cable Car and Cable Car Museum Free
  2. Day 2 Power, stone and Cuba Street New Zealand Parliament and the Beehive Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  3. Day 3 War memory and the national museum Pukeahu National War Memorial Park and the national memorial Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  4. Day 4 Miramar, cinema and the south coast Weta Workshop Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  5. Day 5 Cape Palliser and the Wairarapa Cape Palliser lighthouse and seal colony Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  6. Day 6 Pukaha, then the climb to Tongariro Pukaha Mt Bruce Wildlife Centre Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  7. Day 7 The Tongariro Alpine Crossing The Tongariro Alpine Crossing Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  8. Day 8 Back to Whakapapa via Waihohonu Back to Whakapapa via Waihohonu Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  9. Day 9 Taupo, steam and rapids Drive to Taupo and Craters of the Moon Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  10. Day 10 The lake and the carvings of Mine Bay Taupo Museum and Art Gallery, town center and lakefront Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

1 day is free to read above. The other 9 unlock when you buy. Buy the itinerary, €39

Found an error in this itinerary? Report an error

Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

  • Wellington is the windiest capital in the world. Cook Strait funnels the wind, so ride the cable car and visit the lookouts in the morning, before it picks up.
  • The Tongariro Alpine Crossing on day 28 runs through alpine terrain with no shelter. The weather can go from full sun to blizzard in hours, even in February. Bring warm layers, a waterproof jacket and three liters of water: there is no drinking water on the route.
  • Lake Taupo builds a chop as soon as the afternoon wind arrives, so do the Mine Bay kayak trip on day 31 in the morning: three hours round trip from Acacia Bay.

Transport and permits

  • The first four days run without a car: you explore Wellington on foot, and the cable car links the center to the botanic garden.
  • The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a one-way traverse, not a loop. The two ends are not connected by car, so the shuttle is mandatory; book it through your accommodation.
  • The Wairarapa road on day 26 is long and winding out to Cape Palliser, and the final stretch to the lighthouse is gravel.

Formalities and safety

  • Parliament is open only on a free guided tour, by timed slot, with a security check at the door.
  • Weta Workshop on day 25 requires a timed booking, and you cannot wander through the workshops on your own.
  • The Tongariro shuttle leaves the far end at a fixed pick-up time. Miss it and you face 20 km (12 miles) of road with no transport.

Budget and meals

  • Currency: the New Zealand dollar, roughly €0.55 per 1 NZD, with cards accepted everywhere. Te Papa is free, but its temporary exhibitions are not.
  • Main costs: Zealandia on day 22, Weta Workshop on day 25, the Tongariro shuttle and fee on day 28, and the Waikato jet boat on day 30.
  • Spa Thermal Park and Craters of the Moon bracket day 30. The first is free, on the riverbank; the second charges admission and is run by a local trust.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening and says where you spend the night, with the address and booking link for each place to stay. Timed-entry tickets are flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is compiled day by day, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Module, classic or complete itinerary: which one should I choose?

A classic is a short trip built to stand on its own, designed for a first visit to the country. A module covers one region in depth. The complete itinerary crosses the whole country, and buying it also unlocks each of its modules in your customer account.

Can I get a refund if the itinerary doesn't suit me?

No. It is digital content delivered right away, and you waive your right of withdrawal at checkout. To judge before you pay, every product page gives one full day for free and the list of every stop. After purchase, the guarantee applies: a closed hotel or a permanently closed place is corrected within 7 days, otherwise you get a refund.

Who is selling you this itinerary

  • Consumer mediator: ANM Consommation
  • Payment handled by Stripe: Étaperia never sees your card number
  • Publisher, not a travel agency: you book flights, hotels and tickets yourself

In the same country

This module is one leg of the full itinerary: Complete New Zealand itinerary: 88 days, hotels and bookings

The complete itinerary

Or take it one module at a time