Signature South Island Reviews

Our coach catering for 32 passengers was the perfect size enabling true comfort throughout the tour. An enjoyable group of travelling companions. Hotels were comfortable but we were disappointed to encounter non stand-alone showers on a number of occasions. Standing inside a bath did not feel safe. We struck the lottery having Brenda as our tour guide ...read more and Alex as our driver. Nothing was too much effort and they are certainly wonderful ambassadors for the Company. We hope to travel with Global Journeys again and look forward to Tracey once again being our booking agent.

Excellent trip. I am a solo traveller and in the past this meant being relegated to smaller and lesser rooms etc despite paying extra - not so here, accommodation was enjoyable and comfortable. I was also lucky as there were a great bunch of people on our trip. Great fun and beautiful scenery. We were kept suitably entertained on our journey by both ...read more Paul and Malcolm - who shared their knowledge and appreciation of the beautiful South Island. Highly recommended.

Having done this trip previously I kind of knew what to expect. This time around I took my wife for a belated honeymoon. While we both enjoyed the tour it was a bit difficult for my wife especially with the early morning wake ups which you had to expect when you are on an organised tour. She also found the options available for the breakfast and dinner ...read more buffet didn’t really cater for her too much but she is a fussy eater but I had no issues with the food. I ate everything and put on a few kilos to show for it. Overall the trip was great. We met lots of great people & the tour director and driver were really helpful and friendly and the views everywhere we went were amazing - a photographer’s dream!

I can highly recommend the Signature South Island tour from Christchurch to Christchurch. January was a great time to travel - we had excellent weather. The very smart coach can accommodate 32 passengers. There were 27 in our group - mostly Australians with a few from the UK, an American couple and a lady from Canada. The company has an ingenious seat ...read more rotation policy which meant that you experienced different areas of the coach and had different people around you every day. All but one dinner was included and there were reduced price drinks before dinner so there were plenty of opportunities to mingle. Hotels were very good and a lot of activities were included in the price. I chose to do many of the optional activities, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The scenery was spectacular, the coach captain was a font of information about Māori history and the areas we passed through, as well as being an excellent driver, and the tour leader couldn’t do enough to make sure everyone was happy.

We had a lovely time. It was a tour not a holiday. It was tiring. Lots of travel and times to adhere to. We saw and did wonderful things. The accommodation and food were great and our driver Megan and tour manager Peter were both fabulous, informative, professional and courteous at all times. We travelled with a wonderful group who all got on and did ...read more the right thing.

An enjoyable tour that showed us the highlights of the South Island. The coach held 48 people and it was full on our tour but that caused no delays. We were with a lovely group of people from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Canada and Australia. The tour moved at a consistent pace and we especially enjoyed the two night stopovers as that gave us ...read more a little bit of extra recovery time. The planned excursions were all enjoyable and we had many other options to try other things such as helicopter flights, when time and weather allowed. This was our first coach tour and we found that 10 days was long enough. Overall this was an enjoyable experience and we will consider other coach trips in future.

Firstly, Global Journeys was excellent in their pricing and handling of the booking, and I am booking another tour through them again. I appreciated Hannah's involvement in the process. The scenery, of course, in the South Island is magnificent. I would travel with Grand Pacific tours again and may do a repeat next year as we missed out on Milford Sound ...read more and Te Anau due to floods. Both the driver, Rod, and tour leader, Brenda, were of a high standard and extremely helpful.

Accommodation was variable, but as it was the "affordable" tour option I did not expect too much. What did surprise me was the high quality of included meals, especially the dinners. The tour comprised mainly retirees aged in their 70s and 80s, and the bus had 45 passengers, all of which may appeal to some potential travellers but not others. Note that the single supplement is quite substantial. One piece of advice for anyone going to do an activity in Queenstown, is to check special offers through the site BookMe. I use this site in Australia but did not realise it was active in NZ too, until told by a local tour operator.

For me the main highlights were: adventure activities in Queenstown, the constant majestic mountainous scenery, and strangely, the evening meals. A few things to be aware of, is the the first night 'Welcome Drinks' are not complimentary, which is different from tours I have done in other countries. Also, there is no Wi-Fi on the bus, where overseas this is now included. The carry bags given out were only used by a small number of passengers, and a backpack of the same size would have been preferable.

Grand Pacific tours were very well organised and considerate to all passengers on the tour. Our tour guide Peter and Coach Captain Geoff were excellent and very knowledgeable. The route was great and beautiful scenery too. Accommodation in some places can be better but the food in the hotels was excellent. Good pace on the tour but wish we could have ...read more spent more time in the smaller towns and not be back to the hotel sometimes a tad bit early. Booking through Global Journeys was a good experience. Yvonne was very helpful, courteous, patient and kind right throughout the entire process. She even assisted in ensuring that I received my parcel from the tour company without any hassles. I would definitely book through Global Journeys again and would definitely go on a Grand Pacific tour again if travelling in New Zealand. Overall fantastic experience.

We would happily travel with Grand Pacific again and would definitely recommend them highly. Our coach driver did the commentary and he was extremely knowledgeable and humourous too. Our tour guide worked tirelessly organising us all and rounding us up when required. We were very lucky to have a small group of 23 passengers on a 48 seater coach which ...read more made it very comfortable for travelling with room to spread out. My only complaints about the trip was that perhaps the company tried to actually cram in too many inclusions. It made our moments of free time quite limited. The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the Agrodome which I found very circus like and amateurish, but that is just an opinion. The scenery was beautiful everywhere we went and the weather was ideal.

Tour was well planned. Bus was very good. Hotel accommodation and food was very nice. Overall good value for money.

Thoroughly enjoyable tour. Tour guide Peter organised us really well, everyone was on time for early morning departures and back on the coach at prearranged times when we stopped to see the sights. Our coach driver Peter was excellent, did an amazing job around all those windy roads! He was a local and had great knowledge of the South Island and pointed ...read more out the sights as we travelled. No hesitation in recommending Grand Pacific Tours.

Enjoyed the tour. Grand Pacific looked after us well, hotels and meals were great and enjoyed the company of our fellow travellers. NZ South Island is spectacular.

The highlight for us was the Bay of Islands. The weather was beautiful and sunny. We had a great day on the ocean, pods of dolphins surrounded the boat and put on a wonderful display. The ocean was very calm and we went through the Hole in the Rock as well as seeing great scenery.

The whole 9 days were filled with great experiences, Napier was a ...read more lovely town and the walking tour was well worth doing. We also loved Wellington, so much to see and do. The whole experience was relaxing with plenty to do and see.

The coach was comfortable and the driver kept us informed about the history of the sights we looked at. Global Journeys is a great company to deal with and Madeline was very helpful. We certainly would book through Global Journeys again.

Throughout our 9 day tour, we experienced superb organisation. Tour guide, Alan, worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everything ran smoothly. Riki, our driver was endless entertainment, being knowledgeable about the history and landmarks, along with telling us stories about his Maori heritage. Both were endlessly patient. A stunningly beautiful ...read more part of the world presented in a perfect manner for our needs. Thank you.

From my first contact online with Global Journeys, Yvonne Brooks made the booking of our Grand Pacific Tours' 9 Day Affordable South Island on 4 March so effortless - it was all completed online with professionalism and without hassle. Thank you Yvonne, your assistance was much appreciated.

The Grand Pacific Tour was amazing, from the surprise delivery ...read more of the generous and practical baggage pack to our home address, the initial pick up at Christchurch Airport on 4 March to return drop off at Christchurch Airport at 3.50am on 12 March. The coach was first class, very comfortable and the seat arrangements were changed daily to give passengers an overall experience.

The coach driver, Geoff, was excellent, his driving skills admirable, he was able to navigate the windy, narrow roads with great skill and we felt safe at all times. His commentary and knowledge of the whole area was invaluable as well as his sense of humour and caring personality. Kerrie, our guide was also excellent. Kerrie worked hard with a caring attitude to ensure all her guests were comfortable and their specific requests catered for.

The accommodation and food were very good. The included excursions were great, with the visit to the Walter Peak Station on TSS Earnslaw being my favourite. Overall, we were blessed to experience a memorable holiday.

A very well organised and enjoyable tour with lots of like minded people and a great tour guide. We loved every minute of it and would highly recommend.

My husband and I just completed a wonderful trip of the South Island of New Zealand with Grand Pacific. Our driver/tour guide, Malcolm, was terrific giving informative and entertaining commentary as well as having a great sense of humour making the tour a lot of fun. Lorraine our tour director was well organised and kept us well informed. The accommodation/meals ...read more were good, so were the TranzAlpine rail journey and Steamship cruise/dinner at Queenstown. Booking this tour through Global Journeys was easy and afforded us a great discount on the advertised price. Would definitely use them again.

Enjoyed this tour immensely. Our coach driver Malcolm made our trip so enjoyable, he was so funny and informative. Accommodation was to a high standard, beds were comfortable and the food was delicious at every place we stayed. The views from our room in Queenstown were spectacular.

Madeline at Global Journeys always responded quickly to any questions ...read more I had. Our group all had a fantastic final evening thanks to the great entertainment by Ron Cresswell, he was amazing. My husband loved the excursion to the Brewery at Dunedin and Larnach Castle was also a surprisingly great inclusion.

From go to whoa everything went smoothly, not a hitch. Would highly recommend everyone. Wonderful New Zealand a trip not to be missed. Easy planning and booking, and great driver and tour guide with an excellent company.

We had a wonderful time on our 10 day trip through the South Island. It was a large group - 48
people from all over the world. Everyone was always on time and on the whole the group was
very pleasant and easy to talk to and to have fun with.

The accommodation was very good and at Franz Josef was absolutely fantastic. The rooms at Twizel could ...read more certainly do with some updating, but the beds were very comfortable in all hotels. Food on the whole was very good, just got a bit tired of buffets. Some of the meals were excellent.

The South Island exceeded our expectation. It was just so scenic, green and beautiful. We would recommend Grand Pacific as a great Tour Operator and Global Journeys was fantastic to deal with. We would certainly book with Global Journeys again.