The Roads Less Travelled
There’s nothing quite like a road trip round the South Island and there’s nothing quite like our cars to do one in! Inviting roads, stunning scenery, and If you’re from overseas, (or even just the North Island!) you won’t believe how uncrowded our South Island roads really are, even in summer. The Coast to Coast round trip to Christchurch via Westport and Greymouth boasts what Conde Nast Traveller once called the world’s second greatest drive. And just in the Top of the South you can go winding up mountains, following rivers through lush valleys or tracking the coast with amazing sea views. Read our TravelBlogue for why New Zealand makes for one of the best driving destinations in the world. You’ll never get bored of the ever changing vistas so make sure you stop regularly and get out to appreciate them. Along with the superb weather, intriguing destinations, quality vineyards, innumerable leisure opportunities and meandering back roads, it makes the Nelson Tasman region one of the very best in the world to go touring on that road trip you’ve always promised yourself – and has RentAClassic got some classic sports and convertible cars for you to do it in! Plus many of our cars come with manual transmission, (stick shift), for that even more involving drive.
There are great drives further out from Nelson – take twisting mountain roads to Blenheim, then head down to drive along spectacular coast to Kaikoura for whale watching, and onto Christchurch. Another route is via the relaxing hot pools of Hamner Springs, driving over the mountains of the Lewis Pass and tracking along spectacular river gorges, but either route has plenty of weaving dips, sweeping curves and enticing straights to keep any driver fully engaged. If you’re into planning your trips check out the really useful South Island Road Trips – Do it your way site from New Zealand Tourism. If you’re not into planning, then just go and get lost! (Or rather, as that great middle earth writer J.R.R.Tolkien said “Not all those who wander are lost”……).
For more personalised road trip ideas, check out our Road Trip Heaven blog post.
With RentAClassic the fun doesn’t have to be restricted to the South Island though. You can take the 3 hour ferry crossing from Picton, (allow up to 3 hours to reach from Nelson), over to the North Island, visit Wellington and sample the delights far further afield. Check out all these great NZ drives voted for by NZ drivers. Just remember you have to bring the car back to either Nelson or Christchurch though!