New Zealand in autumn: A quieter season, a richer journey

Most people planning their first journey to New Zealand start by looking at our summer.

I understand why. December, January and February sound like the obvious months to come, particularly if you are travelling from the Northern Hemisphere and escaping winter at home. The days are long, the beaches are lovely and New Zealand is in full summer mode.

But at Aroha Luxury New Zealand Tours, when guests ask me when I would personally choose to travel around the country, I always tell them not to overlook autumn.

March is still warm in much of the country. April is when the change becomes more obvious, particularly in the South Island, and by May there is a crispness in the air and a sense that winter is getting close. They are three quite different months, and I like them for different reasons.

There is also something interesting happening internationally. More luxury travellers are moving their holidays away from the traditional peak months. Virtuoso recently reported autumn bookings up 59% year on year, even as prices in many destinations increased. People aren’t necessarily travelling later to spend less. They are choosing a time of year when the weather, pace and experience suit them better.

I think New Zealand makes a very good case for doing the same.

March still feels a little like summer

If someone tells me they want warmth and plenty of time outdoors, but would prefer to travel after our main summer holiday period, I would look seriously at March.

You haven’t suddenly arrived in a cold country because February ended. In the north, there are often beautiful warm days and swimming is still perfectly realistic. Even further south, March can be a wonderful month for walking, cycling and being outside.

March, and the start of vintage

March is a good month to be around our wine regions. In Marlborough, vintage is getting underway and there is a lot going on behind the cellar doors. Grapes are coming in from the vineyards, wineries are busy and you get to see a part of winemaking that visitors at other times of the year don’t always see.

If you enjoy wine, I think it adds something to being there. You are tasting Marlborough wine while the next vintage is being made around you, and conversations with the people at the wineries tend to be a little different at this time of year too.

Hawke’s Bay is another place I love in March. After the heat of summer, the days are still warm, but you are starting to move into a different season. This is the sort of place where I wouldn’t plan too much into one day. Perhaps Te Mata Peak in the morning, a winery afterwards and lunch somewhere we don’t need to hurry away from.

Autumn further south

If autumn colour is part of the reason you are coming, I would take you south.

Arrowtown is the place everyone knows, and there is good reason for that. It is a beautiful little former gold-mining town at any time of year, but in autumn the trees around the town and along the Arrow River change completely. By April there is colour everywhere.

The Arrowtown Autumn Festival is being held from 15 to 18 April in 2027. It started as a local harvest celebration and the town still gets right behind it, so those dates are worth knowing when we are planning. Some guests would love being there for the festival. Others would much rather visit a week either side of it.

I wouldn’t stop at Arrowtown either. Clyde and Cromwell are two places I would happily include, particularly if you enjoy wine or cycling. The vineyards are changing colour by then and the fierce heat you can get in Central Otago in summer has gone. It is a lovely time to be out on a bike, stop somewhere for lunch and see a little more of this part of the country than you would from a car.

The Lake Dunstan Trail is one of the experiences I particularly like here because it takes you through a landscape you might otherwise drive past. You are moving between Cromwell and Clyde, beside the lake and through a wine-growing region, with plenty of reason to stop along the way.

And yes, a lovely lunch somewhere special should definitely be on the plan.

Autumn is a lovely time to eat your way around New Zealand

I realise I say this about most seasons, but food is always part of the way I like people to experience New Zealand. Autumn has the advantage of being harvest time.

There are grapes coming off the vines, apples and pears in our growing regions, and seasonal menus beginning to change as the weather cools. Bluff oyster season also begins in March, which matters enormously to some New Zealanders and not at all to others! If you love them, this is your moment.

I find food and wine much more interesting when they feature as part of the journey. What I mean by this is drinking Central Otago pinot noir in Central Otago or sitting down to lunch in a Marlborough vineyard while vintage is happening around you. This gives you a connection to the place that you don’t get from ordering the same bottle in a restaurant thousands of kilometres away.

We have some wonderful chefs and producers here, and autumn gives them plenty to work with.

And don’t forget to look up

As the days get shorter, there is another reason I like travelling here in autumn. You get our night skies at a much more civilised hour!

If we are in the Mackenzie, I always want guests to see the sky properly. Lake Tekapo, Aoraki/Mount Cook and Twizel sit within the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, so there is very little light pollution out there.

For people who live in cities, this can be quite a surprise. We forget how much artificial light surrounds us at home, and how few stars we normally see because of it. Out here, once your eyes adjust to the darkness, the sky looks completely different.

There are observatories and guided stargazing experiences if you want to learn more about what you are seeing. But you don’t necessarily need to do anything organised. Find somewhere dark, put on something warm and give your eyes a few minutes.

I still do this myself. After all these years, I haven’t got tired of looking up.

What about the weather?

People always ask me what the weather will be like, and I wish I could give them a definite answer! New Zealand doesn’t make weather forecasting quite that easy.

March can still feel wonderfully warm, while by May I would expect cold mornings in the South Island and wouldn’t be surprised to see snow on the mountains. April sits somewhere in between, although where you are in the country makes a big difference.

So I tend not to worry too much about predicting it months in advance. Bring a good jacket and clothes you can layer, and we’ll keep an eye on the forecast as we travel. If the weather isn’t right for something we had planned, especially in the mountains, we’ll change the plan.

That’s part of travelling in New Zealand.

I wouldn’t plan the same autumn journey for everyone

This is where the month you choose matters…For someone who still wants warmth, coast, wine and plenty of outdoor time, I would lean towards March and perhaps concentrate more on the North Island and the top of the South.

If you have imagined yourself among the gold and red trees of Central Otago, drinking pinot noir, walking or cycling during the day and returning somewhere lovely as the evening gets cold, April would be my recommendation.

By May, I would plan differently again because the days are shorter and the South Island is moving closer to winter. This can be part of the attraction; as fires are lit, the mountains may have their first proper snow and the whole mood changes.

Choosing your season

For years, we have tended to talk about destinations as though there is one perfect time to visit them but I’m not sure that is especially helpful.

When I am planning a journey with someone, I am much more interested in what they enjoy. If warm weather and long summer evenings matter most, then of course we should look at summer. But if you love food and wine, enjoy walking when the days are cooler, or have always wanted to see Central Otago in autumn, then I would happily start our conversation with March, April or May.

There are lovely differences even within those three months. In March you might find yourself in Marlborough while vintage is underway. A few weeks later, the vineyards and hills further south are beginning to change colour. As the nights draw in, places such as the Mackenzie become even better suited to an evening outside under a properly dark sky.

It is why I would never simply move a summer itinerary into April and call it an autumn journey. I would want to rethink the route, what we do along the way and how much time we spend in each place.

Some of my favourite New Zealand journeys happen at this time of year. You simply have to plan them as ‘autumn journeys’ from the beginning.