Kia Ora. Thanks heaps for checking out my blog. After you read this post, please head on over to my latest project – Planit NZ. Planit NZ is a New Zealand travel guide and booking website I’m working on full time at the moment. You can research all things travel in New Zealand on the website, and you can also book hop on, hop off backpacker bus passes, small group tours or activities. I’m a web based New Zealand travel agent, and I’d appreciate you letting me help you plan and book your trip. Thanks!
Since arriving to New Zealand just over ten months ago, I’ve published loads of destination specific New Zealand backpacking advice. I still have plenty of New Zealand experiences and advice to share – yet often I find this is a country that is best described through a photo.
It’s a great place for aspiring photographers. Why? Almost every direction you turn, every road you drive down, and every new destination you visit, you’re greeted with a stunning vista, a snow capped mountain, a rugged beach, or vast expanses of green rolling hills.
It’s a pretty great place to take pictures.
Below you’ll find 20 of my favorite New Zealand views.
1) Raglan Sunset
Raglan is an epic little surf town found about 90 minutes south of Auckland. It’s home to the world’s largest left hand break and has a great bohemian feel. Raglan is a town where you can go to the supermarket, pub, or cafe barefoot and not one person will judge you.
2) Tasman Sea from a Toyota Hiace Campervan
Campervans are easy to buy and a cheap and efficient way to get around New Zealand. I’ve found that some of my favorite memories in Aotearoa come from the time I spent cruising around NZ in my now deceased 1986 Toyota Hiace, Max.
3) Bungy Jumping in Lake Taupo
If you have any interest in throwing yourself off a bridge or out of a plane, then New Zealnd is the place for you. Pictured above is the Taupo Bungy which is the home of New Zealand’s highest water-touch bungy. Why wouldn’t you want to touch the water after jumping from 47 meters?
4) New Zealand Traffic Jam
There are no shortage of sheep in New Zealand (we’re talking over 30 million), so don’t be surprised if you find yourself dealing with the odd road block of sheep.
5) Emerald Blue Waters of the Marlborough Sounds
To get from the North to the South Island of New Zealand, you’ll have to cross the Cook Strait. Your budget-friendly option is crossing the strait with Interislander. The crossing is billed as one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world – you’ll understand why on a clear day.
6) Marlborough Vineyards
New Zealand is home to some excellent wines – specifically the Sauvignon Blancs of the Marlborough Region. There is no better way to take in this region than by a wine-tasting tour on a bike.
7) White Sands of Abel Tasman
The South Island’s Abel Tasman National Park is filled with plenty of beaches very similar to this. The Abel Tasman Coastal Track can be experienced as a great one-day walk.
8 ) Big Franz Josef Glacier
The Franz Josef Glacier is the world’s fastest moving glacier and moves at speeds of up to one meter a day. This budget travel video tells you the best ways to experience this fascinating area of New Zealand.
9) View from a Caravan
Caravans such as this one seem to be everywhere in New Zealand’s countryside. Every house you pass seems to have one parked out back – the perfect opportunity for a Kiwi weekend escape. I was lucky enough to live in one on New Zealand’s West Coast for three months. All its inconveniences aside (slightly smelly, leaky, had to run inside through West Coast rain storms to get to toilet/shower/kitchen/living area), you sure couldn’t beat the view.
10) West Coast Sunset
Step outside the above caravan at sunset and this was your view. Not bad, eh?
11) Snow Capped Southern Alps
Take a helicopter ride or a plane ride above New Zealand’s Southern Alps and this is your view – not a budget activity, but well worth the memories.
12) View of Mount Tasman
A day trip on the West Coast should include a trip to Lake Matheson which will give you stunning mirror lake views of Mt Cook and Tasman. This shot was from just outside the cafe near the lake – a great place to relax after your hike around the lake.
13) Evening Sky Over the Pacific Coast
Kaikoura on the South Island sits at the base of the Seaward Kaikoura Range on the Pacific Coast.
14) Pacific Coast Sunrise
Wake up early on the Pacific Coast and you stand a chance of catching a sunrise shot similar to this one.
15) Geothermal Rotorua Lake
Rotorua is a bubbling hotspot of mud pools, boiling geysers, and smells strongly of sulfur. It’s a geothermal wonderland and worth no more than a day of your time.
16) Sperm Whale in Kaikoura
Whale watching in Kaikoura is a must on your visit to the South Island. If you’re quick enough at the draw, you stand the chance of catching a shot like this.
17) Rugged West Coast
The rugged, windswept West Coast of the South Island is home to glaciers, rainforests, and views of the Tasman similar to this. A drive down the West Coast is one of New Zealand’s 5 Best Drives.
18) View over Queenstown
Queenstown is one of New Zealand’s most epic towns. This shot from the top of the Queenstown Gondola gives you a good taste of the town’s setting.
19) Undiscovered Caitlans Coast
The south coast of the South Island is home to one of New Zealand’s best kept secrets – the Caitlans Coast. Vast expanses of green rolling hills, unpopulated surf beaches and marine wildlife are only some of the reasons you should make sure you spend some time here.
20) Majestic Aoraki
Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand’s highest peak at 12,316 feet and stunning to see on a clear day form the shores of Lake Pukaki.
Here are 20 other incredible New Zealand photos by my mate from TravelFreak.net.
Have you been to New Zealand? Do you recognize these views? Or what is your favorite view in the Land of the Long White Cloud? Leave your comments below.
Found this post useful? Awesome! Don’t leave, check out the posts below:
- Traveling the North Island with Stray New Zealand
- Kawhia: New Zealand’s Best Kept Secret
- North Island or South Island New Zealand?
- NZ Must Do: Experiencing the Waitomo Caves
Backpacking Matt 
Can’t get enough of pictures from NZ!
My favourite view is driving into/out of Banks Peninsula early in the morning. Watching the sun peak over the beautiful hills, I melt just thinking about it!
@Rebecca – I still have to see the Banks Peninsula! I’ve heard it’s lovely.
@Frank Thanks for the comment – I’m actually on my way to Mount Cook Village today – clear blue skies. Stunning.
@Juno You need to plan a visit back!
@Eurotip Trips It’s a well earned reputation.
@Candice See you soon then?!
@Garrett The South Island is probably my favorite as well … but plenty of hidden secrets on the North Island as well!
Nice one Matt, makes me want to jump on a plane and head over there. especially to see Aoraki…great pic.
Love no.4!! 🙂 amazing. Everytime I hear or see about New Zealand, I can’t stop thinking about it. Since the day I stepped into, totally fell in love with this beautiful country. I used to say NZ is my second hometown 🙂 haha! What a great place you live in!
Amazing photos. No wonder NZ is often named as the most beautiful and outstanding place on Earth.
You just sold me on New Zealand. 100%.
Man, oh man, New Zealand is my favorite country by far. Great pics! I love the South Island.
Awesome pictures, New Zealand in a nutshell! I agree with you, a perfect place for an aspiring photographer 🙂
@Sofia Thanks! Love your new logo, BTW.
@Laura It’s a fantastic place to visit … the most beautiful country in the world!
@Wanderingtrader Cheers, 20 great places to visit – such different scenery in a small country.
@Amanda You’ll be pretty close when you fly to Hawaii – might as well just come all the way with a working holiday visa!
@Stuf I think that every morning in Queenstown when I look out across the lake and surrounding mountains.
@Michael Cheers mate, I look forward to seeing your shots from NZ.
@Suzy Sounds like a terrific contest … the blog will have to take off before I can afford to do something like that I’m afraid! Some day!
Gorgeous photos. The landscape is stunning! I hope to make it to New Zealand sooner rather than later!
Great pics matt! I def will try and hit all these locals when I head to new zealand
Ah, this makes me miss it even more! Great photos, Matt. You’ve really captured a lot of NZ’s different personalities.
Travelling through Nelson this morning I had a shot of clear blue skies, snow capped mountain ranges, green sea, an island covered with native trees, sandy beaches and palm tree – but no camera. Still, it will all be there again tomorrow. All this with great coffee too. How could I live anywhere else?
Argh. Can I get to New Zealand already?
great shots — really makes me want to get off my ass and edit the 2nd half of my New Zealand shots and get them up on my site. Thanks for the inspiration.
You should have a contest where you offer trips to all these views. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too expensive for you, right? ha #17 is my favorite. The meeting of water, sky and land looks surreal to me. I’ll look forward to that contest on your site.
Wow! Awesome pics and scenery. I can’t wait. Starting out on RTW in 4 weeks with first stop being NZ. Looks like I’m making the right choice on a starting point.
@Mike You’ll love it! How long will yo spend in Aotearoa?
What a beautiful country. I’m yet to go there, but I’ve never seen a picture that hasn’t inspired me to visit.
@Caz And you’re so close! It’s tough to take a bad photo here … unless perhaps you tried today in Queenstown in the cold, wind, and rain!
@Sandy Thanks Sandy – there are heaps of posts with NZ advice on Backpackingmatt.com – have a look, I’m sure you’ll find some must sees and NZ travel ideas! You’ll be here during a beautiful time of the year.
@Melvin Hard to pick just one – that’s why I picked 20!
Simply beautiful! My dream destination and guess what, I am coming to visit in December. I need to start planning our route. Our first stop is Christchurch where we will pick our campervan for the following 3 weeks. Any tips / must see places etc..
Can’t wait!!
12,16,17,18,19,20 are my favorites… Forget it! I’ll choose all! 🙂
Very nice photos!
Ah… I love New Zealand! Thank you for guiding us through your recommendation email when we campervanning through out the South Island! I will include Milford Sounds to the list, that’s the place that got my cry because of the beauty. Well, not the only one 🙂
@Dina Glad you enjoyed your trip – a shame we didn’t have a chance to meet up!
Hard to decide which place has the best view in NZ. I’d go for Kaikoura and the Marlborough Sounds.
Great photos, can’t wait to be back to take some myself!
@Rachel Thanks! I had hoped to get to Kaikoura this winter as that view would be even more impressive with snow on the mountains.
What a gorgeous collection of NZ shots, Matt!
@Christine Thanks! It’s an easy place to take photos!
Hey Matt,
My name is Brett, I live in Colorado. I am planning to move to New Zealand in a couple years, and for my World Literature class in high school, we are doing a project, in which we research and discover more about one place in the world that we are very interested in. The first thing place that came to mind was New Zealand. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, do you think I can ask you some questions about your stay in New Zealand?
Thanks, Brett
@Brett – drop me a line at matt@backpackingmatt.com – happy an answer any questions you might have.
These pics are amazing! can’t wait to get out there next year. Thanks for giving us some ideas!
@Jozef – You’ll love it – glad the photos gave you some ideas. Plenty more NZ content on here to help you plan.
Hey Matt!
WOW. These are just FANTASTIC! I wish I could say which one was my favorite!
11- The Snow Capped Souther Alps by heli ride. THAT IS AWESOME!
But I love the Caravan one. Not really b/c of the shot itself but moreso because of the meaning behind it. There are a lot of stories and an adventure behind that shot.
Thanks for sharing this awesome lineup! 🙂
@Laur Glad you enjoyed the views – New Zealand really is a fascinating place to visit and a better place to take photos. There is an exceptional photo everywhere you turn.
I did the Kiwi Experience hop-on hop-off backpacker tour of New Zealand for 3 weeks starting from Cheristchurch and backpacking in the South Island to ending up at Auckland in the North Island…trust me, the views you get along the west coast in the South Island are…breath taking! Lord of the Rings picked the best location – absolutely stunning!
@Dhiresh Glad you enjoyed the tour – I’ve not been with Kiwi Experience but they get great reviews – especially with their excellent driver guides
Pretty amazing looking country. But is New Zealand very backpacker friendly,like for the budget traveler?
@Joe Thanks heaps for the comment. It IS a pretty amazing country! New Zealand certainly isn’t as cheap as SE Asia, however it is significantly cheaper than traveling for example Europe or Australia. The NZ dollar is doing quite well at the moment which makes everything a bit more dear, but New Zealand can very easily be done on a budget. So much of traveling NZ is taking in the epic scenery – be that on a road trip or a multi day hike or bike ride. Things become expensive when you start jumping out of planes or throwing yourself off bridges, so be sure to factor activities into your budget.
Fantastic! Love the NZ traffic jam..!
Amazing pictures. Your posts are a great source of inspiration before a trip to New Zealand! 🙂
Thanks Patricia!
Matt how much was the campervan in NZ? If i wanted to buy? It that the best option for 2 weeks or I’ll rent?
Your comment about Rotorua is not great.. it’s worth way more than a day !!!!.. you obviously did not look very well. That’s place is full of amazing lakes (16 of them )rivers ,natural springs. Not to mention Rotorua city itself has great places to stay and dine out.. I lived there 3 years and never saw all the beautiful places. So take a,way better look next time ok.