History Tour & Trip Reviews

We had a great adventure on our cycling and hiking trip on the South Island of New Zealand. Riding mostly on trails away from traffic made the trip interesting and safer. Our guides were excellent and shared their knowledge of New Zealand answering all kinds of questions and sharing their experiences. This was my first trip with VBT and I'm looking into future trips to take with VBT.

Amazing trip! Wonderful guides! Beautiful scenery! Lovely accommodations!

Great trip. Lots of time in the rain forest and along the coast. Very good exposure to the culture of the South Island. Guides were excellent. Post trip, there’s lots to do around Queenstown.

New Zealand's South Island is spectacular. This tour gets more beautiful every day. I've never ridden gravel or boardwalks until this trip. I was missing out. The rides are incredibly fun through amazing beauty. The guides were excellent.

NZ was a spectacular trip with a variety of gravel trails through mountain rain forests and country fields with the southern alps in the background. There were beaches with raw beauty and crystal clear lakes formed by glacier run off. Everyday was a new adventure. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and made the trip fun and interesting. There was enough variety to challenge good riders and E bikes to allow everyone to enjoy the terrain. The trip was not just a ride. It was an immersion into the country's culture, environment, lifestyle, food and people. As an added bonus, we made wonderful new friends.

We were completely cared for by our three VBT guides from the moment they met us in Christchurch until we were dropped off in Queenstown. The electric bike that I used was great, always prepared for me and ready to go. My luggage and valuables were taken care of swiftly at every stop. But the most important thing for me was that I felt that Wayne, Broni and Brian were on the adventure with us, sharing the beauty and majesty of their home country with us in an experienced and passionate manner. In other words, they were not just employees who showed up at the van every morning. They were our friends and companions who cared about our well-being and enjoyment of every moment. Any time I had a concern or comment they were quick to listen and assist me with my issue. We enjoyed their company at meals and during happy hours. They eagerly shared stories about New Zealand and their previous tours as we drove from place to place in the vans. I felt as though they were on a great adventure with us through the mountains, trails, beaches and rainforests of the South Island. We have been home now for 5 days and the 6 in our group keep talking and texting about our trip and wondering how our guides are doing on their next tour. We would excitedly talk about the next VBT tour we are going to take with other members of the tour almost the entire time we were travelling. I give VBT my highest, enthusiastic recommendation as an outstanding adventure vacation provider.

Great trip with awesome guides. We saw much of the South Island from the east coast to the west coast. The riding was mostly on gravel trails and was challenging at times with a narrow track through woods and over narrow bridges, but the scenery through the forest was amazing. Brian, Broni and Wayne made the trip special and had options to add longer rides for those of us that wanted more riding. There was a nice mix of local Maori culture and time off with options for other things to do - optional helicopter flight up to the glaciers, and Wayne even arranged 9 holes of golf for us in Wanaka. This was a trip of a lifetime!

The weather at the end of January was in the 70's. We had 3 guides in 2 vans for 20 people. We did a lot of bicycling, hiking, and sight seeing, all with knowledgeable guides who taught us about the flora, fauna and topography. We also did some kayaking, saw glow worms at night, met indigenous people and got a lesson in sheep herding from a local farmer. There were many options for side trips to fish, play golf, take helicopter rides, white water rafting and luge tobogganing or whatever else you wanted to do. This trip was great!

What an incredible experience and fantastic way to see the South Island. Our guides (Broni, Brian and Wayne) were outstanding and did everything they could to ensure we had the best experience possible— and they went way above and beyond! Seeing NZ through their lense/experience was so lovely. The accommodations and food were terrific and local experiences (the wilderness lodge, the farm and the final ‘surprise’) were amazing. The biking and hiking was so fun— more biking would be great. It is such a beautiful country and a magical experience—it’s nearly impossible to choose just a few of the hundreds and hundreds of photos… so I will include just my favorite.

We purchased the tour pkg from Ritz but the tour was conducted by another company. Regardless, we enjoyed the tour and guide very much. The only disappointment was the hotel in Sun Moon Lake. The website stated Fleur De Chine, Le Meridien Hotel Taichung or similar. We got Sun Moon Lake Hotel which was not even close or similar, it was older and slightly rundown. Other than that, it was fantastic

Our trip on the Nile itself was excellent in every respect. A superb guide, Mohamed
Taha, who inspired us with the depth and breadth of his knowledge and was an excellent organiser. High quality accommodation, excellent food and outstanding service on board.

However the start of of tour did not meet expectations. We were expecting a Pyramid View room as described in the brochure at the Marriott Mena House Hotel but were checked into a room with a fuel station view. Apparently Luxury Gold had not secured Pyramid rooms but we were not told about this in advance or by the guide on check in., nor did we receive an apology of any kind. The first night welcome drinks reception was cancelled too. The end of tour hotel, The Four Seasons at the First Residence was disappointing with poor service.

This is an excellent trip with a great variety of activities and adventure. A train into the mountains, biking, hiking, kayaking, glaciers, ocean, rainforest, and pools and rivers of blue. The leaders are excellent. Be prepared for forest biking (roots and rocks) rather than road biking. Highly recommend!

The South Island trip was wonderful and challenging! Our other VBT trips were much more tame and controlled with lovely (mostly) paved pathways and gradual turns and changes in elevation. In New Zealand, however, the trails were often much more aligned to mountain biking with steep hairpin turns, gravel and narrow pathways - all fun, but also more suited to those looking for more demanding biking skills.

loved our guides and loved NZ but some of the lodges and meals that VBT arranged on this trip were substandard.

New Zealand is a must-visit destination, and touring the South Island by bike is a great way to see it. (Just be very wary of the nasty nasty sand flies.). As usual with VBT, our guides were outstanding and helped ensure that the tour was a pleasure, Bravo!