I bought this in mid February for a March trip to SI. In 2012 we'd visited NI, planned quickly with a library Lonely Planet.

We hadn't had time to plan most of this trip, just the very big ticket campervan, and major Fiordland bookings. Many other things going on, which a good guidebook can save time on with breaking down the itinerary and so on.

I found a few unique things from the book, which were in line with the quality I expected from intense previous use of the 2009 RG Kenya book. In the time since then, social influencer content kind of took over. The travel landscape is a tough place to keep up with. Especially true for English language destinations like Australia and NZ. The issues I have with this edition are more fundamental. I probably won't buy another RG.

First, RG claim on this sales listing, and their UK website, they reviewed everything post COVID, which is why a Gen X'er still thought a book would be particularly helpful. Yet multiple, MANY items listed in the 2024 edition are years-closed or moved. Especially in the Queenstown, Te Anau, Milford areas. So it's a baffling lie. They probably cheaped out on actual local editing, and/or thought AI was telling them the truth? This is disappointingly common for online travel sources in Oceania and Asia, but the Rough Guide claims it's got a quality team. Not true. Pay locals, or even head office fivrr contractors, to do what I did and simply try to web search the businesses. Before going to print. Yikes.

Secondly, while it's worth having a physical book (the OG offline!) as well as the digital, I didn't expect in the year of our Cowboy Carter to be forced to wait on a printed keycode in the physical shipped book to be able to begin my research. Why bother to offer a digital bundle? Is this a publishing rights fence (for international travel books, laughable)? One of the only actual benefits to Amazon being the evil empire it is, is they can and do offer instant kindle content. I've also bought books here in Australia that were digital-code epub downloads. IMO the extra $5 is too much if "included" digital content is so disconnected.

Third, the itinerary suggestions were minimal, with low-detail maps. Every website also says "allow more time than Google maps, download offline navigation." Mm and I have this nifty paper book...Guides used to have handy charts of average estimated time between major cities. NZ has so few roads that this would be dead easy. Let alone the crucial value-add central overview, in each region intro, of common scenic vs direct routes. Let alone roads that will get you a fine in the average rental campervan (ahem, Crown Range). I spent way too much time I would have been enjoying the view, frantically searching Tripadvisor forums and camping app reviews for this basic information. One popular Facebook group basically requires users to set up a paid personal consultation just to discuss, what's a nice direction to drive from Dunedin to Mt. Cook. I bought a travel guide already, but there was only guidance on massive, entire island, lists of sites. Listed by 3 categories that don't really tell you much about whether you'd prefer it or not. One was Nature, one was Adventure... Lots of crossover there, so it doesn't simplify planning. And nothing on these maps about wise routing/direction of travel. Not fun to be on Highcliff road over the Otago Peninsula in the dark. Thanks offline Google maps! In the end we figured it out without too much time wasted, but that was more thanks to Wikicamps than anything.

So, in the end I would have saved the entire amount. I wouldn't recommend even libraries shelve this edition. With some work, RG could again be a relevant and worthwhile purchase, but definitely the publishers phoned this one in.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.3 (25 ratings)
Price	$22.1
Category	Australia & South Pacific

The Rough Guide to New Zealand: Travel Guide with eBook (Rough Guides Main Series)