Visa and entry requirements New Zealand:
Passport required
No visa is required

Information from the Foreign Office about your trip to New Zealand:
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/neuseelandsicherheit/220146

New Zealand is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean with around 5 million inhabitants. The country consists of a north and a south island as well as another 720 small islands.

New Zealand is located southeast of Australia, south of Fiji, New Caledonia and Tonga and north of the Antarctic continent.

The official languages of New Zealand are English and Maori, the national currency is the New Zealand dollar, where 1 euro is equivalent to around 1.70 NZD.

The island nation's largest cities include Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, Dunedin, Lower Hutt, Palmerston, Napier, Invercargill, Queenstown and Porirua.

The two main islands are only separated by the Cook Strait, which is approximately 22 kilometers wide. Other important islands in the national territory are Waiheke Island, the Great Barrier Island, Stewart Island and the Kermadec Islands.

The highest point in the country is the 3,724 meter high Mount Cook on the South Island. Both islands are largely crossed by low mountain ranges and thus create a large lake landscape. New Zealand is home to several active volcanoes and is an extremely earthquake-prone area.

The territory of New Zealand has a very special flora, with predominantly endemic plants, such as unique palm species or ferns. The silver fern ponga is also New Zealand's national plant. In the animal world, kiwis, kakapos and various species of parrots are more common.

New Zealand's most important economic sectors are agriculture with fruit and vegetable cultivation, gold and silver mining, beef production, sheep farming and tourism, with almost three million annual visitors.

The most important sights in New Zealand include the Fiordland National Park with Milford Sound, the Abel Tasman National Park, the 90 Mile Beach with its endlessly long sandy beach, Cape Reinga with its lighthouse - the most northwestern point in New Zealand, Lake Taupo with the volcano of the same name - the largest lake in the country, the Franz Josef Glacier in the New Zealand Alps, the natural wonder of the Waimoto Caves with its countless glowworms, the hot springs near Rotorua, the turquoise Lake Tekapo, the light protection area on Mount Cook, the impressive Hot Water Beach, the Old Ghost Road near Westport, the New Zealand Museum in Wellington, the picturesque area around New Plymouth, the Gardens of Hamilton, the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown and Christchurch and the endless fascinating landscape of all of New Zealand.

The capital of New Zealand is Wellington with around 210,000 inhabitants. The city at the southern end of the North Island is the political and cultural center of the country. With its large port, Wellington is also the second most important location for the New Zealand economy after Auckland.

The outstanding sights of Wellington include the New Zealand Parliament Building, the Botanical Gardens, the Government House, the Old Wooden Building with the former government headquarters, the Mount Victoria lookout, the neo-Gothic Wooden Cathedral, the Episcopal Church, the Old Saint Paul's Cathedral, the National Library of New Zealand, the Sacred Heart Cathedral, the Beehive - Cabinet meeting venue, the historic Wellington Cable Car and the old Thistle Inn pub.

By far the largest city in New Zealand is Auckland with around 1.5 million inhabitants. Auckland, located in the north of the North Island, is the economic center of the country and is one of the ten cities with the best quality of life in the world.

Auckland, with the largest airport in New Zealand, is also the most visited tourist city, with its many bank buildings, the center of finance and the international port, the hub for imports and exports.

The most important sights in Auckland include the Sky Tower, the City Hall, the City Gallery, the huge aquarium, the zoo, the surrounding small islands, the Aotea Center, the Old Synagogue, St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Paul's Church, the Victoria Market and the volcanic hills Mount Eden and One Tree Hill.

In January 2017 I traveled to New Zealand for the first time and spent three days in Auckland, coming from Brisbane, Australia. I booked my hotel in the middle of the city, right next to the Sky Tower.

During my stay in New Zealand's largest city, my program included an extensive city tour with the tourist double-decker bus and of course a visit to the viewing platform high up on the Sky Tower.

Auckland is a very beautiful and modern city, whose “Queen Street” is known for its numerous shops. In the height of summer at the time, the temperatures were quite cool at around 16 degrees Celsius and rather too cold for me personally.

On my second visit to New Zealand in February 2019, in addition to Auckland, I visited the cities of Christchurch and Wellington.

Unfortunately, the city of Christchurch was still clearly affected by the two devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The city center consisted mainly of construction sites or destroyed buildings, with only a small part having been restored or newly built. During a city tour on the historic tram, I was able to get a partial idea of the extent of the earthquake. Unfortunately, the city of Christchurch will have to deal with the consequences of the terrible natural event for several years to come.

During my three days in the capital, Wellington, it was very windy and pouring rain almost the entire time. Despite this bad weather and the resulting cool 13 degrees Celsius, it didn't stop any of the local population from celebrating the upcoming weekend extensively. Late on Saturday, all the bars and restaurants in the city center were packed and the streets looked more like a migration of peoples. This impressive weekend pushed the city of Wellington into third place in my personal worldwide party rankings, after the arguably unbeatable Newcastle and Reykjavik.

Otherwise, I always had a very pleasant time in New Zealand, even if it is a bit too cold for me there, even in midsummer. For many the country is the number one holiday destination due to its impressive landscape, for me it is always a very pleasant, ultra-modern world.