Country Guide
Cycling in New Zealand
Cycling in New Zealand: Southern Alps, Crown Range summit views, 23 Great Rides across 1,600km of dedicated trail — and traffic so light you will ride for hours without seeing another vehicle.
At a Glance
- Terrain
- Road, Gravel, Touring, Climbing
- Difficulty
- Easy — Expert
- Road Quality
- Good
- Traffic
- Very Low
- Getting Around
- Car Recommended
New Zealand occupies a singular position in world cycling: a long, narrow country of 270,000 km² stretched across a seismic fault line, its two islands shaped by volcanic upheaval and glacial carving into a landscape of such concentrated drama that almost every road ride involves a backdrop the rest of the cycling world spends entire trips trying t...
Cycling Destinations in New Zealand
Canterbury & Southern Alps
Canterbury cycling: Arthur's Pass Trans-Alpine crossing, Aoraki Mount Cook approaches, Banks Peninsula coastal roads, and the turquoise glacial lakes of the Mackenzie Country.
5 signature climbs
Queenstown & Central Otago
Queenstown cycling: Crown Range — NZ's highest sealed road — Coronet Peak, the Otago Central Rail Trail, and lake and mountain scenery that stops you mid-climb to stare.
6 signature climbs
Taupo & Volcanic Plateau
Taupo cycling: Lake Taupo circumnavigation, Tongariro volcanic backdrop, the Timber Trail through native forest — and the Taupo Cycle Challenge, New Zealand's biggest cycling event.
4 signature climbs
Best Time to Cycle in New Zealand
Temperature: -5°C (winter) to 28°C (summer)
New Zealand's cycling season runs November through March — the Southern Hemisphere summer — with December and January the warmest and longest-day months. November is the opening month: the high mountain passes (Crown Range, Arthur's Pass) are clear o...
Pro Cycling Connection
New Zealand has produced a consistent stream of WorldTour road cyclists. George Bennett (UAE Team Emirates) is a multiple Tour de France finisher and Grand Tour specialist who grew up in Nelson and tr...
Insider Tips
The flat white coffee is the native fuel of New Zealand cycling. Every town of any size has a cafe serving this — a double ristretto with steamed (not frothed) milk in a 150–180ml...
Sandflies are a significant and underreported hazard on the South Island West Coast and around Milford Sound / Piopiotahi. These tiny biting insects (Austrosimulium species) are pr...
The DOC (Department of Conservation) hut system makes multiday backcountry cycling accessible in a way unmatched by almost any other country. Over 950 huts dot the New Zealand back...
New Zealand's weather changes with extreme speed, particularly in the South Island mountain zones. A cloudless Queenstown morning can produce an afternoon thunderstorm over the Rem...
The Otago Central Rail Trail runs 152km from Middlemarch to Clyde on a former railway corridor with a maximum gradient of 1 in 50 (2%). This makes it accessible on any hybrid or to...