Self-drive is the way to do New Zealand. Not all drives are equal though. These ten are the ones locals recommend when friends visit: the drives where the road is the destination, not just a way to get somewhere. Skipped: any drive that requires a 4WD unless there's a real reason to need one.

1. Milford Road (Te Anau to Milford Sound)

120 km, 2.5 hours, the single best drive in the country. Mirror Lakes, the Eglinton Valley, the Homer Tunnel, the descent into the Cleddau Valley. Every 10 km is a different landscape. Drive it slowly. Stop at every look-out. If you have a clear day this is one of the great drives of the world. If it's raining (likely), the waterfalls make up for the missing mountain views.

2. The Remarkables / Crown Range (Queenstown to Wanaka)

70 km, 1.5 hours via the Crown Range, 1.5 hours via the Kawarau Gorge. Take the Crown Range: it climbs over the Remarkables, the views are spectacular, and the descent into Wanaka is one of the great NZ moments. The road is steep, narrow, and closed occasionally in winter. If you take the Kawarau Gorge you miss the entire point.

3. Forgotten World Highway (Taumarunui to Stratford)

150 km, 3 hours, one of the few NZ roads that still feels like a discovery. The road goes through the Republic of Whangamomona (population 12, they issue their own passports), through the Tangarakau Gorge, and over multiple single-lane bridges. The sealed road is fine for any car, the unsealed section is graded regularly. Allow more time than Google Maps says.

4. East Cape (Opotiki to Gisborne)

330 km, 6 hours, the road less travelled. The East Cape is NZ's most isolated coast: small baches, Māori marae, and the most easterly point in the country (you can stand at the lighthouse, it really is the first place the sun hits). The road is sealed but winding. Do it over two days, not one. The hot springs at Te Puia Springs are the natural stop for night two.

5. Coastal Pacific (Christchurch to Picton)

350 km, 5 hours. The train route also runs along this corridor and it's the same view. The road goes through the vineyards of Waipara, the fishing town of Kaikōura (stop for the dolphins, the crayfish, and the walk along the peninsula), and the Marlborough Sounds at the end. The road is sealed, well-signposted, and genuinely beautiful. Don't drive it tired.

6. The Catlins (Invercargill to Dunedin)

200 km, 4 hours via the southern coast. Seals, penguins, the Purakaunui Falls, Curio Bay (fossilised forest at low tide), and Slope Point (the southernmost point of the South Island). The road alternates between sealed and unsealed. Allow a full day. Don't try to do it in winter — the road is closed in heavy rain and the wind is ferocious.

7. Hauraki Gulf Coast (Auckland to Coromandel)

180 km, 3 hours. The road goes through the Hauraki Plains (dairy country, flat, unremarkable), over the Kopu Bridge, and into the Coromandel Peninsula. Once you're over the hill, every bay is a different beach. Stop at Thames for a coffee, drive to Coromandel Town, then Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. Allow two days, not one.

8. Mackenzie Basin (Tekapo to Mt Cook)

100 km, 1.5 hours, on SH8. The road runs through the Mackenzie Basin: turquoise Lake Tekapo, the Two Thumb Range, the wide-open tussock country, and the descent into Mount Cook village. Stop at the Salmon Farm at the outlet of Lake Tekapo (NZD $20 to catch your own, no licence), and at the Peter Jackson visitor centre at Mount Cook. The road is sealed and easy.

9. West Coast (Greymouth to Franz Josef)

170 km, 2.5 hours via SH6. The road goes through Hokitika (stop for the glass blowing), the pancake rocks at Punakaiki, and the rainforest before you hit Franz Josef. The road is sealed, single lane in places, and the weather is unpredictable. Don't drive it in the dark. Stop at the Ōkārito turn-off for the short walk to the lagoon (the best West Coast sunset spot).

10. Bay of Islands (Paihia to Cape Reinga)

230 km, 4 hours one way via SH1 and the Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē boardwalk. The road goes through Kawakawa (Hundertwasser toilets, worth the stop), Kerikeri (best farmers' market on Saturday), and the long drive north. Cape Reinga is the meeting point of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Lighthouse is real, the road to get there is sealed, the tapu is genuine — don't take anything from the beach.

FAQ

Is Milford Road worth doing if the forecast says rain?

Yes, arguably more so for some travellers: the waterfalls along the Eglinton Valley and the Homer Tunnel approach run harder in rain, which makes up for losing the clear-day mountain views. A bluebird day is better for photos of the peaks themselves, but treating rain as a reason to cancel misses what the road does well in wet weather.

Crown Range vs Kawarau Gorge between Queenstown and Wanaka: does it actually matter which one you take?

It matters. The Crown Range climbs over the Remarkables with the views that make the drive worth planning around, while the Kawarau Gorge route is 90 minutes flat and forgettable by comparison. The only reason to take the Gorge instead is a closure, which does happen occasionally in winter snow, so check conditions before committing to the Crown Range in June-August.

Which of these routes should be avoided in winter?

The Catlins road is explicitly closed in heavy rain and gets genuinely windy, so it's a poor winter pick. The Crown Range over Wanaka closes occasionally in snow too. Milford Road, the West Coast run to Franz Josef and the Mackenzie Basin stay driveable through winter, just slower and with an earlier finish time given how fast the light goes.