Have You Arranged Your Otago Central Rail Trail Itinerary?

If you are thinking about riding the Rail Trail and planning on doing all of your own booking for accommodation, please be aware that it's not quite as easy as it might look at the onset.

There's a number of factors to consider. Firstly you'll need to decide which way you ride the Trail. Check out our "What is the best direction to ride the Trail?" section under the Important Information page for help in making a decision here. Then you'll need to consider how many days you plan on taking to ride the Trail. Again read our advice under the "How many days should we take?" section of our Important Information page. Then there's the time of the year that you'll looking at riding. If you have been told that the best time to ride the Trail is in late Summer / Autumn it's worth taking a look at our "best time to do the Trail" section under the Important Information page. Here we summarise the relative merits of riding the Trail in each of the various seasons.

Once you've made these decisions you'll then need to consider what type of accommodation you'd like to stay in and whereabouts this accommodation might be. Here you'll also need to consider whether you stay on or close to the Trail each night or whether you stay further away from the Trail. We would recommend that you stay in accommodation on or near the Trail. Please check out our accommodation page for some suggestions here. Then you'll need to bear in mind that if you do plan to ride the Trail later in Summer or in Autumn that accommodation is in high demand then.Accommodation in Queenstown or Dunedin prior to or after you start the trail can be arranged through our office.

Once you've sorted your accommodation you'll then need to make sure that you get your bags moved along the Trail each day. We provide a service to do just this and if you have larger bags we can deliver these to the end of the trail  so you can pick up when you have finished. Some clients decide to carry their clothes on the bike and this can be done, but remember to travel light. You may need to use our service to transfer your large bags to end of the trail. Finally you'll have to book transport for you and your bike back to where you started or we can arrange transport of the Taieri Gorge Train to Dunedin.
We can offer larger groups personalised transport options from Dunedin or Queenstown Airports or accommodation places.

Trail Journeys Booking Service

At Trail Journeys our front line team of receptionists can package up your  trip for you for no extra cost than if you booked everything on your own. Let us package up a trip for you to suit your individual requirements, book any transport you need, we can store your car, we can arrange the accommodation and/or meals, move your bags each day and if required, supply the comfortable bikes. All you need to do is indicate to us what services you require and then arrive and enjoy. Once you've finished your adventure we can transport you back to your start or onto your next destination. We have been doing it since the Rail Trail started, talk about experienced !! 

We charge no extra to book your accommodation and we will do our best to get you each of your required bed nights while on the trail. Remember that it's especially important to book early if you're planning on riding in the busy months of March & April.

Please read the Accommodation, Bike Hire, Transport, Baggage Transfer, Car Storage and Prices & Departures pages in this section for more information on what Trail Journeys has to offer for you if you're planning on riding the Railtrail.

Also take the time to read some of the comments and look at the pictures from Trail Journeys clients who have recently ridden the Trail (located on our Testimonials page). Also if you do end up riding the Trail with us DON'T forget to send us some comments and pictures of your adventure  for our testimonials page !

Whether you've studied all the available information and you're ready to book your trip or you feel like you need to talk over your options with an expert, please don't hesitate to either ring or email us (Visit our Contact Us page for details) or go directly to our Make an Enquiry page to enter your trip requirements and have these sent directly to our Trail Journeys reception team for actioning.

Let Trail Journeys organise any other accommodation or activities in the Queenstown, Dunedin and Central Otago areas. We have contacts with many of the top activity operators and accommodation places that we can recommend to you.