Your First Trip

Plan a Trip in Five Minutes#

The trip planner is the heart of Tiki Tours. It lets you build multi-day itineraries with trails, huts, and campsites — then share them with your group or keep them for your own reference. Here is how to create your first trip from scratch.

Step 1: Start a New Trip#

From the map dashboard, tap the "New Trip" button in the top-right corner. You will be asked to give your trip a name — something like "Abel Tasman Coast Track" or "Kaimanawa Weekend" works well. You can always rename it later.

Choose a start date if you have one, or leave it blank to plan without fixed dates.

Step 2: Add Your First Stop#

Tap "Add Stop" to start building your itinerary. You can add stops in three ways:

• Search — type the name of a trail, hut, or campsite and select it from the results
• Browse the map — tap a trail or marker on the map and choose "Add to Trip"
• Manual entry — add a custom stop for locations that are not in the DOC catalog (like a private campground or a shuttle pickup point)

Each stop shows key details: distance, estimated walking time, facilities (for huts and campsites), and DOC track status.

Step 3: Build Your Itinerary#

Add more stops to create a multi-day plan. You can:

• Reorder stops — drag and drop to change the sequence
• Assign nights — mark which stops are overnight stays and which are pass-through waypoints
• Add notes — attach reminders to any stop ("Book hut before November", "Fill water here", "Shuttle pickup at 3pm")

The trip planner calculates total distance and estimated walking time for each day, so you can see at a glance whether your plan is realistic.

Step 4: Save and Share#

Your trip saves automatically as you build it. When you are happy with the plan:

• Keep it private — it stays in your trip library, visible only to you
• Share publicly — toggle sharing on to generate a public link. Anyone with the link can view the trip, but only you can edit it.

Shared trips show a read-only view with the map, itinerary, and your notes. Perfect for sending to your tramping group before a trip.

Step 5: Take It With You#

On the day, open your trip from the Trips tab. If you are on the Trekker tier, your map tiles will be available offline for any region you have downloaded. If you are on Explorer, make sure to screenshot or save key details before you lose signal.

Tips for Better Trips#

• Start with the trail you want to walk, then add huts and campsites around it
• Use the notes field liberally — shuttle times, gear reminders, water source locations
• Check DOC trail status before you go — Tiki Tours shows the latest data, but conditions change fast in the backcountry
• Share the link with your group early so everyone can review the plan and flag issues