New Zealand Is The World's Best Country For The Fourth Time

The Telegraph has selected New Zealand for the fourth time as the best country to visit for their Travel Awards. This selection was based on the votes of more than 75,000 readers. The Telegraph also gives 26 reasons why New Zealand has topped the chart.

This includes the amazing mountainous terrain that contributes to its splendid landscapes, the long beaches with the extraordinary sunset and the popular vineyard locations like Hawke's Bay, Martinborough, Marlborough and Central Otago. In fact, the middle earth that we see in the movie "Lord Of The Rings" is taken in New Zealand. The strong ties between New Zealand and Britain were also recognized in this selection.

Maori culture is yet another reason why New Zealand was chosen to be the best country in the world. The indigenous people in New Zealand settled here more than a thousand years ago. They are originally from Polynesia. The Auckland Museum and Wellington's Te Papa Tongarewa give information about the settlement in Aotearoa. The most common art forms that the Maori culture follows are carving, weaving and tattooing.

The marine volcano in the White Islands is another feature in New Zealand that makes it special. A helicopter can take you to this location for an undisrupted view of the marine volcano.

New Zealand also has the oldest tree in the world, which probably existed even before mankind did. The Kauri tree can live for more than a thousand years. The tree Te Matua Ngahere in Waipoua Forest north of Auckland can possibly be up to 4,000 years old, though there is no clear evidence of how old the tree is.

The train journeys in New Zealand gives you an amazing experience. The TranzAlpine Rail Journey starts from Christchurch to Greymouth and is considered one among the top six rail journeys in the world. Air New Zealand was also recognized as the third best long-haul airline.