Southern calling? This trip to New Zealand unites some of the country’s most fabled playgrounds, think adventure-filled Queenstown tours, a World Heritage listed Milford Sound/Piopiotahi tour and possible gem-like Franz Josef/Waiau tours, with some of its must off-the-radar pockets. 10 days through the South Island, starting and finishing in Christchurch. Along the way: Christchurch, Lake Tekapo, Dunedin. Every night is booked and the travelling is handled, so the itinerary below is what you actually do rather than a list of things you could arrange yourself.
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This itinerary can be customised: extra nights, different rooms, more activities or a different vehicle. Tell us what you would change.
Your journey:ChristchurchOamaruDunedinTe AnauQueenstownHokitikaChristchurch
At once forward-thinking and fun, Christchurch is the kind of city you could lose yourself in for a week, or more. You have this afternoon, so make the most of it. Freshen up because it’s time to meet your fellow adventure-seekers over a couple of wines. Staying in: Distinction Christchurch Hotel (1 night)
If you didn’t get your bearings yesterday, you certainly will on today’s Christchurch tour, taking in the city’s record-breaking Cardboard Cathedral, who knew you could build a church from cardboard and not much else?, as well as past the gilded library, gleaming like an architectural beacon. The buildings of the city fade into a patchwork of farms as you ease across the Canterbury Plains towards Lake Tekapo. Here, retired farmers Angie and Stan Taylor welcome you to their home with a slap-up Be My Guest afternoon tea and tales about life on the land. And this land is truly dramatic, backdropped by powdery mountains and cut with turquoise lakes, none quite as pretty as Lake Tekapo, on its banks the stone-hewn Church of the Good Shepherd. It’s like someone has taken the glasses off your nose and cleaned them for the first time. Staying in: Distinction Mackenzie Country Hotel Twizel (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Oamaru has a rich history and proud heritage, enriched by passionate and perhaps quirky locals. Explore the shops, galleries and traditional crafts within some of the Southern Hemisphere’s most complete Victorian streetscapes. You’re en route to Dunedin, replete with rolling green meadows and a grand stone castle. It kind of feels like you’ve been transported to Scotland, small wonder it’s known as the ‘Edinburgh of the South’. Afternoon at your leisure, you could consider an optional experience and visit a sustainable gin distillery, or tour Larnach Castle, A NZ holiday must. Staying in: Scenic Hotel Southern Cross (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Leave Dunedin’s pastoral sheep-farming countryside behind as you venture into World Heritage listed Fiordland National Park, a place of yawning gorges and gem-like glaciers, and azure lakes so large they have their own islands. Case in point Pomona Island, where a charitable trust of passionate volunteers works to restore flora and fauna on this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. With your help. You’ll take a thrilling jet boat ride down the Waiau River to Lake Manapouri and if that’s not enough water for one day, you may choose to book an optional experience to cruise to the iconic Glowworm Caves. Can we tempt you? Staying in: Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Villas (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Nature rules again today, from the moment you depart Te Anau and begin your journey deep into the heart of Fiordland National Park. Think native rainforests, beech forests, alluvial flats and meadows; Mirror Lakes perfectly reflecting mountain scenery; and precipitous lookouts holding guard over alpine rivers. And this is just the entrée. The main course is Piopiotahi (Milford Sound), where you cruise in the company of fur seals that bask on the rocks, and gaze at misty escarpments so sheer they appear to cleave off the edge of the Earth. You’re in the company of a naturalist who knows every nook and cranny of this mighty cavern and will point out flora and fauna you would have never spotted on your own. Staying in: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast
Take today at your own pace. Consider an optional experience. Like things fast and furious? Feel the wind in your hair on a high-octane jet boat ride, perhaps. Prefer wine to get your heart started? See why Central Otago makes some of the world’s most raved about cool-climate pinots on a cellar door tour. Wherever your Queenstown New Zealand tour wanderings take you, you’ll reunite with your companions come dusk to glide across Lake Wakatipu aboard the historic TSS Earnslaw, your barbecue dinner served on the grounds of Walter Peak High Country Farm. Trips to New Zealand don’t get much tastier than this. Staying in: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
In the shadow of the Remarkables, Queenstown is pretty spectacular. But it has some stiff good-looks competition from neighbouring Arrowtown, with its movie-set tree-lined avenues and 19th-century buildings that once housed gold-rush fortune-seekers. Things grow well in this verdant countryside, from cherries to pinot grapes and all manner of stone fruit at a roadside stall run by the interminable Mrs Jones, a local institution. Prepare for a flavour explosion. The next explosion is a visual one as you arrive in the town of Waiau (Franz Josef), home to Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere (Franz Josef Glacier). Get some perspective of this immense ice fall on an optional experience scenic helicopter flight, you may even get to land on it. Staying in: Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Wandering Hokitika’s windswept shore on the West Coast feels a bit like you’ve discovered the end of the Earth. Then soak in the natural surroundings as you head to Punakaiki to view the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, where waves thunder through cracks in the Earth. This is the soundtrack that lulls you to sleep at tonight’s eco-resort. Staying in: Scenic Hotel Punakaiki (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Join us at Ponaumu Pathway. Explore the history and culture of the local Maori (Poutini Ngai Tahu) and the Mawhera Pa settlement. Embark on a unique self-guided journey, as you make your way through this extraordinary storytelling experience born from a collaboration with the Weta Workshop. An inspiring and unforgettable cultural experience. We’ve got you sorted for lunch at legendary Monteith’s Brewery. You only live once, right? The best is yet to come, all aboard for the scenic TranzAlpine train from Arthur’s Pass back to Christchurch. Travel through tunnels and over viaducts, with panoramic views of snow-capped peaks, icy rivers, beech forests, gorges and river valleys. Your NZ tour arrives in Christchurch just in time for dinner and drinks. Staying in: Distinction Christchurch Hotel (1 night) Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
The last 10 days of your NZ holiday flew by. Return home with new friends, a full SD card on your camera, and even more memories. Meals included: Breakfast
This itinerary departs on the dates that suit you, subject to availability. Peak season (December to February) books out early, so enquire well ahead for summer travel.
Add nights, upgrade rooms, swap activities or extend into the other island. Tell us what you would change and we will re-quote, no obligation.
Your whole itinerary lives in a smart travel app with live vouchers, maps and daily guidance, and your own travel specialist is reachable seven days a week while you are on the road. If plans change, we rearrange them in real time.
Watch: Milford Sound on this itinerary
Still deciding? Worth a read: How many days do you actually need in New Zealand? · The best time to visit New Zealand, from people who live here
Nothing to enquire, nothing until your quote is confirmed in writing, and never more than your deposit until the balance falls due 70 days before travel. Deposits can be paid by card, which keeps your card scheme’s protections in play.
How your money is protectedAvailability checked with our New Zealand operations team and confirmed in writing, not an automated estimate.
Quotes are free and carry no obligation. You pay a deposit only once the itinerary is right and you say go.
The same specialist plans your trip and is reachable while you are travelling, alongside in-country support seven days a week.
Insider status, Tourism New Zealand 100% Pure New Zealand Specialist Programme. IATA certified. Every itinerary is operated by a Qualmark Gold certified New Zealand tour operator.Questions before you enquire? Email hello@silverferntravel.com and ask. No form required.
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