10 Day Best of South Island Christchurch to Christchurch Winter Tour

All about the 10 Day Best of South Island Christchurch to Christchurch Winter Tour

10 Day Best of South Island Christchurch to Christchurch Winter Tour Itinerary - 10 days

• Day 1 Christchurch to Franz Josef
  Nau mai, haere mai (welcome)! Your adventure begins with one of the world’s greatest train journeys, a ride on the TranzAlpine train. Check-in at the Christchurch Railway Station, then sit back to watch the South Island’s most stunning scenery roll by just outside your window. You’ll travel across the vast Canterbury Plains, cross winding ice-fed rivers and traverse the majestic Southern Alps via Arthur’s Pass. Your train journey ends on the West Coast in the historic gold mining town of Greymouth, where you will meet your driver guide and coach. From there, we carry on to our overnight stop in the quaint little town of Franz Josef, home to the mighty Franz Josef.
  Accommodation included: Lodge in the middle of the rainforest
  Activities included: TranzAlpine scenic train journey from Christchurch to Greymouth
• Day 2 Day in Franz Josef
  Enjoy a full free day to explore the glacier. Live your glacier walking dream with a guided tour on the glacier or hike to view it from below, then unwind in the spa pools afterwards.
  Accommodation: Lodge in the middle of the rainforest
  Optional Activities: Ice Explorer Trip (short helicopter flight onto the glacier), Glacier Valley Walk
  Free Activities: Many bush walks in the area
• Day 3 Franz Josef to Wanaka
  Depart at 8am. We head to Lake Matheson for a walk at the amazing mirror lake, stop at Fox Glacier for pickups, and then travel through the mountainous Haast Pass and Makarora. We pass by the beautiful Lake Hawea and arrive in Wanaka late afternoon.
  Accommodation: Central hostel
  Free Activities: Lake Matheson walk, Ship Creek walk, Blue Pools walk, Thundercreek Falls walk, explore Wanaka.
• Day 4 Wanaka to Queenstown
  This morning, head out on a guided bike tour around the lake before we depart Wanaka at 10.30am and cruise down to the famous A.J. Hackett bungy site, where you can take the plunge - if you dare! Then, it’s on to the ‘Adventure Capital of the World!’ Queenstown offers an optional big (make that huge) night out with excellent restaurants, pubs and live music.
  Accommodation: Central hostel
  Included Activities: Guided Bike Tour
• Days 5, 6 and 7 Queenstown
  With so much to see and do in and around Queenstown, you need three full days to take it all in! To get you started, a couple highlight activities are included – an exhilarating Shotover Jet Boat ride in the morning on Day 5 and a full day trip to jaw dropping Doubtful Sound on Day 6. Day 7 is free for you to do as you please.
  Accommodation: Central hostel
  Included Activities: Shotover Jet (Day 5) and Doubtful Sound day trip (Day 6)
  Optional Activities: Any adventure activity that we mad Kiwis can dream up (bungy, swing, jetboating, skydiving, mountain biking, zipline, horse riding…), trip to Milford Sound.
  Free Activities: Sleep in, great walks, take in beautiful views from this cool resort town.
• Day 8 Queenstown to Aoraki/Mt Cook
  Depart from 8.40am. We head over the Lindis Pass through the beautiful Mackenzie Country and past Lake Pukaki, then head north to our amazing stop at the base of New Zealand’s highest mountain Aoraki/Mt Cook, arriving in the early afternoon.
  Accommodation: Stunning alpine lodge
  Optional Activities: Visit the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre
  Free Activities: Take photos of awe-inspiring scenery, do one of the many great short walks to the Hooker Glacial Lake.
• Day 9 Mt Cook to Rangitata
  Leaving Mt Cook, we make our way through a landscape made famous in the Lord of the Rings films. We’ll stop to admire the turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd – a famous photo stop. Relax in the Tekapo hot pools, go snow tubing or ice skating or hike up to the Mt John observatory where you’ll witness stunning views of the lake from above. After lunch, we will continue to our overnight stop in Rangitata Peel Forest. Tonight, we’ll stay in one of Canterbury’s original sheep stations.
  Accommodation included: One of Canterbury’s original sheep stations
  Optional activities: Tekapo Hot Springs, Ice skating (April-Sept), Snow tubing (June-Sept) Free activities: Visit Lake Tekapo, Mt John walk, Rangitata forest walks
• Day 10 Rangitata to Christchurch
  This morning, you will have the opportunity to sign up to a Lord of the Rings tour or to explore the stunning Peel Forest scenery on horseback. We’ll arrive in Christchurch late afternoon, where your tour comes to an end - we hope you had a blast on your New Zealand journey!
  Optional paid activities: LOTR tour, horse trekking
  Free activities: Explore Christchurch by foot, check out the Re-Start Mall, Cardboard Cathedral and inner-city street art

Real Kiwi Says:

During the winter our Real Kiwi Adventures tours are operated with our partners on the hop on hop off network, so you can guarantee we depart with a good group of travelers every week. There is plenty to see in New Zealand in the winter, with some saying its even better at that time of year!

Please contact us with any questions

Departure information