What they don’t tell you when you book this South Island tour, is how addictive this part of New Zealand truly is. You’ll find it hard to tear yourself away from its immense gorges, thundering waterfalls, gem-like glaciers, and snow-topped mountains. Many of these coalesce in one place: Milford Sound. Your gateway cities range from the adventure capital of Queenstown to the actual capital, Wellington.
(B) Breakfast (L) Lunch (D) Dinner (SD) Specialty Dinner Tour Code: LCQW
Surrounded by bars and restaurants, 10 kilometers from Christchurch International Airport (CHC), Wyndham Garden Christchurch Kilmore Street offers convenient amenities like a gym, café, and free WiFi.
Pick up local goods at Riverside Market, learn about the area’s history in the Canterbury Museum, or try your luck at Christchurch Casino. You’ll be walking distance from attractions like Quake City, the Bridge of Remembrance, and Cathedral Square. Our central business district hotel is also minutes from Te Pae The Christchurch Convention Centre.Offering modern rooms equipped with convenient amenities such as a mini fridge, coffee/tea station, ironing amenities and bathroom amenities.
Close to lakes, mountains and rivers, with dazzling starry skies by night, the hotel near to the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail, the Clay Cliffs and the Ahuriri Conservation Area, Ōhau Snow Fields, and nearby lakes. The hotel offers modern and comfortable rooms. Many have a balcony to view the great mountain scenery and all have tea and coffee making facilities and en-suite bathrooms. Set amongst landscaped gardens, dine in the al fresco restaurant or relax at the bar while enjoying the views of the surrounding mountains.
This hotel in Dunedin has 55 sunny north-facing guest rooms, brimming with amenities. All rooms feature balconies, an excellent vantage point to view the city. The contemporary-styled Standard rooms offer twin, double, interconnecting, and family configurations. Your Dunedin experience is not complete without savouring the best of Kiwi dining. Dine in Jimmy Cook’s Kiwi Kitchen, a popular spot with guests and locals alike.
The Kelvin Hotel Invercargill provides comfortable well appointed accommodation with all the modern conveniences. Located in the main shopping area of Invercargill, Kelvin Hotel has the facilities to cater to all your needs while in the city. Level One Restaurant offers you the best in southern dining. Set with contemporary décor, this friendly restaurant offers a wide range of menu options using the best southern cuisines.
This hotel is nestled within a garden-inspired property with 240 guest rooms, including 6 Suites and over 80 rooms that have views of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range. Select rooms also feature private balconies or courtyards. There are meetings facilities with Wi-Fi access in public areas, as well as in Impressions Restaurant and Cocktail Bar.
The Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier is close to the edge of one of New Zealand’s most spectacular natural attractions. In the heart of Franz Josef village and on the edge of the Westland World Heritage Park, the Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier is very close to the spectacular Franz Josef Glacier. The hotel offers everything you need to be able to explore this dramatic region in style and comfort. With an exceptional restaurant, serving hearty, West Coast fare, and the Moa Bar with its open fireplace, you are never without choice. Free WiFi is available throughout the hotel.
This hotel offers complimentary WIFI throughout the property and has a restaurant and bar onsite. Equipped with handy amenities, guestrooms at Punakaiki Resort guarantee a comfortable stay, some rooms come with extra design features such as a balcony or terrace, all rooms have television and cable TV, there is also a refrigerator and a coffee or tea maker in the rooms.
The hotel boasts a prime spot only minutes walk from Nelson’s landmark cathedral and main shopping district (including just a block away from Jens Hansen Goldsmiths, creators of the ring in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy), and an equally good base from which to explore the great outdoors – with three national parks, sandy beaches, blue seas and mountain wilderness at your doorstep. The hotel offers a full complement of dining options – two restaurants and a bar, along with 24-hour room service. You can enjoy a leisurely lap in the pool, relax in the steamy sauna, or workout in the gymnasium.
The hotel offers 132 spacious rooms, equipped with important comforts like cosy beds, microwaves, cable TV and free WiFi. There is a restaurant and bar where you can relax and enjoy a hearty meal. There is a hotel gym and the hotel is nearby to Wellington Train Station.
Christchurch is an fascinating city to explore. It was once a historic garden city. Since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes it has turned into a fascinating city of regeneration and growth.
The central city is filled with cutting-edge architecture alongside some of the oldest buildings in New Zealand. But Christchurch is constantly evolving, always giving locals and visitors something new to explore. Expect street art and innovative projects, a bustling hospitality scene and established green spaces.
The Avon River runs through the city, bringing a natural landscape to the urban environment. Cruise along the picturesque river on a flat bottomed punt. Take a ride on a historic tram through the city. With wonderful parks and botanic gardens to explore Christchurch is a great place to visit.
Sitting in a broad basin between mountain ranges, Omarama is a small town at the junction of State Highways 8 and 83. Near the southern end of the Mackenzie Basin, in the South Island it attracts glider pilots and anglers. They come for open skies and fish-filled rivers respectively.
The gliding fellowship come here to soar in the wide-open skies. While anglers chase plentiful fish in fast-flowing rivers. Omarama is in the Waitaki District, near its namesake river, and the Ahuriri River is a short distance to the north.
Omarama means the place of light. And you will understand why when you look to the skies. The crystal clear air is so pure and the nights so black that the star-gazing opportunities here are a once in a lifetime experience.
Known as the ‘Edinburgh of the South’, Dunedin is a city that wears its Scottish heritage with pride. The small city boasts some eye-catching architecture and is one of the best-preserved Victorian and Edwardian cities in the Southern Hemisphere.
A gaelic language namesake of ‘Edinburgh’, Dunedin sits at the end of a long picturesque harbour surrounded by dramatic hills. There is so much to see and do here. Stroll through the city and its heritage buildings. Visit intriguing museums and historic homes like Olveston. Experience the rare wildlife found in the spectacular landscapes that surround the city.
The nearby Otago Peninsula offers endless views and beautifully rugged beaches. Nestled at the foot of Taiaroa Head is the Royal Albatross Centre — the only place in the world on the mainland where you can view Northern Royal Albatross in their natural habitat.
You will also find other wildlife including colonies of the world’s rarest penguin on the Peninsula. On the beaches, you will find fur seals and sea lions just lazing around and enjoying their natural habitat.
Dunedin’s heritage even extends to a real castle, high on the hills of the Otago Peninsula. Larnach Castle is New Zealand’s only castle and a much-loved piece of Dunedin history.
Invercargill is a city near the southern tip of Aotearoa’s South Island. The Southland Region’s “Capital”, it is New Zealand’s southernmost city and was founded in the 1850s.
Invercargill is well-equipped for visitors with an excellent range of shops and a selection of lively bars and restaurants. Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco heritage buildings give the city a charming old-world character.
An array of coastal landscapes for visitors to explore is just minutes from the city centre. Experience the long coastal highway of Oreti Beach. Discover the natural wonders of Waituna Wetlands and Omaui. Or explore the boardwalk on the estuary and heritage wharfs.
It may appear Invercargill is obsessed with anything with wheels. The SIT Zero Fees Velodrome will interest bike enthusiasts. Anyone interested in transport history will enjoy the world class vintage truck collection at Bill Richardson Transport World. Meanwhile, motorbike fans can celebrate Invercargill’s motorcycle history at Classic Motorcycle Mecca and learn about the legend of speed, Burt Munro, at E Hayes Motorworks.
Stewart Island is New Zealand’s third largest island, situated 30 kilometres south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. This is one magical spot…
In the Māori language, it’s known as Rakiura which means ‘the land of glowing skies’. You’ll get an inkling why when you see the Aurora Australis, which often appears in these southern skies.
Stewart Island is a haven for endemic NZ wildlife. Brown kiwi or Tokoeka, which outnumber humans on the island, are active day and night. Blue penguins and rare yellow-eyed penguins waddle among the rocks. Offshore on Ulva Island, you’ll find a predator-free bird sanctuary with dozens of native species.
A large part of the island is a National Park with hundreds of kilometres of walking tracks. Many people come here for hiking and birdwatching, or just relaxing in this beautiful and largely untouched wilderness environment.
Queenstown is a stunning resort town, renowned for its beauty and wealth of adventure activities, it sits on the shores of the South Island’s Lake Wakatipu. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Southern Alps mountains, Queenstown is also a base for exploring the region’s vineyards and historic mining towns.
Iconic adventure activities include bungee jumping off Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge and jet-boating on the Shotover and Dart rivers. And in winter, there’s skiing on the slopes of The Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Cardrona ski resorts.
Queenstown is a hub of adventure, thrumming with adrenaline and an buzzing with a carefree sense of fun. But extreme activities aren’t the only options here. This world-famous resort town and its surrounding area boast many things to see, do, eat, drink and explore. Something for everyone at any time of year.
Franz Josef is the name of both the glacier and the nearby village. The small but lively Franz Josef Waiau village is surrounded by lush rainforest with the high snow-capped Alps rising above it.
There are many ways to take in the natural attractions within a short distance of the village. Your options include a cycleway, walks of varying lengths, guided walks, kayaking, and action adventures like rafting or skydiving. You can also visit the white heron colony or see the world’s rarest kiwi.
A short distance from neighbouring Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier is one of the steepest glaciers in New Zealand. It descends from its origins high in the Southern Alps deep into the lush native rainforest of Westland’s National Park.
The glacier moves faster than your average glacier so no two days are the same. The main ice fall moves an average of 50cm per day, but steep sections can move as much as 10 metres in a single day. This creates some truly incredible features in the glacier such as ice caves, tunnels, seracs and crevasses; and all features are constantly changing and evolving.
Punakaiki is a small community on the West Coast of the South Island, between Westport and Greymouth. The community lies on the edge of the Paparoa National Park.
The Pancake Rocks are a very popular tourist destination. At Dolomite Point south of the main village you can explore a limestone landscape of pancake-shaped rock formations, blowholes and surge pools on a short, paved walk.
This all-weather walk takes you through curious limestone formations of ‘Pancake Rocks’ and blowholes.
The blowholes form from a mixture of compressed water and air from caverns below being forced upwards. They create a huge wall of spray and are at their best around high tide when there is a south-westerly swell.
Spectacular views, geological oddities, coastal forest, rich birdlife and marine mammals are highlights along this walk.
Nelson is the main centre of the Tasman region. This is an extraordinary, vibrant region where art and businesses thrive together among a stunning natural landscape.
It is renowned for its sunny climate, produce and stunning natural landscapes. Indeed, its diverse geography captures everything from long golden beaches to untouched forests and rugged mountains.
Nelson Tasman has one of the largest concentrations of working artists and galleries in the country. You’ll find an array of traditional, contemporary and Māori, craftspeople living in the region.
And you’ll also find many ways to find something extraordinary to take home with you. Visit artist’s studios. Explore the weekend craft markets. Taste the delicious locally made artisan products.
Wellington is New Zealand’s capital city and the location of our parliament. Located at the bottom of the North Island it sits on the Cook Strait, which divides the North and South Islands. Strong winds through the Cook Strait give it the nickname “Windy Wellington”.
It is a vibrant and compact city, with a beautiful waterfront promenade, sandy beaches, a working harbour and some lovely turn of the century, timber houses on the steep hills it features. From Lambton Quay, the iconic red Wellington Cable Car heads to the Wellington Botanic Gardens.
Wellington is home to New Zealand’s National Museum, Te Papa, and bespoke art and creative pursuits thrive in this city. Couple this with a strong café and restaurant culture and you have an interesting and unique little city to explore.
The Interislander is one of The Great Journeys of New Zealand and doubles as a Marlborough Sounds cruise. It is New Zealand’s original Cook Strait ferry, sailing between Wellington and Picton several times a day connecting the North & South Islands’ road and rail networks.
Considered one of the most beautiful ferry journeys in the world, The Interislander is one of New Zealand’s most iconic travel experiences. The ferry takes around three-and-a-half hours to travel between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island.
From Wellington, your short voyage begins with a tour around Wellington Harbour. You’ll then cross the narrow passage between New Zealand’s two main islands. This passage, The Cook Strait, is named after Captain Cook, the English explorer who first mapped it.
Having crossed Cook Strait, the final stretch of the journey is through the magnificent Marlborough Sounds. This sheltered stretch of water is spectacularly scenic. It’s the reason the trip is known for its scenery. And it is this hour long cruise through the Marlborough Sounds that makes the Interislanderr a must-do experience.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages. This allows us to improve the customer experience and meet our audience's needs.
We also collect information required to respond to enquiries and facilitate the sales process via, our customer service solution, Active Campaign. Rest assured, this information is not shared with anyone, except where necessary to facilitate a tour booking or respond to an information request.
Keeping these cookies enabled helps us to improve our website and provide you with great service and support as you find your perfect New Zealand tour.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
More information about our Cookie Policy
