New Zealand Highlights Tour: South Island

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1
Welcome to New Zealand! Arrive into the charming Scottish-flavored city of Dunedin on the South Island. Collect your rental car and make your way to your boutique lodgings. With the distinct yellow flower weed that paints the hills like Scotland, Dunedin has a certain old-world charm and is home to Larnach Castle, a harbor dotted with islands, and plenty of birdlife. The weekend markets and cafes are the perfect place to meet the locals, and the Cadbury chocolate factory is a pleasure.
Fletcher Lodge

Day 2
Your private driver will pick you up in a classic vintage jaguar for a tour of the best of Dunedin. Start with a guided tour of Larnach Castle, with its perfectly landscaped gardens and peninsula views. Venture onto a nature reserve to view the rare yellow-eyed penguin from underground walkways, giving you the ultimate view of penguins with their chicks in the wild. Head out to the world’s only mainland royal albatross breeding ground, where you can see these giants with wingspans of up to 9 feet coming in to land at high speed.
Fletcher Lodge

Day 3 – 4
Enjoy a scenic drive to the west coast and the charming township of Queenstown, gateway to the Fiordlands. Plenty of adventures are at your fingertips! You can take the Skyline Gondola to the top of a mountain and luge back down, go bungy jumping or skydiving, take a thrilling jet boat ride down Dart River, and so much more.
Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel

Day 5
Today, you’ll discover one of New Zealand’s most pristine regions: the Fiordlands. Start your day with a scenic ride on a glass-roofed coach along the Milford Road deep into Fiordland National Park. Then board a nature cruise of Milford Sound for relaxed and flexible exploration of the full length of the fjord to the Tasman Sea, allowing plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and wildlife. Waterfalls, rainforests, and towering peaks provide shelter to the resident seals, dolphins, and penguins. Following your cruise, enjoy a breathtaking scenic flight back to Queenstown, flying over the alps, glaciers, lakes, and rainforest.
Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel

Day 6
Enjoy an afternoon among the boutique vineyards and spectacular scenery of Central Otago with Appellation Central Wine Tours. Situated between dramatic gorges and only a short drive from Queenstown, this wine region has not only incredible wines (especially up-and-coming pinot noirs), but history and adventure as well. Stop at 4 wineries, enjoy a wonderful platter-style lunch, and visit the historic Old Cromwell Town. You may even stop at the Kawarau Bridge, where you can witness the original AJ Hackett Bungy Jump in full swing.
Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel

Day 7
Today, drive along the unspoiled, less traveled west coast. Pass through quaint townships like Wanaka and be sure to have your camera ready, as there are plenty of waterfalls along the way. Your lodgings are located only moments away from your next adventure: glacier country! Enjoy dinner this evening at your hotel.
Te Waonui Rainforest Retreat

Day 8
Rise early today to check in for the adventure of a lifetime: heli-hiking on a glacier with The Helicopter Line. Fly over 3 icefalls of the Franz Josef Glacier before landing high up on the glacier for your 2-hour exploration. Your expert guide chooses the route as you go, and with an eye for the most spectacular ice formations, you’ll soon be making your way through a wonderland of towering pinnacles and brilliantly blue ice. After your adventure, relax in 1 of 3 hot pools nestled in a heavily wooded rainforest.
Te Waonui Rainforest Retreat

Day 9
Drive north to the small town of Greymouth to drop off your rental car and meet the TranzAlpine train. One of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world, this ride is a must for those who wish to see New Zealand’s natural wonders. Travel from one coast of New Zealand to another, seeing the dramatic contrast of dry beech forests and tussock land on one side of the alps and lush green landscapes on the other. Travel past beautiful Lake Brunner and Arthur’s Pass. Then descend the alpine scenery through a series of spectacular viaducts, follow the Waimakariri River, and cross the patchwork farmland of the Canterbury Plains and on to Christchurch. Upon arrival, a private driver will transfer you to your stylish, boutique hotel. Ask us about dinner reservations for this evening.
The George

Day 10
This morning, enjoy a private transfer to the airport to catch your connecting flight back home.