My South Island, New Zealand 3-Week Road Trip Itinerary
Destinations and activities I did on my 25-day road trip around New Zealand
This past January 2020, My girlfriend and I embarked on a 3-week road trip around New Zealand’s stunning south island. We spent time in Auckland as well, but for the sake of brevity, I will only be covering the southern island destinations in this article.
The photos below were taken on my telephone, and although they look great — no picture taken with an iPhone 8 will do New Zealand the justice it deserves.
1. Christchurch
We started our journey in Christchurch, but we didn’t spend much time there.
We rented a modest Toyota from Snap Rentals for the trip then headed towards Tekapo, where we had an Airbnb for the night. I would recommend Snap’s rental service — the car was comfortable, affordable, and endured the entire 2,700+ km (1,677 miles) journey with no issues.
2. Tekapo
Lake Tekapo was a wonderful first impression of what the south island had to offer.
We arrived in the evening and hung out by the lake, grabbed a quick bite, and star gazed. The southern lights painted the sky with clusters of the most vivid constellations I’ve ever seen.
Housing was tricky to find in Tekapo, but we managed to get an Airbnb in a cozy camper van for the night before continuing to Queenstown.
3. Pukaki
Our Airbnb host gave us some recommendations on things we should see before heading to Queenstown, so we took him up on it.
Lake Pukaki was surreal. It was so zen and quiet. The water was a glossy and vibrant blue color, unlike anything I’d ever seen.
According to Google — “The glacial feed to the lakes gives them a distinctive blue color, created by glacial flour, the extremely finely ground rock particles from the glaciers.”
4. Mount Cook
Just a short drive from Lake Pukaki is Mount Cook — a must-see place. It was hard not to take pictures every km because the view seemed to keep getting better as we drove closer to Mount Cook.
It’s breath-taking and was one of my favorite things we did on the entire trip. The glacier cover mountains made for a scenic backdrop as we enjoyed a quiet picnic.
It was puzzling how quiet everywhere we went was. As an American, I’m accustomed to large crowds, but we rarely saw more than a handful of people anywhere we went — Mount Cook was no exception.
We lucked out with the weather because it’s frequently windy and rainy — we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather, though.
5. Queenstown
Queenstown had such a relaxing atmosphere while also having the amenities of a large town or small city.
We had a quiet Airbnb right on the water in Frankton, which is a few minutes drive from downtown Queenstown.
We enjoyed swimming in the lake, hiking, dining, and of course, the luge.
Activities:
- Luge
- Hiked Queenstown Hill
- Canyoning
- Ate a Ferg burger
- Stargazing
6. Te Anau
Te Anau is the closest town to Milford Sound, so we booked a two-night stay here so we could experience it without enduring a 4-hour bus ride from Queenstown.
7. Milford Sound
Milford Sound is unlike any other place I’ve ever been on earth. I purposefully didn’t over-research this place because I wanted to get the full experience in person. And oh man, it did not disappoint.
We decided instead of booking a boat tour that we would go scuba diving instead. Jus and I are both certified PADI scuba divers, so we thought we would kill two birds with one stone and experience Milford Sound from above and beneath. We booked a tour with Descend Scuba, and I couldn’t recommend it more.
We saw baby sharks, octopus, thriving reefs, and swam in one of the most unbelievable (and powerful) waterfalls.
Other than getting eaten alive by relentless sand flies, Milford Sound was eerie, rainy, and absolutely stunning!
8. Wanaka
Wanaka was a very chill place. We didn’t do much here besides relax at our Airbnb, and of course, we took plenty of pictures of the Wanaka Tree.
We also had a good laugh at Cardrona’s bra fence which is just a short drive from Wanaka.
9. Fox Glacier / Franz Josef
We booked a heli-hike for Fox Glacier while in Queenstown, but unfortunately, the weather did not permit. We rescheduled the tour but sadly were unable to do the hike.
We did, however, have clear enough weather that we were able to do the Franz Josef Glacier walk, which gave us a glimpse of what was up there.
10. Marsden
We stopped off in Marsden on our way to Abel Tasman and had such a lovely Airbnb that I had to plug it. We stayed in a historic train that had been converted into a tiny home.
It was one of the coolest places I’ve ever stayed — I wish we’d booked it for more than one night because it was so relaxing.
11. Pancake Rocks
On our way to Abel Tasman, we took the long-ish way specifically so we could see the Pancake Rocks. It was totally worth the added time.
The rock formations are mesmerizing. I found myself staring in awe, wondering how in the world nature created these perfectly symmetrical rocks that appear to be stacked like pancakes.
12. Abel Tasman
We stayed in Kaiteriteri, which wasn’t too far from Abel Tasman National park. Believe it or not, this was our first time being on a beach in New Zealand, and it was right at the end of our journey.
We did the coast trail hike and hopped from beach to beach. The beaches were quiet and serene. It felt like we had our own private beaches most of the time since they’re large but not crowded.
We also climbed up Split Apple Rock, which is a must-do tourist activity, or so I’m told.
13. Kaikoura
We ended our trip to the south island with a bang before heading back to Auckland. We spent two nights in Kaikoura, where we booked a tour to swim with dolphins with Dolphin Encounter.
I was expecting to see a few dolphins, but I was not prepared to see thousands of them. There were packs of dolphins swimming right beside us, making squeaky noises and being very playful. We saw dolphins doing tricks and showing off. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I’ll never forget.
