The New Zealand Great Walk Adventure - South

The New Zealand Great Walk Adventure visits three of New Zealand's National Parks - Mt Aspiring, Fiordland and Rakiura. You will day walk on four Great Walks and also visit Ulva Island and Milford Sound.

-Routeburn Track

-Kepler Track

-Milford Track

-Rakiura Track

-Ulva Island (Stewart Island)

The New Zealand Great Walk Adventure is suitable for everyone who enjoys the outdoors. If you are generally active and enjoy activities such as hiking, biking, golf, tennis or dancing then you will have no problem with the hikes on the trip. On each of our hikes we offer lots of flexibility, so whether you would prefer to take it easy and take in the views or really stretch your legs, the choice is yours. You will walk between 3 to 5 hours each day on well-formed tracks. The average distance walked each day is 8km/4.3mi. Click here to go to a handy page with a summary of the distances and approximate times for every walk on The New Zealand Great Walk Adventure.

On the New Zealand Great Walk Adventure - South, you'll sleep soundly in comfortable accommodations that we have chosen specifically for their fantastic locations. You’ll meet friendly hosts and have a private ensuite room each night. Find out more about the accommodation on The New Zealand Great Walk Adventure.

Pick up information

We can pick you up on the first day of your trip in Queenstown at:

7.30am from our airport joining hotel - La Quinta Queenstown

OR

8.00am from our city joining hotel - Ramada Queenstown Central

Drop off information*

We can drop you off on the last day of your trip in Queenstown at:

5.00pm at Queenstown Airport 

OR   

after 5.15pm at your airport hotel

OR

after 5.45pm at your city centre hotel in the Queenstown CBD. Due to time restrictions on the final day, if we are dropping you off at a hotel this will need to be a hotel that is either close to the airport or within the city centre, not a hotel in another suburb. 

* If you are travelling on a trip with us that departs from October 2025 onwards, then the drop off locations will be: 5.00pm at Queenstown Airport, 5.15pm at our airport joining hotel - La Quinta Queenstown, 5.45pm at our city joining hotel - Ramada Queenstown Central

When booking your flights, please make sure you:

Arrive in Queenstown the day before your trip departs.

Depart from Queenstown on the final day no earlier than 7.00pm International or 6.00pm Domestic.

**If your travel plans fall outside of these times, please check with us before you book.

You will have a spacious room with an ensuite every night on this tour. On travel days, your guide will regularly stop at bathroom facilities in between destinations, and on the walking trails there are basic toilets available at regular intervals.

Yes. While we will spend the days enjoying the simplicity and beauty of the wilderness, we will always return to civilisation at night so you can charge your phones and cameras up for tomorrow!

Our New Zealand Great Walk Adventure tour gives you access to some of New Zealand’s most spectacular wilderness areas, whilst still providing all the necessary creature comforts. Every accommodation on this trip has access to WiFi, so you can keep in touch with your friends and loved ones and show off all the incredible places you have visited.

• An experienced New Zealand Trails guide
• Local naturalist guides on the Milford Track, Kepler Track and Milford Sound cruise
• Flight or ferry to Stewart Island and water taxi transfer to Ulva Island
• Helicopter and jet boat transfers for the Kepler Track
• All meals
• Hikes, activities and guides as shown in the itinerary
• Accommodation as indicated in your final itinerary
• All local taxes and gratuities.

• Airfares to and from Queenstown
• Airport transfers
• Travel insurance
• Visa
• Non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverages with lunch and dinner
• Optional Kiwi Spotting Tour on Stewart Island

Our guests are like-minded people from New Zealand, Australia, and around the world. They come from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and experiences. On average, we have a 50/50 split between men and women, with several single travellers on each trip as well as couples, friends travelling together, and families.

Yes, absolutely. We have family friendly departures available, and our New Zealand Great Walk Adventure is suitable for all ages. This is the perfect trip for active families who enjoy their creature comforts. With our small group sizes, we are able to provide a lot of flexibility and can offer easier or more challenging options so that each member of your family can choose how much or little activity they enjoy each day. Get in touch with Jodi to discuss your next family holiday.

We regularly organise private trips for specialist groups, clubs, extended families and groups of friends wishing to travel together and would be more than happy to help you with your travel plans. You can read more about our private New Zealand trips here.

Safety is always our top priority. We take great pride in our impeccable safety record and our safety management plans. Your guide is a highly experienced outdoors professional who is first aid qualified and fully equipped with a satellite phone, personal locator beacon and first aid kit. Our trips have direct access to our highly experienced operations team and other outside services 24 hours a day.

Most of the people that join our trips have questions about how fit they need to be and the answer is that as long as you enjoy being out and about in the outdoors you will enjoy yourself – this trips is designed for active people, but you don’t need to be an athlete! We have two trained guides on most hikes, meaning that everyone can go at their own pace and there is always flexibility within the itinerary to do more or less depending on your mood that day. Check out The New Zealand Great Walks Adventure Fitness Page for details on the walks you'll do on this trip.

There is no additional charge for solo travellers on our trips. If you are a solo traveller, as many of our guests are, we will team you up with another solo traveller of the same sex to share with for the duration of your trip. If you would like to guarantee your own room as a solo traveller, then there is the option to pay a solo supplement.

You certainly don’t need any technical outdoors experience to enjoy your New Zealand Trails trip. If you enjoy being out and about in the outdoors and are a generally active person who enjoys hobbies like walking, cycling, golf, tennis or dancing then you will have no problems at all with the walks and activities on your trip.

We run small-group tours, so along with your guides, there are typically 12-15 guests in your group. We have found keeping our group sizes small is the perfect way to make sure everyone has the best time.

Coming on a guided trip with us means we take care of everything! Our small group tours have a maximum of 12 guests per trip along with your local, New Zealand guide and are designed to make it easy, fun and safe for you to explore on your New Zealand trip of a lifetime.

Before your trip:
You’ll have a dedicated guest service team member to assist you every step of the way. From advising what you should pack to choosing the best flights to arrive for your trip on time and helping organize pre and post-trip accommodation. No matter when you book or how far in advance you plan your travel, our team is here to help.

During your trip:
On your trip, your dedicated local New Zealand guide will take care of everything. They provide food, snacks and safety information, as well as arrange all of your activities and make sure you get where you need to be safely and on time. They’ll also share their extensive knowledge of our country and culture and provide flexibility so you can enjoy New Zealand at the pace that’s right for you.

After your trip:
Your dedicated guest service team member will be there to support you. From helping book accommodation and advising on the best flights to sharing local knowledge on other activities you might enjoy or the best places to eat. You’ll also receive all the photos from your trip that your guides have collected along the way so you can cherish the memories of your adventure.

Yes, we can! Our dedicated Guest Services team member Becky will be here to help every step of the way. She can advise you on which flights you should book to ensure you arrive for your trip on time, the best accommodation for you pre and post-trip and everything in between. She’s here to make sure your travel experience is seamless and stress-free.

On day one of your trip, your guides will pick you up from either our joining hotel or the airport in a late-model Mercedes Benz Sprinter. This will be your vehicle for the duration of the trip and your luggage will travel with you in the luggage compartment. On the days we travel between locations we average around three hours of driving. Our trips are carefully planned to give you the most time exploring the outdoors and any travel is always broken up with hikes, activities and coffee/bathroom breaks. You'll bring your small day pack with you inside the vehicle, with just your hiking essentials (jacket, water bottle, sun hat etc) and will be all you will need to carry with you when you are out exploring. Your luggage will stay in the vehicle until we reach our accommodation for the evening. 

If you are joining us on both a Sweet North and a South Island trip, it is a very easy to transition between the South and North Islands. Our national airline Air New Zealand operates several flights a day between Auckland and Queenstown or Christchurch. We leave the flights for you to organise so that you can choose where you would like to spend any extra time between your trips and the time that suits your plans. If you have any questions about the timings for your trips, or you would like any help at all, just ask us!  

The focus of our trips is spending as much time as possible, with our feet on the ground, exploring the great New Zealand outdoors. We’ve carefully crafted our itineraries to cover as much of New Zealand as we can while at the same time minimising the amount of time spent in a vehicle.

On the New Zealand Great Walk Adventure - South, we spend one night in Queenstown, two nights in Te Anau, and one night in Oban on Stewart Island. On the days we travel between locations we average around three hours of driving. We always break up the drives with walks, activities and visits to our favourite small towns. Our guides also make sure to stop every hour or so for a coffee/bathroom break. You’ll always have plenty of opportunities to stretch your legs.

If you’d like to chat more about the specific drive times for your trip, feel free to give us a call here in New Zealand :-).