A Rapid 9 Days in New Zealand’s South Island
A Pure Nature Rush
While New Zealand’s South Island only has about 20% of the country’s population (and far more sheep than people), it is the larger island by land mass and has almost all of the country’s most famous natural landmarks. Among travelers, the South Island is widely considered the more beautiful island. From gorgeous, expansive day hikes, to incredible vineyards, to marvelous (and terrifying) windy cliffside roads, a road trip of the South Island is sure to surprise and awe you every day. If you’re looking for a starting place to plan your road trip, this blog has our 9 day (nine-day) itinerary for the South Island, starting with an early morning ferry drop off in Picton and ending with a 10AM van drop off in Christchurch.
We had originally planned to spend 10 days on the road in the South Island but, because we booked our ferry too late, we found ourselves with one day less than expected. Because of that, this nine-day itinerary is pretty fast moving. While we didn’t have trouble hitting all of the sites we planned, we were quite tired by the end. If you want to move a bit slower than us, you can follow the same itinerary over more days or cut out a couple of stops. I marked the two I think would be the most impactful cuts to give yourself time back.
Our road trip was planned from Auckland to Christchurch, starting in the North Island. Knowing now that the ferries occasionally break, I would recommend instead going from Christchurch to Auckland so that the ferry issues can’t stop you from exploring the South Island. If you’re going the opposite direction, you can just reverse the order of this itinerary. For general advice on planning your campervan trip, this is our blog post for lessons learned on the road.
Day One: Taste Marlborough Region Wines in Renwick
When you get off at the port in Picton, you will be about a 20 minute drive from New Zealand’s most famous wine region: Marlborough. Exploring the area’s many vineyards was one of my absolute favorite things to do during our Road Trip. So you can drink as much wine as you want, you’ll definitely need the full day and night.
I think the best place to base yourself is Renwick. You can freedom camp in this parking lot (which has a public restroom). From there, you can walk about ten minutes south to BIKE2WINE Rentals and get a day bike rental for about $25. The owner will give you a wine map and talk you through the area’s wineries (where you have around 30 vineyards all within biking distance). Our absolute favorite vineyard was Huia - and our second favorite was Framingham. We managed to go to six vineyards and one brewery in six hours - all by bike. Wine tastings are usually about $6 for 5 wines - wildly affordable for such an exquisite region. We would have happily spent a couple of more days exploring the local vineyards.
Prepare for some incredible Sauvignon Blanc - by far the most commonly made wine in the region.
Day Two: Grab Coffee in Nelson and Lunch in Ma Pua Along Your Drive
For our second day, we drove to Abel Tasman National Park - a pretty long day of driving. Along the way, we stopped in Nelson (a popular beach town known for its coffee shops) and Ma Pua (a very small town that was recommended to us for Fish and Chips at The Smokehouse Cafe). Both are incredibly charming, particularly Ma Pua, which delighted us with its boutiques. Plus, the Smokehouse Cafe was the most high value (low cost, amazing food, generous portions) meal that I had in New Zealand - and the only place we’d recommend for fish and chips.
Night Two: Take a Short Hike in Abel Tasman National Park
We got to our DOC campsite (Totaranui Campground) in Abel Tasman around 6PM, leaving us with about 3 hours of sunlight. We hiked about a two hour section (out and back) of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track and enjoyed the daylight we had along the beach.
As a note, Abel Tasman is pretty out of the way and requires a lot of cliffside driving (out and back). If you were to remove any single part of our itinerary to save yourself some driving time or make room for other adventures, this would be the easiest change. The park is stunning (as is the drive) - but so is pretty much everywhere on the South Island. This was the most out of the way stop we made on our South Island tour - and we only had about 6 hours of daylight while there. If you were to skip Abel Tasman, you could still stop at Nelson and Ma Pua.
Day Three, Stop One: Take a Pit Stop at the Pancake Rocks
After Abel Tasman, we had a full day of driving in the direction of Wanaka (our eventual destination). Because it was too far to drive in one day, our third day was just for transit with several remarkable pit stops.
Our first destination was Punakaiki/Paparoa National Park where we stopped at the Pancake Rocks - a set of seaside rock formations with layered stone that is still unexplained scientifically. It has a short nature trail that takes about 30 minutes, allowing you to see the rocks and some stunning seaside views. Within the park, we also stopped at several of the marked viewpoints to admire the cliffs and the sea.
Day Three, Stop Two: Enjoy the Suspension Bridges at Hokitika Gorge
We ended our transit day at Hokitika Gorge - known for its blue water and two large suspension bridges. Because we got there near sunset, there were no other tourists on the trail, leaving both suspension bridges to just us. The entire nature walk took us about 40 minutes - but that’s only because we took lots of pictures.
After the gorge, we drove 30 more minutes toward Wanaka and rested in a lakeside DOC site (Lake Mahinapua DOC). (Another beautiful waterfront campground.)
Day Four, Stop One: Get a Bit Sad at Franz Josef Glacier
On day four, our plan was to drive all the way to Wanaka with a few pit stops en route. Our first was Franz Josef Glacier which, to us, is most noteworthy for the amount of ice that has been lost and the pace of the loss in the last 20 years. (A bleak image of climate change).
Franz Josef has two short nature paths to view points, so the entire pit stop will take less than an hour. The only way to hike the glacier is to heli-hike, something we had no intention of doing.
Day Four, Stop Two: Drive Along the Haast Pass and Take some Stunning Pit Stops
To get to Wanaka, we took Haast Pass - a stunning mountainous road that cuts through a Mount Aspring National Park. Along the way, we ate lunch at Bruce Bay (a surprise stop that has a truly stunning beach front), several waterfalls (that were sign marked along Haast Pass), and stopped at the Blue Pools trail (about a 40 minute out and back hike to a pair of gorgeous blue alpine pools).
Try to give yourself plenty of time for this drive because it is bursting with viewpoints and small trails to stop at.
Night Four: Delight in Wanaka
We ended our fourth day in Wanaka - a truly charming lakefront town. We got there just in time for sunset at the Wanaka Tree, a famous tree that grows in the lakewater against a gorgeous snow-capped mountain landscape. It’s one of those spots that could easily be overrated but isn’t; it’s as delightful as the pictures.
We intended to freedom camp near Wanaka, but we struggled to find a good spot quickly. Instead, we stopped in Albert Town Campground, a budget campsite without electricity or water amenities. It was creek-front, offering a charming morning view of water.
Day Five: Hike Roy’s Peak
For our fifth day, we did the most famous hike on the South Island: Roy’s Peak, a 10 mile out and back with a 4,300 foot elevation gain. By far, this was our favorite hike in New Zealand. The views at the top were just breathtaking - including several alpine lakes, snow capped mountains, and jagged rock formations. The hike up offers no relief from its constant elevation gain - but every step is very worth it.
After our hike, we ate lunch, shopped and grabbed coffee in Wanaka - then headed south for our Milford Sound cruise. We decided not to drive ourselves to Milford Sound because the road is known for being very cliffy and windy, and we didn’t want to attempt it in our van. Instead, we scheduled a day tour out of Te Anau - which would pick us up in a bus. Driving to Te Anau meant that the bus drive time was about 6 hours for the day tour, but many tourists instead opt to base themselves in Queenstown for the day tour (which has a 12 hour bus drive time). It’s a matter of preference on where you want to put your driving (and who you want to drive) - and I think it’s fine to drive to and base yourself either Queenstown or Te Anau. In both cities, you’ll have to get a holiday park spot, so the cost is about the same.
And wherever you go, I strongly recommend taking the Crown Range Scenic Route to get there. For people like me with a fear of heights, it’s scary to drive - but the views are incredible.
Day Six: Take a Milford Sound Cruise
Day six was our luxury rest day - where we took a bus from Te Anau to Milford Sound, a famous fiord known for its steep rock formations and thousands of waterfalls that form after rainfall. On our three hour bus trip, we made several stops at valleys and lakes as view points, then took a two hour cruise in the fiord itself.
To be honest, if you’ve traveled extensively in Southeast Asia (in places like Halong Bay) the fiord will look quite similar to many to the steep rock formations that cut through oceancsapes in those countries. Because of that, for me, Milford Sound was skippable. It added a full day of out and back transit and was pretty expensive. While it was beautiful, I didn’t think it was as distinctive and most of the sites in New Zealand’s South Island.
Day Seven, Stop One: Explore Queenstown
On day seven, we drove back to Queenstown and set up camp in a Holiday Park near the cable car. The downtown of Queenstown is small and can easily be explored in a couple of hours. We walked along the lakefront, drank local beer, grabbed some gelato, and shopped at a few of the local boutiques. After about two hours of walking around, we felt like we had seen what Queenstown had to offer. It’s charming, much like Nelson or Ma Pua, but not a place I think merits a multi-day stay.
Day Seven, Stop Two: Hike Ben Lommond
Most of our time in Queenstown we spent hiking the Ben Lommond Summit trail - an 8 mile out and back with a 4,400 foot elevation gain. We chose to ride the cable car first, saving ourselves some of the elevation instead of hiking the Tiki Trail up. The top of the cable car offers some picturesque views of Queenstown - but they pale when compared to the peak.
Out of all the hikes we did in New Zealand, Ben Lommond was the least maintained, meaning it felt like a true hike and not a nature walk. Near the top, you get expansive views of the Queenstown lake and surround region on one side, and sprawling jagged mountains on the other. It’s a beautiful way to see all of the Queenstown area in one go.
Day Eight: Take in some Stunning Mount Cook Views
Out of all spots in New Zealand, I think my niece was most excited about Mount Cook - New Zealand’s tallest mountain. On the drive from Queenstown, you can stop at Lake Pulaski (a large, royal blue glacier fed lake) on your way to the White Horse Hill DOC site (where all campers stay to explore Mount Cook). The most common viewpoint hike is just off the campsite - Hooker Valley Track - which ends in ice-filled lake with picturesque views of Mountain Cook that litter many New Zealand postcards. The trail is about six miles and has almost no elevation gain, making it one of the most accessible hikes we did.
A true mountaineering hike of Mount Cook takes many days, so almost all campers opt to do the hikes near the DOC site that include viewpoints instead.
Day Nine, STop One: Enjoy a Sunrise Near Mount Cook
On our last day, we stayed around Mount Cook in the morning and hiked to our only sunrise of the trip at Tasman Glacier. While we didn’t see the sun itself rising, the colors of the dawn were exquisite over the mountains. Plus, this was the only hike we bumped into a wild kea - who seemed to enjoy showing off its beautiful colors for the camera.
Day Nine, Stop Two: Take a Pit Stop at Lake Tekapo
For our last day, we drove to Christchurch (where we had to drop off our van). Along the way, we made one nature stop at Lake Tekapo - famous for its purple flowers in springtime. While the flowers weren’t in bloom on our visit, the lake was still beautiful. The town also had a public dump station (where we were able to do a final wastewater dump before drop off) and several cute cafes and restaurants.
Day Nine, Stop Three: Be Charmed by Christchurch
Our roadtrip ended in Christchurch - New Zealand’s second largest city and the only major city on the South Island. Christchurch was by far my favorite of the three major cities for its counter-culture and artist streak, and for the bohemian local business scene.
Christchurch is small and easy to explore in one day. I recommend grabbing food at Riverside Market (a charming food market hall), strolling along the colorful Regent Street, and walking around the area in between.
The next morning, I dropped off my niece at the airport around 4AM and then dropped off the van around 10AM. I had two more nights in Christchurch, which I largely spent exploring the same areas and relaxing after such an action-packed trip. If you have some extra time like I did, I recommend walking through the Botanical Gardens and the Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial. Or, if you’re tired like I was, just relax and enjoy the good local food scene.
