Steal my South Island, New Zealand Itinerary (as someone who plans trips around amazing views)

I went to the South Island for 12 days over Thanksgiving to celebrate my 30th birthday. Thanksgiving was the PERFECT time for this trip. It’s still considered shoulder season since it’s spring, but the weather is fantastic, the lupines are blooming, and all activities are open already.

I had been wanting to experience lupine season as long as I can remember, and taking advantage of the days off over Thanksgiving allowed me to really explore the South Islands deeply. We stayed in 4 different areas over 12 days (which I will detail below) and prioritized outdoor adventures over everything else.

Throughout this blog you will see links to the activities that we did. Please note: I may receive a small commission if you book through any of these links.

Some considerations for New Zealand before we jump in:

You will need a car to explore. And they do drive on the left side of the road.
You will need an international driving permit if your current license is not in English.
There are limited direct flights into Queenstown, so the South Island is not easy to get to. It took us 3 flights and 24 hrs to get there each way (from Seattle).
Give yourself plenty of time for a layover in Auckland (learn from my mistake)

Okay now onto the fun part! How we spent our 12 days:

Day 1 - 4: Te Anau
Day 4 - 7: Wanaka (one of my favorite towns I have ever been to!)
Day 7 - 10: Twizel
Day 10 - 12: Queenstown

DAY 1 - 4: Te Anau

If you are not familiar with Te Anau, it is a good base point to get to the Milford Sound. We always like to take it slow on a big international trip for the first few days and get some rest, and this was the perfect place to do it. We combined day adventures with early nights to prioritize our rest.

Day 1: Arrive in Queenstown and drive to Te Anau

This was a magical drive and the time flew by! I learned while driving that New Zealand has domesticated deer and they are everywhere on this drive. We made some stops along the way to get to Te Anau. Once we arrived, it was time to check into our hotel. We decided to do the glow worm caves in town this night to force ourselves to stay up with the time change, and then went to an early dinner. The glow worm caves were not as magical as what I hear is up on the North Island, but it was still a fun excursion. You can check out more about that tour here.

Day 2: Doubtful Sound

This is a less popular Fjord to explore and that’s what made it magical! There were limited people out on the water and it is much bigger than the other popular Fjord excursion (Milford Sound). Doubtful Sound is the longest Fjord on the South Island. I really enjoyed this excursion because we saw penguins. Since we had a car, we decided to drive to Manapouri ourselves instead of being picked up in Te Anau. You can learn more about this excursion here.

Day 3: The Famous Milford Sound

You can’t go to Te Anau and not explore the Milford Sound! It was just as incredible as everyone said it would be. Again, we had incredible views and saw some penguins (a highlight for the trip). You can check out the tour we did here.

Some considerations for this tour:

Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to drive there. The rounds are one-way in some areas. We did a tour a little later in the morning to ensure to had plenty of time to get there.
Do a tour on a smaller boat. It was much more personal and less overwhelming than some of the larger boat tours we saw.
You can drive yourself to the tour if you are in Te Anau or take a day trip from Queenstown. Just know it will be a VERY long day if you go from Queenstown.
Check out some of the hikes along the way, there are plenty to stop at if you have the time!

Milford Sound is still magical even on a cloudy day

DAY 4 - 7: Wānaka

Day 4: Head to Wānaka

Now it’s time to head to one of my favorite little towns I have ever been to: Wānaka. If you are anything like me and struggle with pronunciations - just know that Wānaka rhymes with Monica. This ride is a few hours and so beautiful the entire time. I thought that I would have to go out of my way to find lupines while I was there and I was shocked to find out that they thrive along highways. There were pockets of just absolutely incredible lupines our entire ride to Wānaka and (then Twizel).

One the day that we drove to town, we decided to hike part of Roy’s Peak. This hike is pretty challenging and the full one climbs over 4,000 feet. We decided to do only about half of it to save time and it still had incredible views.

Day 5: 4×4 tour over Lake Wānaka

This was one of my favorite activities on the whole trip. It was the definition of off-the-beaten path and we truly did not see anyone the entire tour. It starts off by you being picked up by boat and then you are transferred to land owned by a sheep farmer. You climb into the 4×4 and head up to the top of the property. The entire tour is on private property so you don’t run into anyone (except sheep). It’s 360 views of the lake and also they pack you some snacks and drinks during the tour. It was a highlight of my trip! You can find more information about this tour here.

Day 6: Bike ride from Lake Hawea back to Wānaka

We ended up doing a self-guided tour this day to be able to go at our own pace. A bike shop took us on a big bus to the start of the trail (around 30km) and dropped us off. We had as long as we wanted to ride back to town, passing streams, lupines, and lots of beautiful views along the way. If you would like to do this tour, you can check out more information here. This was my second favorite tour we did the whole trip!

DAY 7 - 10: Twizel

Day 7: Drive to Twizel

Another incredible drive! We used this day to take it slow, grocery shop (since there weren’t many places to eat in Twizel) and catch up on some laundry. I highly recommend getting an vacation rental with a kitchen if you plan to spend a few days in Twizel.

Day 8: Mt Cook National Park

I am just in shock by how much you can see for free in New Zealand! The most stunning view of our entire trip was Mt Cook on the Hooker Valley Trail. We arrived mid afternoon on a weekday and it was not too crowded. You could easily extend your trip in Twizel (or closer to the park) to do more hiking, but we opted to explore more of the surrounding areas instead.

Day 9: Lake Tekapo

I had seen this lake years ago on social media due to its crystal blue water and lupines everywhere. And wow it really lived up to the hype! (All of New Zealand does to be honest). We started the day renting kayaks on the lake (which I would potentially skip if it ends up being windy, we were really struggling and it was not even that windy of a day). We had lunch at this amazing fish and chips spot on the water as well.

One thing I wish we had done was a stargazing tour. I guess some of the most incredible stargazing in the world is in Twizel. You can check out this tour if you are interested in stargazing while you are there (just know most tours don’t start until 10pm).

DAY 10 - 12: Queenstown

Day 10: Head to Queenstown

Another beautiful driving day! We stopped by an old mining town, Arrowtown, to break up the drive.

Day 11: Adventure day in town! Onsen pools in the evening

We started the day with the Queenstown gondala and then did ziplining! This was the one tour I did not really enjoy as much as the others, but if you are interested you can check it out here.

After lots of adventure and walking around town, we ended the night in the Onsen Pools right outside of town which was a super nice way to end the trip before the long travels back. I think that spending two nights in Queenstown was the perfect amount of time. I would suggest longer though if you plan to explore more outside of town!

Day 12: Make the trek back home

Best of luck with your long journey back home! Don’t forget to check out the travel lounges on your way back home for some quiet space and food for the long journey.

Let’s wander wiser together.