Upper South Island and the West Coast Travel Guide
- Overview
- Places to Explore
- Sights
- Restaurants
- Hotels
- Entertainment
- Shopping
- Travel Tips
- Features
- Fodor's Choice
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Guidebooks
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Fodor's New Zealand
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Photo: Ian Trafford/Tourism New Zealand
The South Island has been carved by ice and water, a process still rapidly occurring. Here, the mellow green beauty of the North Island is replaced by jagged snowcapped mountains and rivers that sprawl across vast, rocky shingle beds.
Upper South Island and the West Coast Hotels
Bed-and-breakfasts, farm stays, and homestays, all a variation on the same theme, abound in the South Island in some spectacular coastal and mountain environments...read more
Upper South Island and the West Coast Restaurants
In Marlborough visit a winery restaurant—there's no better way to ensure that your meal suits what you're drinking. Salmon and Greenshell mussels...read more
Things To Do in Upper South Island and the West Coast
Explore the best sights, entertainment, and shopping with our top choices and insider tips.
Travel Deals in Upper South Island and the West Coast
- $1048* & up -- New Zealand in 'Fall' from West Coast, R/T Air New Zealand
Upper South Island and the West Coast Experiences
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Mountains and Glaciers: The South Island is piled high with mountains that divide the island lengthwise. You can walk or ski them, or catch a... Read more
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Golden sand, sheltered bays, and granite headlands are washed by clear blue water and fast-moving tides; rocky inshore islands provide habitat... Read more
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Kahurangi is a vast wilderness area of deep river valleys, thick beech forest, and high marble mountains. Helicopters are dwarfed by house-sized... Read more
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Snow-covered peaks and high alpine passes loom over two deep brooding lakes. Dense native forest, swampy wetlands, and tumbling rivers line the... Read more
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Towering granite cliffs and stacks of pancake rocks, dark tannin-stained rivers edged by virgin kahikatea forest, karst landscapes riddled with... Read more
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Gigantic blocks of ice tumbling off the glacier face; ice fields higher up the glacier, their blue ice sparkling in the sunlight; rugged peaks... Read more
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· Forums Trip Reports
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We have just returned from two weeks in the land of the long white cloud although we only saw cloud on two days and rain on one!
We spent a week in the Bay of Islands with the highlight being sailing i Read more -
Hi, all -- since I find other people's trip reports so helpful I've decided to post one of mine. Read more
·New Zealand Forum
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Greetings... we just booked flights; 4 weeks in South Island, in and out of Christchurch in February/March 2014. First trip. We could use lots of advice! We are active 60ish who love to hike, bike, kayak. Read more
