Dear travelers! How long would you recommend to stay at Fiordland National Park? Spending 7 days at South Island in December. Is it possible to camp over the park? Is driving challenging over there? Would appreciate your response! Thank you!

Kireina -

Take a look at this site:

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...getting-there/

Most first time visitors are content to visit either Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound. This can be done as a VERY long day trip from Queenstown or as a shorter trip from Te Anau.

I suggest at least three nights in the area, especially if you enjoy hiking and water activities. I personally prefer Te Anau as a base.

Is it possible to camp?

Yes. More here:http://www.fiordland.org.nz/where-to-stay/camping/

Is driving a challenge? It can be. Roads are narrow and winding. Weather can wreak havoc, but less so in the summer months, so December shouldn't be an issue, other than potential rain, which is a NZ constant.

Are you comfortable driving on the left? If not, you might want to leave the driving to the experts and consider bus transport.

Where else to you plan to stay? Where are you flying into?

Seven days is a very short time for the South Island. I suggest you take a good look at a drive distance/time calculator and go from there.

http://www.aatravel.co.nz/main/time-...calculator.php

Dear Menlq8,

Thank you for your response! Appreciate you advise!
This is my full itinerary. I may change it - my flight is in Late November - beginning of December - like planning ahead.
so..
Day 1 Auckland
Day 2 Auckland - Rotorua
Day 3 Rotorua
Day 4 Rotorua - Tangariro Park
Day 5 Tangariro park - Wellington
Day 6 Wellington - transfer to Picton, dring to Paparoa
Day 7 Paparoa
Day 8 Paparoa - Fox Glacier
Day 9 Fox Glacier
Day 10 Fox Glacier - Wanaka
Day 11 Wanaka - Fiorland
Day 12 Fiorland
Day 13 Fiorland - Queenstown
Day 14 Queenstown - back to US

Yes, I know that 14 days is not enough for such an ambitious trip, but I cannot make it for longer

I`ve been to Iceland before and did glacier walk. If I`m not planning to have a helicopter flight over the glacier - would you recommend to sacrifice one day at Fox Glacier and spend one extra day at Fiorland instead? Or, maybe Wanaka?

Regarding driving.. I live in US and has never driven on the other side of the road.. I still was thinking about renting a small car at the south island, because it`s less inhabited, and driving a bus on the north island. Or, even a small camper (south island). Are there reliable renting companies you can recommend? I`ve heard of Jucy, but I don`t think they have a location at Picton..

Would appreciate your advice and thank you for your time!

We like Apex for rental cars.

Day 6 s full on - it's a 4.5 hour drive from Picton to Punakaiki (which is what I assume you mean by Paparora) - w/o stops. It's also a very winding drive, along narrow roads which will probably slow down a left side driving newbie. Unless you plan on hiking in the area, which I highly recommend you do, a full day here could find you without much to do. Pancake Rocks takes about 45 minute to see, then there's a few short coastal walks (such as the Truman Track)), the I site (visitors center), a café, a pub, then there's....well, walking tracks.

The fact that you refer to Punakaiki by its National Park makes me think you're there to see the park, yes? In which case a full day here makes perfect sense.

What time does the ferry arrive into Picton?

I see you're only planning one night in Wanaka, which seems a shame as you're at the doorstep of Mt Aspiring Nat'l Park, which is absolutely gorgeous. So, if you were to sacrifice a night in Punakaiki, I'd put it here.

To see the park, you'd need at least two nights there, which is one full day.

I always recommend at least two nights at the glaciers, which is only one full day, so no, I'd not recommend you sacrifice a day there. Having said that, as you'll be coming from Punakaiki, which is a 3:15 drive w/o stops, you will have at least a full afternoon to work with, assuming you get an early start and the weather gods are in a good mood.

There are loads of walks in/around Fox (Westland Nat'l Park) and you can walk to the terminal face of both Franz Josef and Fox AND walk around Lake Matheson in a well planned FULL single day. With just half a day, you could walk around Lake Matheson, spend some time at the café/shop there and walk to the terminal face of Fox and/or explore some of the tracks in the area. Lake Matheson is best viewed in the early morning though, on a clear day, so you can see views of Mt Cook reflected in the lake.

Where exactly in Fiordland are you referring to? Te Anau? Manapouri? Knobs Flat? Milford Sound?

I'm also curious what you expect to do at FNP. It's not like Yosemite, where you drive to a campsite and pitch a tent.