christchurch-1 day
tranzalpine, then rent a car and drive to Fox glacier-1 day
Fox/FJ glaciers-1 day
drive to Queenstown-2 days(where to spend a night?) or drive in 1 day?
Queenstown-3-4 days(Milford fjord bus, cruise and fly back with Real Jorneys, gondola, lake cruise, Dart river safaris trip).

Should I drive from Fox to Queenstown in 1 day and use last 2 days for return to Christchurch through Cook Mt. and Lake Tekapo?

There aren't many places to spend the night between Fox and Queenstown other than Haast, Wanaka and Cromwell and once you're as far as Cromwell, you might as well keep going.

The drive from Fox to Queenstown can easily take six hours or more with stops, but it's certainly doable in a day if you get an early start. Does your international flight depart from Christchurch? Assuming it does, and you don't want to drive back to CH, you can fly from Queenstown to CH to catch your flight.

I always recommend at least two nights at the glaciers because the West Coast gets alot of rain and activities are often affected. There's plenty to keep a person busy if you enjoy walking - lots of nice walks in the area.

Lake Tekapo is definitely a nice stop. Most people just pass through, but we spent three nights there and found plenty to keep us busy (we're walkers). Mt. Cook is also nice, but often shrouded in clouds. It's easy to do in a couple of hours, no need to stay there unless you've got specific activities planned.

Thank you for your response.

I hiked the glaciers in Alaska. Are they much different in NZ?

Also, if you had a choice would you prefer extra 2 days in Queenstown for activities I mentioned(Dart river safari, lake cruise) or would you use these 2 days for return to CH through Cook Mt and Tekapo?

What activites would you reccomend for Cook Mt. and Tekapo? Is it worth it going there in winter?

I can fly back to US from either Queenstown or CH.

Also which stops you'd suugest between Fox and Queenstown.

Thanx in advance.

Hi gagash,
We didn't get to Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook, but I think the following itinerary would be great:

Day 1: CHC
Day 2: Drive CHC- Franz Josef or Fox
Day 3: Franz Josef or Fox
Day 4: Drive FJ or Fox to Queenstown
Day 5: Queenstown
Day 6: Queenstown
Day 7: either Doubtful Sound overnight cruise OR Milford Sound- Te Anau
Day 8: back to Queenstown- fly out this evening or the next.

You will have a great time!!

Never been to Alaska (it's on my list), so can't make a comparison, sorry.

There's so much to see and do in and around Queenstown, that I'd probably use that extra time there. The Dart River Safari is excellent, and you can easily spend that extra time in Glenorchy walking some of the tracks. It's a gorgeous area.

Activities in the village of Mt Cook are limited - mostly nearby walks. The weather can be really iffy. Personally, I wouldn't go out of my way to visit the village of Mt Cook, but easy for me to say, as I've been there.

Activities in Lake Tekapo are also somewhat limited - mostly walks, helicopter trips to Mt Cook (up high) and nearby scenic drives. Better weather though.

Lake Tekapo is beautiful, but so is Lake Wakatipu, which is right there in Queenstown.

Is it worth it in winter? Absolutely! NZ is gorgeous year round. We usually visit in September. It's a good time for us - quiet, fewer tourists, lower rates, etc. Yes, it can get chilly - one year we nearly froze to death in Lake Tekapo but we also had some gorgeous, crisp, sunny winter days on the same trip.

For stops between Fox and Queenstown I'd highly recommend the Blue Pools and Thunder Creek Falls. Also suggest a stop in Wanaka (lunch, maybe?) and perhaps even a stop in Cromwell, where you'll find some nice wineries (Wanaka and Queenstown also have wineries).

If you enjoy wine there is Rippon Vineyard just out of Wanaka. They have one of the best vineyard views you will find. It looks over the vines ( bare at that time of year ) to the beautiful lake with snow capped mountains in the distance. The wines are good too.
We stayed at Lake Tekapo for a night and it was cold but beautiful scenery across the lake and once again snow capped mountains.
We went on the Dart River and really enjoyed it.

Keep in mind that July is winter and the days are short. The problem we found, especially on the west coast) is that the roads get really icy. We really had to plan to be where we were going by 6pm at the latest and could hit the road much before 8 or 8:30. In fact, the sun gets over the mountains and starts the dry the roads so late in Fox Glacier that we ended up leaving there about 9:30. We actually still made it to Te Anau by about 6:30, but we had to push it more than we wanted to. Queenstown is close, so you should be fine, especially if you leave Fox Glacier earlier than we did (but not much earlier to be safe).

From Christchurch on the train and then to Fox Glacier took us every bit of daylight we had. We did stop in Hokitika for lunch and a little browsing for jade, but that was it. We got to Fox Glacier just as the sun was disappearing and the roads were getting treacherous. We splurged a bit in Fox Glacier and stayed at the Te Waheke Inn. Very nice. Only one other person staying there and the owner invited all three of us to the lounge for some wine and conversation in front of the fire. Great breakfast the next morning also - all included.

The South Island is absolutely stunning. You will love it!