Hello all,

This October we have just four full days to spend in New Zealand. We realize it’s not much, but hope to return some day for a longer holiday. We are flexible as to what city we fly into and out of, and we would be renting a car to drive around.

We have come up with some options for how to spend our brief visit. Our aim is to see as much “wow” scenery as possible. If you were in our shoes, which of the following routes would you choose? What would be best for a quick trip, and what might be better saved for a longer future trip? Would you make any amendments? (Oh, and we know these are all rather ambitious...but we'd be grateful to know if any are simply unfeasible.)

Thanks for your insights!
Kaitlyn

Fjordland and glaciers
Day 1: Queenstown-Milford Sound
Day 2: Milford Sound-Queenstown
Day 3: Queenstown-Fox Glacier
Day 4: Fox Glacier-Greymouth-Christchurch (take Arthur’s Pass train)

Mountains, beaches and wineries
Day 1: Christchurch-Greymouth (via Arthur’s Pass train)
Day 2: Greymouth-Abel Tasman National Park
Day 3: Abel Tasman National Park-Nelson
Day 4: Nelson-Christchurch

Mountains, lakes and glaciers
Day 1: Christchurch-Wanaka
Day 2: Wanaka-Fox Glacier
Day 3: Fox Glacier-Greymouth
Day 4: Greymouth-Christchurch (via Arthur’s Pass train)

Beaches, wineries and spa
Day 1: Wellington-Marlborough Sound
Day 2: Queen Charlotte Trek
Day 3: Drive down east coast, with stop at wineries
Day 4: Hanmer Springs-Christchurch

Christchurch with day trips
Day 1: Arthur’s Pass
Day 2: Hanmer Springs
Day 3: Waipara wine region
Day 4: Christchurch

It's very difficult to say which is the better itinerary, it really depends on what YOU want to see.

I wouldn't consider the last itinerary, you only have 4 days which really isn't too long and you'll waste time backtracking. In four days you'll be able to see more on a circular route than trying to make day tours from Christchurch. Also, Christchurch doesn't have much to offer a tourist and I wouldn't spend a whole day there (if you must do this itinerary then I'd add Kaikoura on day 4).

If you are looking for one place to spend the entire 4 days, I'd choose Queenstown.

Assuming you the 4 days do include arrival and departure days I'd do this:-

Day 1 Christchurch to Greymouth (Tranalpine), to Franz Josef/Fox Glacier
Day 2 Franz Josef/Fox Glacier to Queenstown (stop in Arrowtown if possible).
Day 3 Queentown to Milford Sound to Queenstown
Day 4 Queenstown

or:-

Day 1 Christchurch to Greymouth (Tranzalpine) side trip Punakiaki (sp), overnight Greymouth.
Day 2 Greymouth to Franz Josef/Fox Glacier to Queenstown (stop in Arrowtown if possible)
Day 3 same as above.
Day 4 same as above.

These itineraries can also be done in reverse, however, since the transalpine is daily from Christchurch to Greymouth to Christchurch, I'd prefer to travel in the morning from Christchurch then you can arrange you own schedule for the rest of the day instead of watching the time if you need to depart in the early afternoon from Greymouth to Christchurch.

Honestly the west coast of the south island is very scenice, you will miss out on the mirror lakes etc, if you try to cover too much travel in one day. Four days isn't enough to see much. I've been to all the places you mention except Abel Tasman park. To me the must sees are the west coast, fjordland and the glaciers. The rest of the south island is nice, however, the sights don't compare to the the west coast/fjordland and glaciers.

Hope this helps.

On such a short trip I'd do only Queenstown and Milford Sound. IMO an overnight is essential to Te Anau to enable you to really appreciate the drive to Milford - it was one of our favourites on SI. I'd land in Queenstown, pick up a car, drive to Te Anau, check into a B&B then the next day do the drive to Milford. Then head back to Queenstown for 2 nights and spend the next 2 days exploring some amazing wineries near Queenstown - Mount Difficulty, Amisfield and others.

Ive been to NZ 5 or 6? times, and For me the best wow scenery is...

Queenstown & Glenorchy
Milford Sound & the road to Milford Sound
Mt Cook and the aquamarine glacial Lakes--Tekapo & Pukaki

The glaciers and Arthur's pass are secondary. The glaciers I think take a bit more time to experience and weather on the west coast can be dodgy. Maybe leave them for another trip.

I agree with hobbes' suggestion. The drive to Milford Sound from Te Anau is magnificent, and shouldn't be rushed. If you spend two nights in Te Anau, you can spend a fairly relaxed day driving to Milford and back, enjoying a cruise on the Sound. This what I did with my wife and kids in 2004, except we spent an extra day in Te Anau to do the glowworm cruise on the lake.

I agree with hobbes and Ralph. On the assumption that you will come back again to see some of the other scenic attractions on offer, I suggest that you focus on the Queenstown/Te Anau/Milford area. You would only be scratching the surface to try to do more.
Rob.

Thank you, EVERYONE, for the fantastic advice! I so appreciate you pointing out not only what we should do, but also what we should leave out. mlgb, the glacier tip was great -- I had read somewhere else that the glaciers required more time and could be iffy depending on weather, but I wasn't sure, so thanks for clearing that up!

Given your suggestions, we will fly in and out of Queensland and really focus on Te Anau/Milford Sound/Doubtful Sound area, maybe with a scenic flight to see the Mt. Cook area and lakes. Given that this is part of our honeymoon, I'm relieved we can spend most of our time relaxing and not spending half our days driving!

Thanks, once again, for sharing your experiences to help us maximize our short stay.

err-Queenstown! (wrong country...)