Hi! Seeking advice on a prelim New Zealand South Island itinerary that my dad put together. This forum was very helpful when I was planning my own New Zealand trip last year that I wanted to get advice for him too. He is a 72 year old who is very active and enjoys hiking, sea kayaking, slow paced travel and beautiful scenery. (My itinerary was a bit different as I was travelling with two toddlers so our priorities were not entirely aligned).

Here is the itinerary he put together - any advice is greatly appreciated. He will be travelling alone. He isn’t limited in number of days so if there is somewhere where it makes sense to spend more time or somewhere he should add he could do that too.



Christchurch day 1 , 1 night

Lake tekapo day 2, 1 night

Mount Cook day 3 and 4 - 2 nights

Franz Joseph day 5 and 6 - 2 night

Wanaka day 7 and 8 - 2 night

Queenstown day 9-10-11 - 3 night

Teanu day 12 - 1 night

Doubtful overnight cruise day 13 - 1 night

Milford sound lodge day 14-15 - 2 night

Teanu day 16 - 1 night

Day17 return to Christchurch

Day 18 Fly

really appreciate any insights!!

What he has planned looks good but a few observations and opinions which are of course, necessarily subjective.

I don't think it is necessary to see both Milford and Doubtful Sounds. I would choose one or the other. Doubtful is arguably the more spectacular but more difficult to reach. Milford is easier and could be done as a day trip from Te Anu.

If he did want to add a few days I would take a look at places north of Cchristchurch like Marborough Sound and especially Abel Tasman National Park.

Ont especially fond of Queenstown , too busy for me but there are some stunning sights to visit nearby so it does make a good base..

Much depends upon how he plans to get around. We always used campervans but they are not necessarily suitable for solo travel . A car plus motels or DOC sites would probably work best but do get hime to use Google Maps or rome2rio to check driving times (add 50-100% to the quote times to allow for stopping along the way)

Time of year can make a big difference . Winter is great as there are very few tourists on the road but several time we have had plans scuppered due to snow. Summer can get very busy I believe.