Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo Small Group Tour from Christchurch
Overview
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Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo Tour. This small group, fully-guided day trip combines all of the key highlights in the area with the famous Lake Tekapo, Mt Cook National Park and Tasman Glacier as key highlights. Led by our famously passionate tour guides, notorious for bringing your journey to life by sharing their stories and rich background knowledge and run in modern, comfortable minibuses packed with extras ensuring your comfort and safety.
Description
Highlights:
- Lake Tekapo
- Church of the Good Shepard
- Mt Cook & Aoraki National Park
- Tasman Glacier, Lake Pukaki
Itinerary:
- Christchurch - Your tour starts in the stunning city of Christchurch. As we drive out of the city your guide will not only set the scene for your adventurous day but also point out and guide you past some of the area’s top highlights.
- Canterbury Plains – Departing Christchurch we then make our way through the impressive Canterbury plains with plenty of amazing New Zealand farmland and countryside to see along the way!
- Fairlie Bakehouse (10 mins) - A Classic New Zealand farming town hidden away in Mackenzie. Fairlie goes through some stunning colour changes especially come Autum, this is truly one of the best locations to sit and relax with one of their world-famous meat Pies from the Bakehouse. And this stop is also where we will pick up your lunch to keep you full of energy for the rest of the day.
- Lake Tekapo (5mins) – We head towards the famous blue lakes of Lake Tekapo but to get there first we must go through some impressive alpine passes with amazing views. As we come over the hill to Tekapo you will be stunned by amazing view of the lake.
- Church of the Good Shepherd (10 mins) – Once in the township of Tekapo you will have time to explore the very popular Church of the Good Shepherd, see the Mackenzie Sheep dog and get those Instagram worth shots of Lake Tekapo before we continue to Mt Cook.
- Lake Pukaki (10 mins) – Turning west we begin to enter the Aoraki National Park and Lake Pukaki begins to emerge in front of us. Lake Pukaki is one of the bluest lakes you will ever see and is stunningly framed by the backdrop of Aoraki/Mt Cook and the Southern Alps. We stop for some amazing photos and to just marvel at the sight that we are beholding. It’s not hard to see why many Lord of the Rings scene were filmed nearby and we will point them out for you.
- Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park (2 - 2.5 hours) – Arriving at Mt Cook Village, weather depending, we should get some amazing shots of the mountain itself. At 3724m, Aoraki/Mt Cook is New Zealand’s highest peak, however, the mountain can be viewed without any acclimatisation whatsoever from the village which is just 750m above sea level.
- While in the national park you have 2.5 hours free time to enjoy free walks/hikes or one of the extra optional activities. Some of our recommendations include: Kea Point or Tasman Glacier Walk, Scenic flights (see the region from the air and land on the Tasman Glacier) or Mt Cook Visitor Centre & Hermitage Hotel. Whatever you decide to do we will pick you up and drop you off where you need to go and make sure you are well looked after.
- Christchurch – Unfortunately after an amazing day of sightseeing it is time to return to Christchurch. Please note additional stops are taken into considerations for toilet breaks.
Please note: the Hooker Valley Track is currently CLOSED while the Department of Conservation works on replacing one of the swing bridges. This is expected to be complete in Autumn 2026 so the track will be inaccessible to the public until then.
Cancellation Policy
Terms: Tours will only run if at least 5 people have booked on the tour, we reserves the right to alter the tour due to weather or operational needs.
A full refund will be issued for cancellations made a minimum of 10 days prior to the scheduled departure time.
What‘s Included
Small Group
Fully Guided Tour
Picnic Lunch
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
Options
Reviews
143 reviews
Drive in the countryside
krystens2026,,Jan 15, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
2.00Scenery whilst driving was amazing and driver (many thanks to him) had a thorough knowledge of geology of area which appeared to be a major focus of the trip however trip left little time to complete the hike at mount cook destination as was advertised as we were picking up and dropping off other guests leaving and joining bus along the way -majority of the trip was the travel to get to Mt Cook, and once there only had a quick window to go for a short walk- bus seating was quite narrow and squashed in - was more of a sedentary informative trip as opposed to getting out and about So probably not as adventurous as what I thought by reading the kiwi journeys advertised details of trip
This trip requires a clear day.
Jane N,,Jan 15, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
3.00Bad weather put a damper on the experience, literally and figuratively. I'm sure the mountain and the glacier would have looked spectacular, had they been visible.
Great Experience
Venture227800,,Jan 12, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Very good guide and driver - Rosie. She was passionate and probably so far the best tour guide we had in our 2wks in Newzealand. She was punctual and flexible. She was able to provide us lots of information about NZ. Definitely worth going for if you don;t mind long day like 12-13 hours.
Amazing Views, Great Tour Guide
wilimenac,,Jan 9, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00I had a great time on this tour. Our guide Mike was extremely attentive, professional and kind. For a full day 13 hour tour, he drove and provided tour commentary along the way, managed pick up and drop offs for the various passengers in our group, handled lunch distribution, and a few rest stops along the way. The sightseeing at Mt Cook and Lake Tekapo was amazing to say the least. Picturesque, the air quality fabulous. The whole tour kept to the schedule, very on point. Thank you for taking us on a great experience.
Had a great time on this...
Billie C,,Jan 9, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Had a great time on this full day tour. Mike our guide was excellent, he was kind and gave the best commentary while driving all day. Pick up/Drop off was quite convenient. The tour sites were amazing to see, and our guide made it easy for us to sightsee in each location.
Amazing day
jeffsharonsmith,,Jan 4, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had an incredible day! Our tour guide and driver, Sha. Was informative, funny and most of all a safe driver. At the Lake Tekapo stop- only 1 toilet so recommend if you need to go- do that first. We had to wait an extra 10 minutes til everyone went through. Only suggestion to tour operators- a longer stop at Lake Putaki would have been nice. Thanks again for great day of sights, memories and stories.
Excellent Experience!
rominafR8628YM,,Jan 4, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00What a perfect day! The tour was well organised, the food great and the guide amazing. The timeframes were quite tight at each location but I was happy with the entire experience and have already booked another trip 😊
Five star trip all the way to Mt Cook
Yiyang P,,Jan 4, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00We really enjoyed it and the tourist guy is very nice and shared lot of information and made the whole trip very enjoyable and awesome experience
Natalie was a cheeky but lovely kiwi
lilynancyf,,Jan 1, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Our driver/guide Natalie was knowledgeable and funny and her stories educated and entertained us. The 12 hour day flew by. It was a lovely day of beautiful scenery.
A wonderful tour! Thank...
Courtney S,,Dec 30, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00A wonderful tour! Thank you for a great day out, the sights were stunning! Would definitely do this tour again
From A$263.56
Christchurch, New Zealand
- Free cancellation
Reserve Now & Pay Later - available
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