Mt. Cook Tours from Christchurch

Written by Viator, December 2010

RECOMMENDATION Keywords:
Nature & Wildlife, Walking/Hiking, Mountain, National Park

On New Zealand’s South Island, Aoraki (Mt. Cook) soars up to 3,750 meters (12,315 feet) over the country’s Southern Alps. Australasia’s highest mountain, it’s one of the most popular day trip excursions from Christchurch, 330km (205 miles) away to the northeast.

The Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park is a glacier-filled wonderland, challenging mountain climbers with its snow-covered peaks and providing visitors with picture-perfect vistas of alpine lakes and mountains at every turn.

The park has 72 glaciers, more than 140 peaks over 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) and 22 mountains exceeding 3,000 meters (9,840 feet), but Mt. Cook remains the most iconic crest.

Guided walks take in stunning views of Mt. Cook, the Tasman Glacier and lakes, and scenic flights provide breathtaking aerial sightseeing and the thrill of landing on the snow.

The park’s main tourist center is Mt. Cook’s base camp, Mount Cook Village, where the historic Hermitage Hotel is a local landmark and an essential stop for lunch or cozy fireside drinks.

Day trips to Mt. Cook from Christchurch take you to the Tasman Glacier to climb the moraine, to the Hermitage for lunch, and offer the option of an alpine flight.

En route to Mt. Cook while traveling through the stunning New Zealand scenery of the Canterbury Plains, Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, the tour includes stops to sample local produce and visits the high country town of Fairlie for afternoon tea.

You can also visit Mt. Cook from Christchurch en route to Queenstown, or spend three or four days exploring the South Island’s highlights including Mt. Cook, Franz Josef Glacier, Greymouth and Queenstown.

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All Mt. Cook Tours from Christchurch Reviews

Reply by Viator, January 2013
Doing what: Christchurch to Queenstown via Mount Cook One-Way Tour

Fantastic tour - driver gave lots of info all the way, stunning scenery - absolutely worth doing this instead of the bus straight there!!!

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Reply by Viator, May 2011
Doing what: Christchurch to Queenstown via Mount Cook One-Way Tour

For a bus tour, this is the most convenient way to visit Queenstown via Mount Cook. The bus stopped at a few nice spots for us to take photos on the way to Mount Cook and Queenstown. The best part of the tour was definitely the helicopter flight at Mount Cook. The flight is fairly expensive but it is definitely worth the money. We got the chance to get off the flight and play at the top of the snow mountain. If you want to save money, it is better to get the discount voucher at the airport.

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Reply by Viator, July 2010
Doing what: Explore Mount Cook from Christchurch

Great way to see a bit of countryside. Long day but really interesting. Geoff, our driver, had great knowledge of the areas we travelled through. Even though low cloud stopped us from directing viewing Mt Cook I still felt that we had value for money.

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