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Glacier Country Tours
The West Coast’s southern region is an awe-inspiring destination, home to stunning glaciers, lush rainforests, and other natural wonders worth exploring.
Franz Josef
Located just a few kilometers away from Franz Josef Glacier, this village is an excellent base for exploration and offers a variety of accommodation options and eateries. Activities in the Franz Josef area include hiking, glacier adventures, rafting, and wildlife encounters.
Fox Glacier
The quaint village of Fox offers a variety of charming accommodations and cafes, as well as a general store. Visitors can partake in thrilling activities such as heli-hikes and glacier walks from here. The picturesque Lake Matheson is located nearby, and the area offers peaceful forest walks.
You´ll ❤️ these great things to see & do…
- Experience the thrill of glacier walking on a guided tour
- Join a fascinating guided tour of the White Heron Colony
- Soak in a soothing hot pool surrounded by green rainforest
- Take a helicopter ride to see the glaciers from the air
- Drive the spectacular road from Haast to Jackson Bay
- Explore the wild Haast River on a river safari.
Useful Glacier Country Resources
The Best Tours & Day Trips from/in Glacier Country
Listing view
For those with a half-day available this popular trip operating out of Fox Glacier, is a great eco-adventure and full of variety and interest. Walkers are kitted out with sturdy leather boots and other equipment, before boarding one of our buses for the short drive through the rainforest and into the glacial valley. This valley was carved out by the ice during past ice ages and shows dramatic evidence of the power of the ice.
Your guide leads you on a walk beside the river bed to the glacier terminus; from here you will walk uphill for around 30 minutes to access the edge of the ice. At this point you are outfitted with instep crampons specially designed for these ice conditions, and you follow the ice steps cut by th....
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This is an informative and leisurely trip to the dynamic face of the glacier which is suitable for children from 5 years. It is here that the Fox River emerges from the ice and where ice collapses are often heard and seen. This trip is for people with limited time or for those who would find the walks onto the glacier too strenuous. Although you will not walk on the glacier your guide will take you to the final resting place of the ice that has traveled 12 kilometers from the base of the Southern Alps, all the way to the river valley floor.
Your guide may take you closer to the ice than the unguided public (if it is safe to do so at the time) and you will have the opportunity to learn the role of the Fox Glacier in shaping its environment. This two hour trip is reasonably easy going. About one and a half hours is spent walking over gentle terrain, up the left hand side of a river valley floor, at a speed that almost anyone can manage. There....
Read more about Fox Trail Terminal Face Walk
Operating out of Fox Glacier, this is an informative and leisurely trip to the dynamic face of the glacier. It is here that the Fox River emerges from the ice and where ice collapses are often heard and seen. This trip is for people with limited time or for those who would find the walks onto the glacier too strenuous.
Although you will not walk on the glacier your guide will take you to the final resting place of the ice that has travelled 13 kilometres from the base of the Southern Alps, all the way to the river valley floor. Your guide may take you closer to the ice than the unguided public (if it is safe to do....
The Franz Josef Glacier Heli Hike Experience
The Franz Josef Glacier Heli Hike is a once-in-a-lifetime experience not to be missed. Your experienced and highly trained helicopter pilot will whisk you up and over the jaw-dropping landscape. After a thrilling scenic flight, high above ice-falls and rugged terrain, you will land high up on the glacier.
Franz Josef Glacier Scenery
Equipped with glacier boots and crampons your highly trained and friendly guide will take you on a two-hour journey through some of the most pristine and awe-inspiring glacier scenery in the world. Your tour guide will choose your route carefully as you go a....
Bus Trip - Alpine Walk - Boat Tour
Depart from Mount Cook Village on a thrilling bus trip that takes you to Tasman Valley. After a 25-minute alpine walk, you will board a unique boat tour like no other. The experience will be truly magical as you will witness the gigantic Tasman Glacier Ice wall surrounded by snow-capped alps, with expert guidance throughout the journey.
Get ready to explore and learn about the ever-changing glacial landscape. You will have the chance to listen to the huge ice-face melting in the peaceful glacial lake. The icebergs of every shape and size periodically tear away from the face of the glacier into the rapidly growing lake, making it o....
The scenic flights from Franz Josef and Fox Glacier locations will take your breath away as you discover that the stunning views of New Zealand's National Parks, glaciers, mountains and lakes are always best from above! The rugged West Coast is hemmed between the Tasman Sea and the imposing Southern Alps, making for spectacular contrasts in the surrounding scenery. The scenic flights fly from both Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier villages, with an operating base situated on the main road of each. A 30 minute drive separates the Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier villages. The perfect opportunity to get up close to the glaciers and touch snow. You'll be captivated as you lift off and fly up and over the Franz Josef Glacier or Fox Glacier and experience the solitude of a landing in this natural alpine wonderland. The fleet consists predominantly of European AS355 Twin Engine Squirrels, and AS350 ....
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Mount Cook & Tasman Glacier Helicopter Tour: A trip to the South Island is incomplete without experiencing a Helicopter & Glacier Tour. Take a breathtaking scenic helicopter flight to explore the highlights of Aoraki Mount Cook National Park and enjoy a snow landing on New Zealand's longest glacier. Get up close to hanging glaciers, blue ice, and deep crevasses, and feel connected to the alpine environment with 600 meters of glacier ice beneath your feet. The tour duration is 35 minutes.
Aoraki/Mount Cook, spanning 70,696 hectares, is the greatest alpine park in New Zealand, with t....
Read more about Mount Cook & Tasman Glacier Helicopter Tour
Aoraki/Mount Cook, spanning 70,696 hectares, is the greatest alpine park in New Zealand, with t....
This short scenic option is the ideal opportunity to touch snow and experience the thrill of a helicopter flight. Sweep through the rugged high country landscape of the Ben Ohau Mountain Range to a landing site on a snow field high in the mountains. Enjoy the fantastic vista from this alpine setting as you look out to the mountains and glaciers, and down into the valleys that were carved out by glaciers centuries ago. Duration - 20 Minutes....