Day trips, scenic flights, heli-hikes and stargazing, grouped by where they go. Tours that go into the Alps come first.
Most Southern Alps tours are day trips from Queenstown or Christchurch, flights and heli-hikes from Aoraki/Mount Cook, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, or stargazing around Lake Tekapo. New Zealand’s national parks are free to enter, so no tour price hides a park ticket. The NZ$100 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy is paid with your visa or NZeTA, not on a tour. Hut and campsite fees and DOC car-park charges, such as at White Horse Hill, are separate. Some tours include lunch and some do not, so read what each listing covers before you pay. The tours are sold through GetYourGuide and run by local operators. If you book through these links, this site earns a commission at no extra cost to you.
Full days to Aoraki/Mount Cook from Queenstown, Christchurch or Lake Tekapo, with time for the Hooker Valley Track or the Tasman Glacier viewpoint. Check how long each one gives you in the valley.
12 hoursPickup included
A minibus day from Queenstown for up to 15 people that crosses Lindis Pass, stops at Lake Pukaki for the view of Aoraki, then gives you about three hours to walk the full Hooker Valley Track to Hooker Lake.
from$157
Check availability12 hoursPickup included
The same Queenstown-to-Mount Cook run with a looser plan: about three hours in the national park where the guide drops you at the walk or scenic flight you pick and collects you afterwards.
from$157
Check availability13 hoursPickup included
The most-reviewed Mount Cook day from Christchurch: a coach via Geraldine and the Church of the Good Shepherd at Tekapo to a Lake Pukaki stop and a walk to the Tasman Glacier and its iceberg lake, with lunch included.
from$145
Check availability13 hoursPickup included
A small-group Christchurch day with lunch included that stops at Tekapo and Pukaki and lets you choose between the Hooker Valley Track and the Tasman Glacier walk once you reach the park.
from$152
Check availability8.5 hours
The cheap way into the park if you are staying in Tekapo: a year-round shuttle from the village supermarket car park with time at Peter's Lookout, the Tasman Glacier viewpoint and the Hooker Valley Track, walked on your own.
from$95
Check availability8 hoursPickup included
A small plane flies you from Queenstown past the Mount Cook summit ridge and the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, then leaves you up to five hours in Mount Cook village before the flight back.
from$439
Check availabilityHelicopter and ski-plane flights from Aoraki/Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo, most with a snow or glacier landing, and a guided hike on the Tasman Glacier.
3 hours
Fly from Mount Cook onto a remote part of the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand's longest, and spend up to two hours on the ice with a guide before the helicopter brings you back.
from$558
Check availability25 minutes
The cheapest helicopter time at Mount Cook: a short flight up the Tasman Valley and over a glacier lake to an alpine landing facing Aoraki, with commentary from the pilot.
from$196
Check availability45 minutes
One 45-minute trip that uses both a ski plane and a helicopter, with a landing on the Tasman Glacier; the operator points to this one if you want a snow landing guaranteed year-round.
from$278
Check availability1 hour
A fixed-wing loop from Tekapo airport with a window seat each, over the turquoise lakes to Aoraki and the Tasman Glacier, then across the Main Divide to the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers.
from$314
Check availabilityHeli-hikes and scenic flights onto the West Coast glaciers, plus two guided valley walks for a cheaper look at the ice from below.
4-8 hours
The classic Franz Josef heli-hike: a helicopter lands you on the glacier for up to two and a half hours of guided walking among blue ice, crevasses and ice formations, with boots, crampons and waterproofs supplied.
from$499
Check availability4 hours
Fox Glacier's own heli-hike: a scenic flight up the glacier, then up to three hours on the ice with a local guide, with boots, crampons, poles and wet-weather gear provided.
from$476
Check availability25 minutes
The most-reviewed glacier flight on the West Coast: a short helicopter trip over the ice pinnacles and crevasses of Franz Josef Glacier with an alpine landing.
from$222
Check availability35 minutes
A longer flight out of Franz Josef that covers Franz Josef Glacier and then either Fox or the Tasman Glacier on the Mount Cook side, with about ten minutes on the snow.
from$279
Check availability3 hours
A low-cost way to see the glacier without flying: a walk up the glacier valley through podocarp rainforest with one guide per ten guests, rain gear and boots if needed, and a tea and cookie break.
from$65
Check availability4 hoursPickup included
A gentle guided walk through glaciated rainforest to views of Fox Glacier and Mount Tasman, with transport from Franz Josef or pickup in Fox Glacier village.
from$64
Check availabilityNight-sky tours in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, at Lake Tekapo, on Mount John and near Twizel. The weather decides the night, so check each operator’s policy for cloud.
1.5 hours
The top-rated Tekapo night tour: an astronomy guide, a 9.25-inch telescope, blankets, hot chocolate and marshmallows by a fire bowl, and photos of you under the stars to take home.
from$72
Check availability75 minutes
The cheapest guided stargazing at Tekapo, run on a private 50,000-acre farm away from the town lights with a 14-inch telescope for deep-sky objects.
from$55
Check availability105 minutes
The only listing that takes you up to the Mount John Observatory summit at night, with high-powered telescopes, an observatory dome and a heavy cold-weather jacket on loan.
from$133
Check availability75 minutes
A stargazing session in Twizel, inside a Dark Sky Reserve, led by a qualified astronomer with a laser pointer tour of the constellations and deep-sky views through a large telescope.
from$67
Check availabilityDay trips from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass, two of them with one leg on the TranzAlpine. Until about 30 November 2026 the train itself runs only between Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass.
10 hoursPickup included
Ride the TranzAlpine from Christchurch up to Arthur's Pass, then come back by road with the guide via the Devils Punchbowl waterfall, the Otira Viaduct lookout, Lake Pearson and the Castle Hill boulders.
from$213
Check availability10 hoursPickup included
The reverse of the usual plan: drive up via Castle Hill with a guide, walk to Devils Punchbowl or look round Arthur's Pass village, then ride the TranzAlpine back down to Christchurch, with lunch included.
from$239
Check availability10 hoursPickup included
The budget Arthur's Pass day with no train ticket: a road trip on the Great Alpine Highway past Castle Hill, the Waimakariri Gorge, Lakes Pearson and Lyndon and the Otira Viaduct, lunch included.
from$126
Check availabilityFlights over Mount Aspiring National Park from Wānaka and Queenstown, a guided Rob Roy Glacier hike and a fly-in walk and jet-boat day from Makarora.
35 minutes
A helicopter flight from a hangar 25 minutes out of Wanaka towards Mount Aspiring National Park, with a snow landing on the Isobel or Tyndall glacier; it needs at least two paying adults to run.
from$303
Check availability1 hour
An hour-long helicopter loop right round Mount Aspiring and over its blue-ice glaciers and waterfalls, from the same family-run operator as the shorter Wanaka glacier flight.
from$401
Check availability8 hoursPickup included
A guided day on the Rob Roy Track in Mount Aspiring National Park: a drive up the Matukituki Valley, a swing bridge, about 2.5 hours up through beech forest, and lunch facing the glacier.
from$246
Check availability4 hours
Fly from Makarora into the remote Siberia Valley in Mount Aspiring National Park, walk about 7 km out on your own, and ride a jet boat back down the Wilkin and Makarora rivers.
from$360
Check availability50 minutesPickup included
The Southern Alps from a Queenstown base: a helicopter from the airport over Mount Aspiring's forests and icefalls with a snow landing among the glaciers of the national park.
from$482
Check availabilityA helicopter flight over the Remarkables and a snow sightseeing trip to Coronet Peak, both from Queenstown. Neither goes into the Southern Alps.
20 minutesPickup included
A short helicopter hop over the Queenstown basin with a landing on the Remarkables spur looking across to Coronet and Cecil peaks, with bus transfers from selected pickup points.
from$189
Check availability4 hoursPickup included
A private trip from your Queenstown accommodation up to the Coronet Peak ski field for time in the snow, with sledging, gondola rides and food at the cafe paid on the day.
from$200 per group (up to 6)
Check availabilityGetYourGuide’s own live list for the Southern Alps. It mixes in a few products from outside the range, such as Christchurch balloon flights and a Hokitika zipline, so check each itinerary.
Prices are in US dollars and, with ratings, were checked on GetYourGuide on 12 November 2026. Most New Zealand operators price in NZ dollars, so the US figure moves with the exchange rate. This site does not run the tours, take payments or handle bookings: that is GetYourGuide and the local operators.