South Island itinerary: 10 and 14 days by road, with the drives in between

Two South Island road trips laid out night by night: Christchurch, Lake Tekapo, Aoraki/Mount Cook, Wānaka, Milford Sound and Queenstown, then the glaciers on the longer loop. With honest drive times and what to book.

The short answer

For ten days, drive one way from Christchurch to Queenstown through Lake Tekapo, Aoraki/Mount Cook, Wānaka and Te Anau for Milford Sound, and fly home from Queenstown. For fourteen, make it a loop: continue from Queenstown over the Haast Pass to the glaciers on the West Coast, then cross Arthur’s Pass back to Christchurch. Drive no more than three or four hours on most days, stop wherever the view asks you to, and book Milford Sound and your beds before anything else in summer.

Where to land, and one way or a loop

Most South Island trips from India begin in Christchurch. Singapore Airlines flies there daily all year, and other routings connect through Auckland or Australia. Queenstown’s international flights go only to Australia, but it has direct daily flights to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, which makes it a natural place to finish a one-way trip before connecting home.

One way or a loop is the real decision. The ten-day route below runs one way, which means no backtracking, but rental companies may charge to drop a car in a different city, so ask before you book. The fourteen-day route is a loop back to Christchurch: it costs four extra days and gains the West Coast, its rainforest and its glaciers, and it returns the car to where you collected it.

Driving is on the left, as in India. What you need to drive on an Indian licence is covered in our International Driving Permit guide, and our comparison of Australia and New Zealand explains why New Zealand is best seen by car.

Ten days: Christchurch to Queenstown

Spend the first night in Christchurch to recover from the flight, then drive south-west to Lake Tekapo, about three hours. Tekapo sits inside the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, established in 2012, so its night sky is the reason to stay rather than pass through. The next morning it is little over an hour to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village. Walk the Hooker Valley Track that afternoon or the next morning: the Department of Conservation gives it as 10 km and three hours return, over swing bridges to a glacier lake below New Zealand’s highest peak. The Tasman Glacier View track is shorter, about 30 minutes return with more than 300 steps.

Mount Cook to Wānaka is about two and a half hours. Give Wānaka two nights for the lake and a slower day, then take the Crown Range road over to Queenstown, about an hour. From Queenstown, drive two hours to Te Anau and sleep there, so Milford Sound is a two-hour morning drive rather than a round trip of eight hours or more from Queenstown. After the fiord, return to Queenstown for the last nights and fly home from there.

Fourteen days: the loop through the glaciers

Keep the ten-day route as far as Queenstown, but leave Queenstown on day ten heading north over the Haast Pass to the West Coast. It is a long day, at least five hours of driving to Franz Josef without stops, and the road through Mount Aspiring country and down the coast is worth taking slowly. Break it at Wānaka if you have not already stayed there.

Give Franz Josef two nights. Walk the valley track towards the glacier; the Department of Conservation is clear that you cannot go further on foot, and that a helicopter is the only safe way onto the ice. A heli-hike is the way to stand on it, if the weather lets the helicopters fly. Then drive back to Christchurch over Arthur’s Pass, about five hours, with a stop at the Devils Punchbowl waterfall walk in Arthur’s Pass National Park. If you would rather not drive that leg, the TranzAlpine train runs daily between Greymouth and Christchurch, except on Christmas Day, though you would then need to drop the car at Greymouth, which may carry a one-way fee.

The drives, and how long they really take

New Zealand’s roads are good but narrow, and many bridges are one lane. Times below are from regional tourism bodies and the Department of Conservation, without stops. In practice, add half as much again: you will stop at every lookout, and you should.

The Milford Road, and why to sleep in Te Anau

Milford Sound is the day most people remember, and the road there needs planning. The Department of Conservation’s advice to drivers is to fill the tank in Te Anau before setting off. The single-lane Homer Tunnel, 1.2 km long, runs on traffic lights in the summer peak with waits of up to 20 minutes, and snow chains may be required in the colder months. Leave early, drive steadily, and treat the stops along the way, the Mirror Lakes and the viewpoints above the valleys, as part of the day rather than delays.

Book the Milford Sound cruise ahead in summer, and keep the next day flexible if you can. Fiordland’s weather changes fast, and a day of heavy rain fills the fiord with waterfalls, which is a sight of its own. New Zealand’s government has proposed charging international visitors for access to some conservation sites, including Milford Sound, but at the end of September 2026 no charge was in force.

Visas, the visitor levy and the season

Indian passport holders need a Visitor Visa. Immigration New Zealand’s applications moved fully online from 1 October 2026, a change our Travel News desk covered. The fee starts at NZ$441, and most visitors also pay the NZ$100 International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy with the application. The New Zealand destination guide covers the visa in full.

December to February is the South Island’s summer, with the longest days and every road and walk open, and it is when these routes are at their best. It is also the busiest season, so book beds, the car and Milford early. March and April are quieter; winter changes the routes entirely, with snow on the passes and chains on the Milford Road.

Turning a route into a trip

Our South Island in ten nights takes a coastal variation of the ten-day route, and the Alps and glaciers in eight nights is a shorter version of the loop. See every New Zealand itinerary; each can be arranged as a self-drive with the car, beds and Milford cruise booked for you.

Sources

• Getting here and around the Mackenzie — Mackenzie Region Tourism
• Driving to Wānaka — Lake Wānaka Tourism
• Getting to Fiordland — Fiordland New Zealand (Regional Tourism Organisation)
• Getting here: Glacier Country — Glacier Country Tourism
• Hooker Valley Track — Department of Conservation
• Tasman Glacier View Track — Department of Conservation
• Franz Josef Glacier / Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere walk — Department of Conservation
• Milford Road: tips for drivers — Department of Conservation
• International visitor access charges (consultation) — Department of Conservation
• TranzAlpine — Great Journeys New Zealand (KiwiRail)
• Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve — Dark Sky Project
• Visitor Visa — Immigration New Zealand
• Paying the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy — Immigration New Zealand
• Queenstown Airport: international destinations — Queenstown Airport Corporation
• Christchurch Airport’s biggest-ever international summer — Christchurch Airport