Fox Glacier, Milford Sound, the Catlins and two nights on Stewart Island — plus Sydney at either end.
The trip in a nutshell
Most New Zealand tours run Christchurch–Queenstown and call it done. This one keeps going: down the wild West Coast through Punakaiki's Pancake Rocks and Hokitika Gorge, over to Fox Glacier and Lake Matheson, through Wanaka and the Crown Range to Te Anau and Milford Sound — and then, crucially, into the Catlins and across Foveaux Strait to Stewart Island.
Stewart Island is where New Zealand runs out. Eighty-five percent of it is national park, there are more kiwi than people, and the night sky is a designated Dark Sky Sanctuary. Two nights there, with optional kiwi spotting and an Ulva Island cruise, is the reason to book this over anything else.
Sydney is built in at both ends, so you get the harbour as a bonus.
“Everything is arranged. Every flight, every transfer, every hotel, every big-ticket experience. All you have to do is turn up at the airport.”
Kirketon Sydney (2 nights, B&B) · Drifter Christchurch · Westport · Kumara · Fox Glacier (2 nights) · Wanaka (2 nights) · Te Anau (2 nights) · The Catlins · Stewart Island (2 nights) · Marriott Sydney Harbour at Circular Quay (final night)
Live availability on Travelodeal's site · low deposit · ABTA & ATOL protected
Our signature calculation
The brochure tells you what this trip costs to book. This is what it costs to take — the price plus every meal the package doesn't cover, per person.
Unusually complete — the brochure price is close to what the trip really costs.
Meals priced at mid-range Australian rates: breakfast £14, lunch £20, dinner £38. We don't count the 2 days you spend in the air. How we calculate it · See every trip ranked
vs £367/day on the brochure · +14%
The moments you'll remember
New Zealand's third island: Rakiura National Park, empty beaches, rare birds and a Dark Sky Sanctuary overhead.
Mitre Peak, waterfalls and the Mirror Lakes and Lake Gunn walks on the road in.
A glacier reaching down into rainforest, and the most famous reflection in New Zealand.
Punakaiki's blowholes and layered limestone, plus a fur seal colony on the wild West Coast.
A rainforest railway and a historic gold-mining town tour with a storyteller and billy tea.
Turquoise glacial water and New Zealand's largest unmodified wetland.
The Catlins at its best — a lighthouse on a knife-edge headland and a waterfall in deep bush.
Two nights on the lake, then the highest sealed road in the country down into Queenstown.
Two nights on the way out, and a final night at the Marriott on Circular Quay on the way home.
Where you'll go
Every stop below is included — with all internal flights, transfers and ground travel arranged for you.
1 stops, with every internal flight and transfer between them arranged for you.
Sydney
Both islands, north to south, with the Cook Strait ferry and the TranzAlpine railway.
ChristchurchWestportFox GlacierWanakaTe AnauMilford SoundThe CatlinsStewart IslandQueenstown
Day by day
Tap any stage to open it. Meals included at each stage are marked in green.
Fly to Australia and spend two nights at The Kirketon before the internal flight across the Tasman.
2 breakfastsArrive in the South Island's largest city and check into the Drifter for the night.
A historic tour of Reefton and the Goldfields Museum with a storyteller, billy tea with the miners, and the option of the Hanmer Springs hot pools.
BreakfastThe seal colony at Cape Foulwind, the Nile River Rainforest Train, and the Pancake Rocks and blowholes at Punakaiki.
BreakfastHokitika Gorge and the Okarito Lagoon walk, then two nights at Fox Glacier with the Lake Matheson walk and optional glacier exploration or a greenstone workshop.
2 breakfastsShip Creek and Thunder Creek Falls on the drive through Haast Pass, then two nights on Lake Wanaka with a free day for biking, walking or a lake cruise.
2 breakfastsThe Crown Range scenic drive past Lake Wakatipu to Te Anau, with the option of the Glow Worm Cave cruise. Next day: Milford Sound, the lookout walk, the Mirror Lakes and Lake Gunn.
2 breakfastsSouth to the Catlins for the Nugget Point lighthouse and the walk in to McLean Falls.
BreakfastThe ferry across Foveaux Strait for two nights on Rakiura. A free day to explore the national park, with optional kiwi spotting, an Ulva Island cruise or the Village & Bay trip.
2 breakfastsFerry back to the mainland and on to Queenstown, then the internal flight to Sydney for a final night at the Marriott on Circular Quay before flying home.
BreakfastItinerary summarised from the operator's published programme and correct at the time of writing. Order of stages can vary by departure date — confirm the exact schedule for your date on the operator's site.
Photo tour
Photography from Wikimedia Commons contributors under Creative Commons licences — full credits here.
The detail
A genuinely wild New Zealand itinerary that keeps going after the point where most tours turn back. Stewart Island is the reason to book it — almost nothing else sold in the UK includes it.
Before you fly
On a 16-day trip departing from London Heathrow, parking is a serious line item — and a policy that caps single trips at 31 days would leave you uninsured for none of this one.
Not sure this is the one?
Here's how this compares with the other multi-centre holidays we rate. See all 20 holidays →
| Tour | Days | Australia | New Zealand | Cook Islands | From (pp) | True Cost / day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth, Rottnest & Margaret River | 11 | ✓ | — | — | £3,339 | £351 | View |
| Sydney, Alice Springs & Melbourne | 9 | ✓ | — | — | £3,429 | £413 | View |
| Sydney, Brisbane, Whitsundays & Cairns | 15 | ✓ | — | — | £3,499 | £292 | View |
| Sydney, Uluru & Melbourne | 13 | ✓ | — | — | £3,639 | £320 | View |
| Australia Bucket List Adventure | 15 | ✓ | — | — | £3,849 | £308 | View |
| Singapore & Queensland multi-centre | 16 | ✓ | — | — | £4,019 | £304 | View |
| NZ South Island & Stewart Island You're viewing this | 16 | ✓ | ✓ | — | £5,879 | £420 | View |
| Ultimate East Coast Explorer | 21 | ✓ | — | — | £7,249 | £400 | View |
Before you book
No — and this is the main difference from an escorted tour. Flights, hotels, transfers and any named day tours are booked for you, but there is no group and no guide accompanying you between destinations. You have far more free time and rather more independence.
These operators publish a brochure price and sell at a discount on selected dates. The saving is real in the sense that it is what you pay, but treat the higher figure as a reference point rather than a price anyone was recently charged. Judge the trip on the price you would actually pay.
It means the operator books you into a property of the stated standard in that location, but does not name it in advance. It keeps the price down. If knowing your hotel matters to you, choose an itinerary where they are all named.
Departures run from October 2026 through to September 2028. Long-haul escorted tours of this length sell out early — the best-value departure dates and preferred room types typically go 9–12 months ahead, so it pays to secure your place sooner rather than later.
Return flights are included from your chosen UK airport. Regional departures are available on most dates, sometimes for a small supplement — you'll see the options for your date when you check availability.
Yes — this is a fully escorted small-group tour with a Travelsphere Holiday Director travelling with you throughout. They handle the logistics, the check-ins and the local know-how, so your job is simply to enjoy it. Groups are typically modest in size and overwhelmingly British.
British passport holders need an Australian ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) and an NZeTA for New Zealand where applicable — both are straightforward online applications. Your passport should have at least six months' validity remaining. Always check the latest FCDO and official government guidance before you travel.
If you are already flying 10,000 miles, adding New Zealand is one of the best-value decisions you can make — it costs about the same per day as the Australian leg. You get both islands — Bay of Islands, Rotorua's geothermal theatre, the TranzAlpine, Milford Sound and Queenstown — in one continuous, fully-organised itinerary. Most people only make this trip once.
Live availability, departure dates from your local airport and current offers are on the operator's booking page. Deposits are low, the balance isn't due until much later, and every booking is ABTA and ATOL protected.
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