South Island Road Trip New Zealand 2025

Visiting the South Island of New Zealand can either be one of the most adventurous trips you will ever experience, or one of the most relaxing and food driven holidays. This New Zealand south island road trip will give you inspiration to visit some of the most adrenaline pumping activities New Zealand has to offer, while allowing too much time to enjoy good food and magnificent views.

Cromwell – 2 Nights

Accommodation in Cromwell: Heritage Lake Resort

Lake Resort is New Zealand’s’ answer to the famous water bungalows in Bora Bora. Sitting on the edge of the man-made Lake Dunstan the views from every room give a sense of being in a tropical getaway yet only hours from home (if home is New Zealand).
Each room has it’s own balcony with lake facing views, which allow for spectacular sunsets. And there is plenty of parking directly outside. Each room is fitted with a large, spacious bathroom and a comfortable double or extra large double bed. There are several different room options which boast kitchens and bathrooms with a shower and bathtub.

10/10 I would definitely stay at Heritage Lake Resort again.

RELATED: 6 of the Best Short Nature Walks in Canterbury and Otago

Kanuka Loop Track Trailhead

This was an unexpected discovery; Kanuka Loop Track was a last-minute decision to fill an afternoon after spending the morning eating our weight in carbs.
Kanuka Loop hiking trails is located in Bendigo, just outside of Cromwell. This was one of the many locations in the south island where men would dig their own mine shafts in search for gold. There are plenty of small stone buildings, some still fully intact while others are skeletons of passed lives. Walking around the landscape is free and easy, just watch out for the large mine shafts as a lot of them are not fenced, so keep young children on a tight leash as well as your pets.

Highlands Motorsport Park

A south island road trip itinerary isn’t complete without some adrenaline seeking activities. Choose to drive a Radical SR3 or V8 Muscle car, passenger in a Porsche Cayenne or Ferrari, or bring a group and compete in the go karting. Highlands Motorsport Park is the place to be if mobile metal boxes are your chosen hobby. The café stocks plenty of good food and has a deck overlooking the track if you’re dragging someone along who is less than keen to smell like petrol fumes. And the museum can keep even the most stubborn of visitors somewhat entertained.

Our 2 lap experience around the track in the Porsche Cayenne Turbo was worth the money; the track has enough sharp and technical turns to have you flying into both sides of the car at once.
Attraction prices range from $49 to $429 per person with the museum being discounted for all attraction ticket holders.
Visit their website here.

Wanaka – 4 Nights

Hiking Blue Pools Track

If you’re looking for a short but inspiring walk to fill your South island road trip itinerary, Blue Pools Track is perfect for anyone of varying walking capabilities. An easy 30 minute walk takes you to a large bright blue pool of water, running from the Makarora river this is also the location of migrating brown and rainbow trout during Autumn and Winter. A jacket and gloves and required even in Autumn as we visited in early June and thick frost was already settling in the shady areas of the bush.

For further information check out my blog post on Blue Pools Track

RELATED: Scenic South Island Road Trip

Explore Arrowtown

Visiting Arrowtown in winter requires merino thermals, a woolen jumper and a full sheep skin onsie; because that town is COLD. Arrowtown sits almost halfway between Queenstown and Wanaka, but we had a day to spare so we made the drive out. And ofcourse a south island itinerary isn’t complete without including The Remarkable Sweet shop, found in Arrowtown along the main road; The Remarkable Sweet Shop will have you reliving your childhood dreams of being engulfed by sugar.

Hike Bannockburn Sluicing

A fun place to bring the kids, dogs, or a romantic walk with your partner. This part of the south island travel guide will transport you to the wild west from when the Otago gold mining era thrived, and have fun finding tiny specs of gold among the tonnes of schist. Bannockburn Sluicings can either be done as a short stroll to fill in some time, or you can take on the whole loop. We only went as far as the above pictures as the sun was setting so it was getting cold!

For more information about Bannockburn Sluicings visit the Doc website here.

Twizel – 2 Nights

Accommodation in Twizel: Highlands Farmstay

If all else fails for finding accommodation, check Airbnb. Finding this small cabin in Twizel on Airbnb made our South Island trip that much more special. Sitting on private farm land and separated from the hosts main house by a large paddock, we were surrounded by chickens, alpacas, sheep, and billions of stars, with really not much else in sight. The single bedroom cabin with a kitchen, dining room and bathroom was so smartly built with enough storage that it made me, just for a moment, question the need for our 3 bedroom home.

The hosts at Highlands Farmstay very kindly left us 3 separate containers with food for each breed of animal, so before I even finished unloading the car I was out the door with all the containers and making a bee line for the Alpacas. The night was a cold one though, hitting the negatives with ice forming on our windows and creating a cold shell for our car. The next morning we woke to the sound of chickens scratching and clucking at our front door waiting for their breakfast.

Hike Hooker Valley Track

It’s not a south island travel guide if you don’t add an adventurous hike into the mix. Hooker Valley Track was the highlight of our trip; and a south Island itinerary can’t go without views of Mt Cook. We weren’t expecting to see such amazing views with this walk being such a short and easy drive from Twizel. More effort and preparation is required for this hike than compared to Blue Pools Track, but totally worth it.

Click here to read about our full day hike and how to prepare for a trip to Mt Cook.

Relax at Tekapo Springs

The perfect place to relax after a full-on day of adventures. I can’t write a south island travel guide without mentioning a visit to one of our many amazing hot springs. Twizel and Tekapo are a short distance from each other so jumping to Tekapo for an evening wasn’t much of a hassle. Tekapo Springs overlook Lake Tekapo and are open all year round regardless of whether it’s autumn leaves or snow dropping on the paths.

Hike to Omarama Cliffs

More like an easy stroll than a decent walk or hike. Omarama Clay Cliffs transport you to a replica Mars landscape; made up of gravel, silt and…clay these rock formations were formed from glaciers and rivers millions of years ago. These million year old pillars sit on private land so a $5 payment per vehicle is required to access through the gate. Once you’re within the ‘compound’ of clay keep aware of your footing as the loose stones, and gravel could make for a painful walk back to your car, sturdy shoes are highly recommended.

The road to Omarama Clay Cliffs is mainly unsealed and there are plenty of potholes you need to look out for, so be careful with that rental car…

Getting here is relatively easy, travel north along state highway 8 from Omarama and turn left down Quailburn Rd, from here the cliffs are sign posted so just follow your nose.
*Note my horrendous awkwardness in the above photo.

RELATED: Skippers Canyon and Jet Boat Tour

Queenstown – 2 Nights

Restaurants in Queenstown: Blue Kanu

This resturant our favourite place to dine when visiting the South Island, it’s not a trip to Queenstown if we don’t visit Blue Kanu for dinner. The Island styled styled restaurant sits close to Queenstowns waterfront so it’s within walking distance of any inner city apartment or other establishments. Blue Kanu specializes in dishes which are a hybrid between Polynesian and Asian styled dishes. The Duck nachos are our favourite dish on the menu, but being vegetarian or vegan doesn’t mean you have to go without tasting this delectable dish, the jackfruit nachos have almost the exact same flavour and texture that it’s hard to tell whether we were eating meat or fruit.

If you already have a place for dinner but want somewhere a bit different for a drink, Blue Kanu do some of the prettiest and tastiest cocktails in Queenstown. It’s worth the visit even if you’re grabbing a quick bite.

AJ Hackett Bungy

Whats would this south island road trip be without risking life and limb for a bit of adrenaline? AJ Hacket is a kiwi entrepreneur who founded his current business and popularity by jumping off buildings and various infrastructure. Commercializing bungy jumping in 1988 at the Kawarau bridge in Queenstown, AJ now runs an extremely successful business for thrill seekers and pant-crappers alike.

Located above the Kawarau river along state highway 6 you can find one of the most popular tourist attractions in Queenstown; where you can throw yourself or a loved one into a gorge in several different fashions. I’ve never been a fan of diving head first off a bridge so we put our money on the zip-line; a casual 60km cruise down a line which runs parallel to the river.

Visit AJ Hacket here.

---

This trip was by far the most relaxing holiday I have ever been on; I am so use to going on international holidays and jam packing my days with local activities that I forgot how to have a proper holiday. To just relax, unwind and reset.

More Experiences for your South Island Travel Guide

New Zealand’s south island is full of wonderful experiences but of course I haven’t indulged in them all. The following list of things to do on your south island road trip are worth adding to your south island travel guide, click the links for further information or for my take on the activity!

• Milford Sound cruise
• Hooker Valley Track, Mt Cook
• Franz Josef Glacier
• Te Anau glowworm caves
• Queenstown Gardens

Want to go on some scenic walks but don’t know where to start? Check out my 6 Best Short Walks in Canterbury and Otago!