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New Zealand in 12 days: Milford Track, Queenstown and the glaciers, day by day

Twelve days from the most famous walk in the world to the west coast: the four days of the Milford Track up to Mackinnon Pass, Queenstown and the Kawarau bridge, Roy's Peak, the Rob Roy Glacier, the Haast Pass and the Fox heli-hike.

Sequenced by Kylian Updated on 20 September 2026

The Auckland skyline and the Sky Tower at sunset, yachts moored in the bay
  • 12 days
  • 17 places
  • 12 nights
  • sustained pace
Start
Te Anau, Fiordland
End
Franz Josef, west coast
Main transport
Boats and shuttles for both ends of the Milford Track, rental car from Queenstown to Franz Josef, helicopter for the Fox Glacier
Recommended season
December to March: the Milford Track can only be walked independently during the Great Walks season, late October to late April, and the year's places go in a single morning

What you get

  • The complete itinerary: 12 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
  • The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
  • Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
  • The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
  • A PDF file of 23 pages

What the price does not include

  • Flights
  • Hotel nights
  • Tickets and admission fees
  • Travel insurance
  • On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The travel book preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 5

Arrival in Queenstown

Morning

Road from Te Anau to Queenstown

Two hours across the Southland plains and along Lake Wakatipu, whose water rises and falls by ten centimetres every twenty-six minutes, a beat caused by the shape of the basin that Maori tradition attributes to the heart of a sleeping giant.

Afternoon

Queenstown Gardens

A peninsula planted with century-old trees that closes the bay, with a disc golf course and a view of the Remarkables. The ideal walk to settle in.

Skyline Queenstown and luge

The steepest cable car in the southern hemisphere climbs to Bob's Peak, 450 metres above the town: the view is the country's postcard. Two luge tracks at the top, with a chairlift back up.

Kiwi Park

A conservation centre in the middle of town, with a kiwi house, tuatara and a feeding show: one of the few places to see a kiwi active by day for certain.

Good to know

The Skyline gondola leaves from the top of Brecon Street, on foot from the centre. The luge pass is bought separately from the ride up and is paid for by the number of runs. Open every day, last rides up in the evening, hours varying with the season.

Hotel · Night 5

Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park

A recent hotel at the foot of the Remarkables, near the airport and the Frankton shopping centre, ten minutes' drive from the centre. Free parking and saner rates than by the lake, which counts in Queenstown.

Address
· 28 Red Oaks Drive, Frankton, Queenstown 9371
Website
· queenstownremarkables.holidayinn.com (new tab)
Check-in
3:00 PM · Check-out 11:00 AM
Book this hotel (new tab)

Buy this itinerary

€39 incl. tax

that is €3.25 per day of travel

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  • Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
  • Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the T&Cs, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 12 days

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A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 48 working hours.

The day-by-day rundown

12 stops, 460 km as the crow flies

  1. Day 1 Milford Track, from Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut Milford Track, from Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  2. Day 2 The Clinton valley up to Mintaro The Clinton valley up to Mintaro Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  3. Day 3 Mackinnon Pass and Sutherland Falls Mackinnon Pass and Sutherland Falls Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  4. Day 4 Sandfly Point and the fjord Sandfly Point and the fjord Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  5. Day 5 Arrival in Queenstown Road from Te Anau to Queenstown Free
  6. Day 6 Glenorchy, Routeburn and Paradise Glenorchy, Routeburn and Paradise Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  7. Day 7 Bungy, gold rush and hot pools Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge and bungy jumping Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  8. Day 8 Wanaka and Roy's Peak Road to Wanaka and the Roy's Peak walk Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  9. Day 9 Rob Roy Glacier and the Haast Pass Matukituki Valley and Rob Roy Glacier Track Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  10. Day 10 The west coast and Lake Matheson Road from Haast to Fox Glacier, Ship Creek and Knights Point Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  11. Day 11 Heli-hike on Fox Glacier Heli-hike on Fox Glacier Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
  12. Day 12 Franz Josef, valley and kiwi Franz Josef Glacier Valley Walk and Peters Pool Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

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Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

  • The Milford Track crosses one of the wettest regions on earth: it rains roughly two days in three, and the rain is what makes the Mackinnon Pass waterfalls. Walking wet is part of the deal.
  • Mackinnon Pass on day 67 sits at 1,154 m and can be in cloud, wind or sleet in mid-January: hut wardens give the forecast each evening and can impose the bad-weather route.
  • The west coast, from Haast to Franz Josef, gets more than five metres of rain a year: Lake Matheson only mirrors Aoraki at first light, in perfectly still air.

Transport and permits

  • The Milford Track is a one-way traverse: boat from Te Anau Downs to Glade Wharf at the start, boat from Sandfly Point to Milford Sound at the end, both booked with the permit.
  • Everything is carried over the four days: the huts supply water, gas and bunks, not food.
  • Rental car picked up again in Queenstown on day 69 for the rest, through to Franz Josef over the Haast Pass.

Formalities and safety

  • The independent Milford Track is booked on the DOC website the moment bookings open, usually around May for the following season: places go in a morning and the whole module is set around them.
  • The day 75 Fox heli-hike depends on weather and glacier condition: it is cancelled and refunded, but not always rescheduled within the same week.
  • The Kawarau bungy and the Nevis Swing on day 71 have weight and age limits and a waiver signed on site.

Budget and meals

  • The New Zealand dollar, roughly €0.55 to 1 NZD. Queenstown is the most expensive town in the country, Wanaka and Haast markedly less so.
  • Heavy items: the Milford Track permit and its three hut nights, the Fox heli-hike on day 75, the day 71 bungy and the Onsen Hot Pools.
  • Roy's Peak, the Rob Roy Glacier Track, the Blue Pools and Lake Matheson are free: the finest walks of the stage cost nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening, with the hotel for each night, its address and its booking link, and timed-entry tickets flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is sequenced by hand, place by place, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Who is selling you this itinerary

  • Kylian, sole trader, SIRET 927 587 709 00035
  • Consumer mediator: ANM Consommation
  • Payment handled by Stripe: Étaperia never sees your card number
  • Publisher, not a travel agency: you book flights, hotels and tickets yourself

In the same country

This module is one leg of the full itinerary: Complete New Zealand itinerary: 88 days, hotels and bookings

The complete itinerary

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