5-tägige South Island-Tour ab Christchurch

We thoroughly enjoyed this 5 day tour of the South Island. It is the best way to take in all the spectacular scenery of this special part of the world. The distances involved were long but the buses we rode in were comfortable. All of the drivers were professional and also made great guides as they provided commentary throughout the journey. The hotels we stayed in were all excellent. The best part was the trip through the Southern Alps on the TranzAlpine train. This is really one of the best rail journeys in the world.

Our South Island itinerary was perfect.We saw snow capped mountains,fiords,rain forests,glaciers and the sea-all in 5 days.Whether traveling by coach,train or taxi/shuttle,because Viator was so organized,we were always on time.Coach drivers,Stuart and Peter, were outstanding with their commentary.

A good way to see many sights in South Island, in comfort with someone else driving! The coaches are comfortable but be prepared for the long distances covered. There are regular stops but they are usually very brief time for a quick coffee and visit to the toilet and little more. This is not a conventional coach tour. Each day is a different bus, different driver, different passengers, but the whole package was very well-organised and operated efficiently. The drivers all provide commentaries each has his own style but they are always informative and often very amusing. And the scenery, wow! Things are very much weather-dependent though. Franz Josef Glacier and the Trans-Alpine train journey were spoilt by heavy rain and poor visibility, and were it not for fine weather at Mount Cook, Milford Sound and in Queenstown my impressions might have been less favourable. It's a lot of money to spend and not see anything! The hotels were superb - the Millenium in Queenstown is very plush and the Scenic in Franz Josef more than adequate, with the unexpected bonus of a superb breakfast included. I felt some frustration at not being able to explore some of the sights more fully, but overall felt that this was the best way to cover a huge area and visit many spectacular locations in a degree of comfort.

We chose this tour as it included many of the must-see sights in the South Island. This was accomplished by using a series of coach journeys linking places, picking up and dropping off travellers along the route. We were given short comfort breaks with an occasional stop at a place of interest. The exception to this was the very long day tour to Milford Sound for the two hour cruise which was breath-taking. The other highlight was the Trans-Alpine rail journey from Greymouth back to Christchurch which gave a view of many facets of the country side and areas almost inaccessible by any other methods of transport. The audio commentary headphones provided was well worth listening to, although many people didn't bother. The accommodation provided was adequate in Queenstown and excellent in Franz Josef. Overall we found it frustrating passing through places we will probably never visit again and not having the chance to look aroundeven at Mount Cook we only had an hour, so there was a choice between lunch or a short walk around, certainly no time to walk a trail!

very interesting spots that were visited. however be ready to sit on a bus for about 8 hours each day.

This is an excellent tour for a family who wants to see most of the South Island in a short time with less or no stress. You get the value for money and the tour was very well coordinated by the tour operator.