The South Island is roughly the size of England and takes about three times as long to drive, because almost nothing here is straight. State highways follow river valleys, climb passes and hug coastlines, and the posted speed limit is a legal maximum rather than an achievable average.
Plan by hours, not kilometres. That single adjustment is what separates a fortnight that works from one spent arriving at accommodation after dark.
The route
Two weeks, starting and finishing in Christchurch, going anticlockwise. Driving times below are moving time only — add a third for stops, and more if the weather is doing anything interesting.
- Days 1–2: Christchurch to Lake Tekapo. Around three hours. Stop at the salmon farm on the canal road for lunch. Stay for the dark sky reserve, which is one of the largest in the world and genuinely worth staying up for.
- Days 3–4: Tekapo to Mount Cook, then Wanaka. An hour up the lake to Aoraki, then three onwards. The Hooker Valley track is flat, three hours return, crosses three swing bridges, and ends at a glacial lake below the highest mountain in the country. It is the best short walk in New Zealand and it is suitable for almost anyone.
- Days 5–7: Wanaka to Queenstown. An hour over the Crown Range, which is the higher and better road. Use one day for Glenorchy at the head of the lake and one for a section of the Routeburn.
- Days 8–9: Te Anau and Milford Sound. Two hours to Te Anau, then two more up the Milford road. Stay in Te Anau; the road itself is the attraction and doing it as a day trip from Queenstown means four hours in a coach.
- Days 10–11: Queenstown to the West Coast via the Haast pass. Around five hours to Fox or Franz Josef. Glaciers, rainforest and rain.
- Days 12–13: West Coast to Arthur's Pass, four hours, then back to Christchurch, two.
That leaves a spare day somewhere, which you should keep spare.
The Milford road, specifically
Te Anau to Milford Sound is about 120km and is one of the great drives anywhere. It runs up a glacial valley, through the Homer Tunnel — a rough-hewn single-lane bore that drops steeply on the far side — and down into the fiord.
Four things about it. There is no fuel after Te Anau, so fill up before leaving. There is no mobile signal for most of it. The Homer Tunnel is traffic-light controlled in summer with waits of up to fifteen minutes. And the kea, the alpine parrots that gather at the tunnel car park, will systematically dismantle the rubber trim on your car if you leave it unattended with them on it. This is not folklore.
Book the boat cruise in advance and take an earlier or later sailing than the middle-of-the-day coach convoy if you can. Rain is not a reason to cancel — Milford gets an enormous amount of it, and the temporary waterfalls that appear on the walls in heavy rain are the best thing about the place.
Campervan or car
A campervan removes accommodation booking and adds fuel cost, slower driving on the passes, and the requirement to use certified sites.
Freedom camping rules are strictly enforced and vary by district. A self-contained certification — a green sticker indicating the vehicle has a fixed toilet and holding tank — is essential if you intend to use it, and even then many councils restrict where you can stop. Vans without certification are limited to holiday parks and designated sites, and the fines for getting it wrong are substantial.
For two people staying in motels, cabins and holiday park units, a car is usually cheaper over a fortnight and considerably faster. For a family, or for anyone who wants to stop where they end up, the van wins.
Whichever you take: New Zealand drives on the left, the roads are narrower than the map suggests, and single-lane bridges are common and signed with a priority arrow. Overtaking lanes are infrequent and locals use them.
Walks worth building the route around
The South Island's best asset is that world-class walking is available in day-sized portions.
Hooker Valley at Aoraki, as above. Three hours, flat, spectacular.
Roys Peak above Wanaka. Around six hours return and a relentless climb with no shade, ending at a ridge that produces one of the most photographed views in the country. Start before sunrise if you want it to yourself, which you will not, because everyone else has read the same advice.
A section of the Routeburn from the Glenorchy end. The full track is a multi-day Great Walk requiring hut bookings months ahead, but the first few hours to Routeburn Flats is a day walk and gives you the beech forest and the river.
Key Summit, off the Milford road, is around three hours return and is the best short alpine walk in Fiordland.
Hokitika Gorge and the short glacier valley walks on the West Coast fill weather days.
If you want a Great Walk proper — the Routeburn, the Kepler, the Milford Track — bookings open months in advance and the popular dates go quickly. That is a trip to plan around rather than to slot in.
Weather and road closures
The West Coast is one of the wettest inhabited places on earth, and this is a feature of the trip rather than a problem with it. The rainforest exists because of the rain. Pack for it, plan indoor or short options for the wet days, and do not build an itinerary that requires clear weather on a specific afternoon.
Alpine passes — Arthur's, Lindis, the Crown Range — require chains in winter and are occasionally closed by snow between May and September.
Timing
February and March are the best months: settled weather, warm days, sea temperatures at their highest, and noticeably fewer people than the New Zealand school holidays in January.
Late April brings autumn colour to Wanaka and Arrowtown, where the introduced poplars and larches turn gold against the tussock. The days are shortening and some alpine tracks start to close.
December and January are peak season, with the longest days and the highest prices, and accommodation in Queenstown and Wanaka books out.
Winter, June to September, is a ski trip rather than a road trip. The passes need chains, the days are short, and Milford and Aoraki both become considerably more serious propositions.
Sandflies
They are worse than you have been told. On the West Coast and throughout Fiordland they are relentless from the moment you open the car door, and they do not respond to being ignored.
Repellent with DEET, long sleeves and long trousers from late afternoon, and windows shut. Te Anau and Milford are the worst of it. Insect bites here itch for days rather than hours, which surprises people who have dealt with mosquitoes elsewhere and assumed this would be similar.
Practicalities
Book accommodation ahead in Queenstown, Wanaka, Te Anau and Aoraki in high season. Everywhere else you can generally arrive.
Fuel is expensive by international standards and stations are far apart on the West Coast, the Haast road and the Milford road. Fill up when you are at half a tank rather than a quarter.
Supermarkets are in the larger towns only. Stock up in Queenstown or Wanaka before the West Coast leg.
Distances to the North Island are a whole separate trip. Two weeks is enough for the South Island alone, and combining both in a fortnight means seeing neither properly.
For the Queenstown and Fiordland region specifically, see the Queenstown destination guide.
