4-Day Great Southern Island Circle Tour from Christchurch - Christchurch, New Zealand

Picturesque mountains, deep fiords and icy glaciers - this is New Zealand's South Island. See for yourself on a four-day independent tour highlighting this scenic region. Travel by coach from Christchurch to Queenstown and up the West Coast to Greymouth before a return to Christchurch. View Franz Josef glacier and experience Milford Sound.

Day 1: Christchurch/Mt Cook/Queenstown
Travel through the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps. Cross Burkes Pass to Lake Tekapo and visit the Church of the Good Shepherd. Travel up Lake Pukaki to Mt Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain. Stop for lunch (not inclued) before crossing Lindis Pass. Travel along Kawerau Gorge to Queenstown. Accommodation: Aspen on Queenstown*

Day 2: Milford Sound Day Excursion
Travel along Lake Wakatipu beneath Remarkables to Te Anau. See the Mirror Lakes and continue past Christie Falls. Enter the Homer Tunnel, drilled through the solid rock of a mountain. Cruise along Milford Sound where you'll see Mitre Peak and rock walls rising 1200m vertically from the sea. Re-board your coach for a Queenstown return. Optional lunch on cruise available. Accommodation: Aspen on Queenstown*

Day 3: Queenstown/Franz Josef Glacier
Travel along Lake Wanaka to Haast Pass. Pass through Central Otago and the majestic peaks of the Southern Alps with its rivers and rainforests. Continue up the West Coast past mountain ranges, native forests and lakes to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. Franz Josef Glacier is a 'living river of ice', 11 kilometers long and over 7,000 years old. Accommodation: Franz Josef Hotel*

Day 4: Franz Josef/Greymouth/Arthur's Pass/Christchurch
Travel along the West Coast to Shantytown, a reconstructed Gold Rush town and then to Greymouth, where thousands of diggers lived during the gold strikes of the 1860's. Travel through Arthur's Pass to Christchurch via the TranzAlpine Express.

*or similar