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Marlborough · Marlborough

Blenheim

Blenheim is Marlborough’s seat and the region’s largest town, with about 30,000 residents, at the meeting of the Taylor and Ōpaoa rivers. It is surrounded by the vineyards of the Wairau Valley, the country’s main wine region, and hosts a large collection of wartime aircraft at the Omaka aerodrome. The climate is dry and sunny for much of the year.

Canterbury · Christchurch and Akaroa

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city on the South Island and the seat of Canterbury, rebuilt after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens occupy the west side of the city centre, cut by the Avon River; in the centre are the Christchurch Art Gallery and the Cardboard Cathedral. The Port Hills gondola and the International Antarctic Centre complete the visit, and the city is a gateway to the Alps and the West Coast.

Canterbury · Christchurch and Akaroa

Akaroa

Akaroa is a village of about 600 people on the Banks Peninsula, beside a natural harbour formed in the crater of an ancient volcano. Founded by French settlers in 1840, it retains streets with French names, wooden houses and the peninsula museum. Boats depart from the wharf for harbour trips, where Hector’s dolphin, the world’s smallest dolphin, lives.

Otago · Wānaka

Wanaka

Wānaka is the town on the shore of Lake Wānaka, the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. The waterfront features the tree that grows in the lake, pebble beaches and trails, and the surrounding mountains hold the routes of Roys Peak, Mount Iron and the Rob Roy Glacier. Just outside town is Puzzling World, with a maze and optical illusions.

West Coast · West Coast and the Glaciers

Franz Josef / Waiau

Franz Josef (Waiau) is a village of about 400 residents on Highway 6, roughly 5 km from the Franz Josef Glacier. It concentrates accommodation and services, departures for helicopter flights and guided glacier walks, and the wildlife centre where chicks of some of the rarest kiwi species are raised.

Otago · Queenstown (New Zealand): Queenstown; Arrowtown; Glenorchy

Queenstown

Queenstown is the adventure-sports and skiing town on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, founded during the 1860s gold rush. The compact town center sits between the lake and the slope of Ben Lomond, served by a gondola. The steamship TSS Earnslaw departs from the wharf, and the gardens occupy the peninsula opposite. It’s the base for Arrowtown, Glenorchy, Milford Sound and the ski resorts.

Otago · Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula

Dunedin

Dunedin is the seat of Otago and the second-largest city on the South Island, founded in 1848 by Scottish settlers at the head of Otago Harbour. The stone centre revolves around the Octagon, with the 1906 railway station, the Toitū museum and the Otago Museum a few blocks away. It has Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world, and provides access to the Otago Peninsula, with Larnach Castle and the Taiaroa albatrosses.

West Coast · West Coast and the Glaciers

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier (Weheka) is a village of about 200 residents on State Highway 6, 23 km from Franz Josef, near the glacier of the same name. About 5 km away is Lake Matheson, which reflects Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman on windless mornings, and roughly 20 km away is Gillespies Beach, a dark-sand shore associated with the gold rush.

Southland · Fiordland

Te Anau

Te Anau is the gateway to Fiordland, on the shore of Lake Te Anau, the largest on the South Island. From here the 119 km road to Milford Sound begins, and on the far side of the lake are the Te Ana-au glowworm caves. The town is the start of the Kepler Track and has a bird sanctuary where takahēs can be seen.

Nelson · Nelson and Abel Tasman

Nelson

Nelson is the main town of the northern South Island, founded in 1841 at the head of Tasman Bay, and one of the sunniest places in the country. The centre brings together the cathedral on the hilltop, the provincial museum, The Suter gallery and the Saturday market; Botanical Hill holds the Centre of New Zealand monument. It is the base for Abel Tasman National Park and for Golden Bay.

Southland · Fiordland

Manapōuri

Manapouri is a village of about 270 residents on the east shore of Lake Manapouri, 21 km from Te Anau. Boats leave from the Pearl Harbour wharf to cross the lake en route to Doubtful Sound (Patea). The village recalls the Save Manapouri campaign, regarded as the country’s first major environmental movement.

Otago · Queenstown (New Zealand): Queenstown; Arrowtown; Glenorchy

Arrowtown

Arrowtown is a village of about 2,900 people that began in 1862 when gold was found in the Arrow River, about 20 km from Queenstown. Buckingham Street preserves miners’ cottages from the 1870s, the Lakes District Museum tells the gold‑rush story, and the restored Chinese settlement commemorates Chinese miners. In autumn the village trees turn golden.