Roadtrip Map for the South Island of New Zealand
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Come explore the South Island with us!

On our trip around the world, Bill and I spent several months exploring the South Island of New Zealand on an epic road trip. Touring New Zealand was one of my top Bucket List items and it totally delivered.

The South Island delivers incredible scenery, beautiful wildlife, stunning birds, plus mountain ranges, glistening glaciers and cascading waterfalls. I was in photography heaven the entire time.

People have asked about we chose the South Island, why we did it by rental car, how we decide which areas to spend time in and how many days for each. Here we go!

Milford Sound in New Zealand is a very popular destination for visitors to the South Island.
Gorgeous Milford Sound
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Blue checkmark in a blue box - indicating completion of a task or a Bucket List item.

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– Best Lodging site: Booking.com
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– Rent Cars here: RentalCars.com

Why did we only see the South Island?

Our “moderate” pace of travel means we often narrow down the number of places we go to and then we explore each one thoroughly.

So after extensive research about the North and South Islands, the South Island seemed to fit our travel priorities best. Bill had previously been to both islands and he agreed he wanted to explore the South Island more fully.

Our Bucket List included Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Kaikoura, Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook and Lake Wanaka. We also enjoy hiking and bird-watching, both of which the South Island has in abundance.

Our original plan included six weeks in New Zealand. But the more I researched, the list of things I wanted to do and see kept growing longer. So we canceled our last week in Australia and spent an extra week in the Queenstown area. And I’m SO glad we did!

Why did we road-trip by car?

By car is our preferred method of travel whenever it makes sense. It allows us maximum flexibility to go where we want, when we want and stay as long as we want. And if we see something unplanned that looks interesting, we can go there too.

In New Zealand, it is possible to travel by train or bus between the different cities, but the routes only run once or twice a day. Having a car meant we had the freedom to go at our own pace, plus do day trips from our lodging in all directions.

Did we consider hiring a camper-van? Briefly. There are lots of places where you can park for free to camp. But we also read lots of stories about the camper vans struggling to get around the tight corners in the mountains or tipping over in high winds.

We also like to have lodging that includes a kitchen for self-catering our meals. While a camper-van is the preferred method of travel for lots of people, we decided it wasn’t for us on this long road-trip.

Bright blue Mitsubishi rental car in a gray pavement parking lot.


Each day, I string together a list of possible destinations and map out a logical route. Then we set off in our rental car to explore. One of the best benefits is we can pull over whenever we want to. I frequently ask Bill – “Can you stop the car, Honey? I need to take another picture!!” Luckily for me, he’s usually pretty cooperative!

We also can bring along items we might need and leave them in the car until we need them. Things like a cooler (for my Diet Pepsi addiction), rain gear, extra camera batteries and sunscreen. You can’t really do that if you’re taking a bus.

One exception to my recommendation about renting a car is if you base yourself in Queenstown for your entire trip. Tours to the entire western end of the Island depart from Queenstown and you can see a lot without having a car.

How did we decide where to stay?

Hours and hours of research resulted in a very long list of places I wanted to experience. I mapped them all out and looked for clusters of things in the same area. The map below shows where we explored, starting and ending in Queenstown.

We navigated mostly along the coastline in a clockwise pattern, staying in each town for 5-10 days. Our stays included Queenstown (8 nights), Manipouri/Te Anau (9 nights), Wanaka (5 nights), Franz Joseph (1 night), Hokitika (4 nights), Takaka (5 nights), Picton (5 nights),Kaikoura (5 nights), Lake Tekapo (5 nights), and Dunedin (5 nights).

Roadtrip Map for the South Island of New Zealand

How long to stay in each area?

How many days to stay in each area is defined to allow enough time for exploration at our moderate pace of travel, plus a fair amount of “stay-at-home” days. Some people find it odd that we plan for stay-at-home days, but when you travel full-time for months at a time, you can’t go-go-go without getting exhausted. We use those days to relax, research destinations, blog and tag photos.

But if I knew then what I know now, after experiencing the South Island, we would have done it like this:

Queenstown area (14 nights), Manipouri/Te Anau (6 nights), Wanaka (3 nights), Franz Joseph (3 nights), Hokitika (7 nights), Takaka (10 nights), Picton (2 nights), Kaikoura (14 nights), Lake Tekapo (3 nights), and Dunedin (14 nights).

Yep, now I’d be over 10 weeks of time. There’s just SO MUCH to explore. I can’t wait to go back to New Zealand some day!

The Dusky Dolphin Swims in the South Bay of Kaikoura

Which parts of New Zealand do I want to go back to?

On our next trip to New Zealand, I’d love to spend a full week in Glenorchy – so much beautiful area to explore. I’d probably stay in quaint Arrowtown for a week or two instead of staying in Queenstown. I’d also like to go back to Kaikoura for 2 weeks, and Dunedin for 10-14 days.

New places I’ve yet to explore include Stewart Island which some of my fellow travelers have said is their absolute favorite part of the South Island. It’s located on the southwest corner of the South Island, near Bluff on the map above.

Would I go to the North Island on a future trip? Maybe. There are still a lot of other places on my Bucket List to explore that are currently more appealing than that. But after I’ve visited a bunch of those, perhaps I’ll make my way to the North Island. #Someday

Kari poses in front of the "red barn in Glenorchy. This iconic building is a favorite photo opportunity for tourists.

More New Zealand Posts

Here are some more posts about New Zealand, including some that I’m still working on. If you want to receive emails when I’ve posted new content to the site, please complete the short form above.

Queenstown

Kaikoura

Lake Tekapo

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