What To Expect

What‘s Included

Reviews

• Highly recommend day trip.

  Dennis C,,Feb 7, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  Excellent day trip. Lots of stops to interesting places. Joseph, our guide was outstanding. Lunch was excellent.

• Action packed day full of...

  Laura F,,Feb 7, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  Action packed day full of adventure & lookouts. The Trans Alpine was also wonderful. Joseph, our driver, was outstanding with his information & humour

• A very enjoyable day trip made complete by the wonderful train journey return.

  RAKdec,,Feb 3, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  On the whole a lovely day out made even better by the weather being beautiful. The minibus was comfortable and our driver was a pleasant young man. Sadly his microphone was not working and we couldn’t hear him talk so we basically had no commentary which was a shame. The stops on route to Arthur’s Pass were good although we all felt that the first stop for the jet boat experience was way too long as no one chose to go on a jet boat ride. We loved Castle Hill, Devils Punch Bowl waterfall and Arthur’s Pass. The train journey home was brilliant! A few tweaks to this trip and a working microphone would earn this trip 5 stars.

• Long day , lots of waiting not much direction

  Cathy F,,Jan 25, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  3.00

  This tour was all day. Lots of time in a bus driving to not see very much at all. There was a bag of snacks given as we got on the bus and then we picked up lunch at the jet boat stop. A bread roll with salad , a cookie and an apple. Our guide Marcella did not give us much information or direction for the day. When we came to Arthur’s Pass village it was raining , a few people did the waterfall walk in the rain, the rest of us sat in a Cafe to wait for the train back to Christchurch., it was 2pm. We were originally told the train would come at 4pm. Then it was 4:30, then 4:50. We were picked up from the cafe and taken to the station. The train ended up arriving 5:10pm, we were supposed to be back to Christchurch at 7, arrived 7.30 and still had to drop everyone back off to their hotels. The one save of the day was the people in our group. We had the best train ride back, never laugh so much in my life.

• Fun Day Trip to Mountains

  Kathleen J,,Jan 23, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  Nicely paced tour with very knowledgeable guide. We chose to do the Jet Boat add-on adventure which was really fun. We did not get to do the train portion of this trip because the train had been involved in an accident earlier in the day. We were refunded the amount for the train ticket immediately.

• A great day out!

  Adrian H,,Jan 17, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  A brilliant tour -we saw so much! The additional Jet boat trip was amazing and well worth doing! Clive , our guide was brilliant- friendly, punctual and a wealth of knowledge about South Island. Highly recommend!

• Train ride and views

  Sridhar R,,Jan 12, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  3.00

  Van/Guide wasn’t having enough experience about the details. Trans Alphin train experience was wonderful, it was scenic and breathtaking views

• Beautiful sights, wonderfully planned

  Pamela O,,Jan 10, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  This was a nice tour! Our guide was a bit quiet but very nice. He drove us quite a long distance to see beautiful sights. My favorite was the hike to Devil’s Punchbowl Falls. It was raining, but we had umbrellas and rain jackets. The “400 steps” was well worth it! The waterfall was gorgeous!! We were given snack bags and lunch. And we had the chance to ride the jet boat, which was incredibly fun. This was a well-planned, fun tour! Pack an umbrella and rain jacket just in case! And sunglasses for the jet boat

• Alpine by train and bus

  YuetHoong L,,Jan 9, 2026

  - Review from Viator

  4.00

  Our guide Dianna is informative throughout the drive. Castle Hill probably is the most exciting and beautiful place in this journey, huge remarkable rock stacked and scattered along the hill, amazingly eye catching. A little too long stop at the jet boat place especially for those not joining the activity. The train passing through the alpine, the scenery was beautiful but not the best I ever seen. The lunch is a bit too little with no meat at all, disappointed.

• Great full-day tour!

  hazelrabbit,,Jan 7, 2026

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Enjoyed this all-day trip that included 8 locations, half which consisted of 45-60 minute stops/walks and half which were a literal 5-10 minute stop to see the location, hear about its historical significance and take a few photos, and then get back on the van to the next spot. 3 highlights included walking amongst the Castle Hill limestone boulders, a sacred site in Maori legend, the Devil’s Punchbowl, which is a 400-step climb to a beautiful waterfall. (There is a bridge to cross before the steps and allows for great views and photo opps.) We made it up about 100 steps and returned to the village to grab beverages and see the cheeky Kea birds. The third highlight – the transalpine train ride – is the final leg of the tour. We were very excited to experience the ride and views, but keep in mind it’s a slow-moving train. While it allows for good sightseeing (there is also one car that has open viewing for picture-taking), at that point we had been sightseeing and van riding for about 7 hours, and the slow-moving train made me nod off a couple times. Other good points were the small group number and the guide who was knowledgeable and respectful of the country’s history. For the price of the tour, one low point was the box lunch, which was half a sandwich, chips, and a dry scone and dry brownie, although eating lunch on the beach was great. Would do the trip again.

  

  

  

  
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