Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo Small Group Tour from Christchurch
Overview
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Mt Cook & Lake Tekapo Tour. This small group, fully-guided day trip combines all of the key highlights in the area with the famous Lake Tekapo, Mt Cook National Park and Tasman Glacier as key highlights. Led by our famously passionate tour guides, notorious for bringing your journey to life by sharing their stories and rich background knowledge and run in modern, comfortable minibuses packed with extras ensuring your comfort and safety.
Description
Highlights:
- Lake Tekapo
- Church of the Good Shepard
- Mt Cook & Aoraki National Park
- Tasman Glacier, Lake Pukaki
Itinerary:
- Christchurch - Your tour starts in the stunning city of Christchurch. As we drive out of the city your guide will not only set the scene for your adventurous day but also point out and guide you past some of the area’s top highlights.
- Canterbury Plains – Departing Christchurch we then make our way through the impressive Canterbury plains with plenty of amazing New Zealand farmland and countryside to see along the way!
- Fairlie Bakehouse (10 mins) - A Classic New Zealand farming town hidden away in Mackenzie. Fairlie goes through some stunning colour changes especially come Autum, this is truly one of the best locations to sit and relax with one of their world-famous meat Pies from the Bakehouse. And this stop is also where we will pick up your lunch to keep you full of energy for the rest of the day.
- Lake Tekapo (5mins) – We head towards the famous blue lakes of Lake Tekapo but to get there first we must go through some impressive alpine passes with amazing views. As we come over the hill to Tekapo you will be stunned by amazing view of the lake.
- Church of the Good Shepherd (10 mins) – Once in the township of Tekapo you will have time to explore the very popular Church of the Good Shepherd, see the Mackenzie Sheep dog and get those Instagram worth shots of Lake Tekapo before we continue to Mt Cook.
- Lake Pukaki (10 mins) – Turning west we begin to enter the Aoraki National Park and Lake Pukaki begins to emerge in front of us. Lake Pukaki is one of the bluest lakes you will ever see and is stunningly framed by the backdrop of Aoraki/Mt Cook and the Southern Alps. We stop for some amazing photos and to just marvel at the sight that we are beholding. It’s not hard to see why many Lord of the Rings scene were filmed nearby and we will point them out for you.
- Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park (2 - 2.5 hours) – Arriving at Mt Cook Village, weather depending, we should get some amazing shots of the mountain itself. At 3724m, Aoraki/Mt Cook is New Zealand’s highest peak, however, the mountain can be viewed without any acclimatisation whatsoever from the village which is just 750m above sea level.
- While in the national park you have 2.5 hours free time to enjoy free walks/hikes or one of the extra optional activities. Some of our recommendations include: Kea Point or Tasman Glacier Walk, Scenic flights (see the region from the air and land on the Tasman Glacier) or Mt Cook Visitor Centre & Hermitage Hotel. Whatever you decide to do we will pick you up and drop you off where you need to go and make sure you are well looked after.
- Christchurch – Unfortunately after an amazing day of sightseeing it is time to return to Christchurch. Please note additional stops are taken into considerations for toilet breaks.
Please note: the Hooker Valley Track is currently CLOSED while the Department of Conservation works on replacing one of the swing bridges. This is expected to be complete in Autumn 2026 so the track will be inaccessible to the public until then.
What‘s Included
Small Group
Fully Guided Tour
Picnic Lunch
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
Cancellation Policy
Terms: Tours will only run if at least 5 people have booked on the tour, we reserves the right to alter the tour due to weather or operational needs.
A full refund will be issued for cancellations made a minimum of 10 days prior to the scheduled departure time.
Reviews
213 reviews
Mt Cook day trip
773nandinin,Jun 7, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Rosie was our guide and she was extremely warm, friendly and informative.. By end of the day, we connected so well.. Extremely professional, classy.. highly recommend cheekykiwi travel.. if you are lucky, Rosie will take you through the best day trip
Cheekykiwi: Christchurch to Mt. Cook
U927KRemilyt,Jun 3, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00OMG so fun. Was a little worried that the clouds would stay all day and we wouldn't be able to see Mt. cook, but they cleared and we had an amazing view. For the price, this is totally worth it. 12 hour day but you stop at several places and have 2 hours in Mt. Cook! Our driver was amazing and super knowledgeable on New Zealand. Cheekykiwi is good for small group trips as we only had 8 people on our tour! The atmosphere was fun and everyone was excited to see everything. Definitely would book this tour again in the future
Glad to see Mt Cook but too much driving
Eric R,May 30, 2026
- Review from Viator
4.00It's a lot of driving. The small group is nice but that means a smaller van and bigger bumps as you ride along. New Zealand is stunning. I'm glad we got to see Mt Cook but I don't think I would do this tour again. The "walks" are a good amount of exercise uphill.
Memorable trip
Tracy A,May 29, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Paul our driver guide was amazing, he brought some silly jokes to break the ice on the van. The trip itself was great and i am looking forward to more trip with you guys.
Must do!
Lewis T,May 25, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Enjoyable, a must do experience. Got very lucky with the clouds parting foot an hour or so of the trip at mount cook or else it would have been slightly underwhelming. Really professional service. Thank you
Great Tour
Zareen H,May 23, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Really great tour! I would recommend everyone to experience this at least once when they visit Christchurch. Our tour guide Rosie was kind and sweet and very informative! I learned so much about Christchurch, both Lakes (Tekapo and Pukaki) and Aoraki / Mount Cook. We were given ample time for breakfast and the lunch was big and hearty as well. You can choose which walk you want to do once you arrive at the National Park, and there’s 2 hours allocated for that. Rosie was quick to comply with all our requests and made the journey very enjoyable! Hope to do it again soon :)
Very good
Kotchaporn I,May 23, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00This is a very good tour. They give me a very good experience. Thank you so much I'm very enjoy and the guide she is very kind and have many knowledge so she can explain every where we went.
Great Day
PamelaD741,May 12, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Great day, walks were excellent. Driver was very informative. The lunch was good. Plenty of opportunities to take pictures
Crazy Beautiful!
ReelR,May 10, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Great vistas!! A beautiful view around each corner. Great history lessons from the tour guide/driver..
Great tour but the weather didn’t cooperate
mary e,May 7, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Jay was an excellent tour guide. He made the best of a rainy windy day. The hermitage museum was very interesting
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