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South Island Tours

Discover the stunning landscapes of New Zealand’s South Island. Explore majestic snow capped mountains, deep fiords, immense glaciers and sparkling lakes. Experience world renowned wineries, heart stopping adventure sports and the purest air imaginable. Indulge your senses on one of our 51 South Island coach tours and small group adventures, and if time permits venture further and explore all of New Zealand.

Popular Tours

9 Days Christchurch to Queenstown

Operator: Intro Travel

From 1,920pp
Save 330pp

10 Days Christchurch to Christchurch

Operator: Grand Pacific Tours

From 5,507pp
Save 412pp

9 Days Christchurch to Christchurch

Operator: AAT Kings

From 4,632pp
Save 729pp

9 Days Christchurch to Christchurch

Operator: Intrepid Travel

From 1,783pp
Save 424pp

Discover

Must do experiences and highlights on New Zealand's South Island
Queenstown from the Water Queenstown from the Water
Set off across Lake Wakatipu on the vintage steamship, TSS Earnslaw, taking in the alpine scenery and soaring peaks that frame the shores of this serene lake.
Heli-Hike on Franz Josef Heli-Hike on Franz Josef
Enjoy a scenic helicopter flight over this icy wonderland coupled with a guided walk on Franz Joseph, discovering frozen caves and pillars of glacial ice.
Explore Mt Cook National Park Explore Mt Cook National Park
Travel through this stunning alpine landscape home to permanent snow fields, opaque lakes and towering peaks, crowned by Mt Cook at 3,724m (12,217ft).
Ride the TranzAlpine Ride the TranzAlpine
Cross the Canterbury Plains and climb into the Southern Alps on this breathtaking rail journey. Watch from the outdoor viewing carriage as glistening rivers carve their way through the dramatic landscape.
Cruise Milford Sound Cruise Milford Sound
Discover the tranquil waters, soaring granite peaks and snow capped mountains of Fiordland National Park. Set off on a cruise to marvel at the tumbling waterfalls and lush vegetation visible through the mist.

Recent Reviews

What our clients are saying about their journeys through New Zealand's South Island
Awesome tour seeing key sites, worry free, knowledgeable friendly driver, steady itinerary   Ultimate South Island , WA, Australia, Jan 2026
We booked this tour after a friend recommended Grand Pacific tours. Global Journeys and another vendor came up as the nominated booking agents, I reached out to both. I am so pleased I booked with Global Journeys. From my first interaction with Grace everything was effortless. Grace took the time to understand my travelling needs, my family composition read more and was upfront with what was included as well as what to expect. I live in regionally WA and Grace even arranged for our tour information and paperwork to arrive early given it was over the festive season and mail is slow where I live. It arrived in perfect time!

The tour Ultimate South Island of NZ was brilliant. We saw key highlights in all the areas, and had time to explore as well as plenty of optional tours available if we chose. We booked the helicopter flight over the glaciers and had the opportunity to land in and spend time in fresh snow. We also were lucky enough to see Mt Cook, the weather was favourable. The glow worm caves were another highlight, as was the jet boat experience. Our tour guide Dave was knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating. He grew up in Dunedin so was well versed in everything the South Island had to offer. The coach was incredibly comfortable and , and the hotels on point, everything was organised and effortless for us. Highly recommend Global Journeys and Grand Pacific, cannot wait to book our next trip!
Tour through the South of New Zealand Southern Wonders , Italy, Italy, Dec 2025
Booking on line with Global Journeys has been easy and very efficient, thanks to Tracey Standing helping us at every step of the procedure. The travel with AAT Kings has been enjoyable and well organized, inlcuded the comfort of the bus and the management of the bags, trhanks to the Travel Director Hope Horsley and the bus driver David. Lovely travellers. read more Good accomodations. Perhaps desirable some more stops to admire the scenery. We have appreciated vey much the option activities offered. We recommend the journey without any doubt.
South New. Zealand Xmas Tour Ultimate South Island Christmas , QLD, Australia, Dec 2025
Although this holiday was advertised as " luxury" I didn't expect too much. Boy! Was I wrong. All of the hotels were beautiful and had good rooms. The coach was luxurious. A full size coach but with 20 single seats each with its own console. Extra touches like a water bottle, headphones and mints. In addition to a toilet, a cold filtered water tap! read more Our cachdriver and tour guide (Chris) was friendly and knowledgeable. Travelling through the beautiful landscape was effortless, even the longer days. A well organised tour with a few minor Irritations( arriving at 8:30 am to find the museum closed). I would have loved to stay 2 nights in all the stops overs! A beautiful holiday.
The most amazing tour   Signature South Island , TAS, Australia, Dec 2025
Started with the wonderful smile of the meet and great at the Christchurch Airport at 12 am to the bag pick up and drop off, the well organized tours. The mazing tour Director- Vicki and our bus driver - Ben, Thank you. The helicopter landing on Franz Joseph Glacier. WOW. the crazy number of waterfalls in Milford Sound, the beautiful blue water and read more lakes, the buffet breakfast everyday and dinners, the great group of people and hospitality of the New Zealand people. OMG..
South Island Adventure   Signature South Island , Australia, Oct 2025
A very enjoyable holliday for us. So many wonderful places to visit and our Tour Director and Coach Driver were so friendly and had a great knowledge of the areas we travelled through. We experienced some very extreme weather events but we were very well looked after. Our accommodation was perfect and the meals were 10/10. We would travel this way read more again as everyone on the coach tour was like a big family as we had so many opportunities to socialise.
New Zealand South Island tour   Ultimate South Island , NSW, Australia, Sep 2025
The South Island Ultimate Grand Pacific Tour was wonderful. It was exceptionally well organised, the coach driver/ guide was fantastic and the accommodation and meals were very good.

Explore More

Your guide to travelling through the South Island of New Zealand
The stunning natural diversity of New Zealand’s South Island, paired with the warmth and generosity of its people, makes it an irresistible draw for travelers. Across this
Discover New Zealand’s South Island with Grand Pacific Experience the enchantment of New Zealand’s South Island on Grand Pacific Tours new itinerary, the 14 Day Ultimate Best
Have you travelled with Grand Pacific before and are now looking for a tour that’s a little bit different? Look no further than Grand Pacific's Top of the South Island
New Zealand’s South Island is incredibly scenic. Raw beauty enchants at every turn and visitors are drawn to the impressive displays of nature that unravel between soaring