Destinations
South Island caravan road trips: complete guide
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It’s the bigger of New Zealand’s two main islands, and there’s enough to see and do here to keep you caravanning for weeks. New Zealand’s South Island or Te Waipounamu is a spectacular setting made up of lakes and mountains, native bushland, national parks and cragged coastline, home to the cities of Nelson, Dunedin and Christchurch as well as natural sites like Fiordland, the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, the Canterbury Plains and New Zealand’s highest peak Mount Cook.
Plan a South Island travel itinerary to see as much as possible of the region on your trip, using caravan hire to sightsee in style. It’s easy with Camplify: browse for New Zealand caravan rental, then read our tips on South Island adventures and our suggestions on South Island road trips:
How long does it take to drive around New Zealand South Island?
The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (the North Island is 113,729) It’s a drive of around 985 kilometres from north to south, starting from Nelson and driving straight down to Invercargill for atravelling time of about 12 hours. Naturally, you’ll want to take a lot longer than that!
What should I see on New Zealand’s South Island?
All three main settlements – Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin – are worth a stopover, and don’t forget Queenstown for its adventure activities too. Banks Peninsula and the Canterbury Plains lie to the island’s east; and the rugged coast of Fiordland is in the West Coast region along with glaciers, national parks and extensive bushland.
Southwest there’s Milford Sound/Piopiotahi, Fiordland National Park, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site; and to the northeast are the Kaikōura Ranges. And any South Island adventure will very likely take in parts of the mighty Southern Alps, the range running along most of the island and including the country’s highest mountain Mount Cook/Aoraki.
There’s so much more to see and do than we can cover here, so feel free to design your South Island caravan trip whichever way you want.
Caravan road trip South Island – short trips
Queenstown to Milford Sound (three days)
Drive from Queenstown to Te Anau and the beautiful scenery around Lake Wakatipu. On Day 2, leave your caravan at the campground and join a boat cruise to Milford Sound, departing and returning from Te Anau. Travel to Queenstown on Day 3.
Christchurch to Queenstown (four days)
Set out from Christchurch on Day 1, in the direction of Lake Tekapo, and use Day 2 to arrive at and explore the lake. Day 3 is for a drive to Mount Cook, the Lake Pukaki Visitor Centre and to Wanaka via the Lindis Pass, before arriving in Queenstown on Day 4.
Alpine Pacific Touring Route (three to five days)
This stunning 450-kilometreSouth Island driving route takes in Christchurch, Hammer Springs and the vineyards and olive groves of Waipara. Highly recommended for travelling around the east coast.
Lake Ōhau. Image credit: Michel Button.
Caravan road trip South Island – one week
Queenstown to Christchurch
As shown above, the journey between Christchurch and Queenstown can be done in four days. To make a week of it, spend a couple of days in Queenstown to try bungy jumping, skydiving or another adventure sport, then drive on Day 3 to Te Anau via Glenorchy and Bennet's Bluff Point. Day 4 is an action packed one around Milford Sound; Days 5 and 6 cover Wanaka and Hawea, and Day 7 can be spent around Mount Cook National Park before driving on to Queenstown.
Caravan road trip South Island – ten days
Christchurch to North Island
Spend two days in Christchurch then a day driving to Dunedin. Spend Day 4 in Dunedin and drive to Queenstown on Day 5 to spend Days 5 and 6 there. Day 7 is Queenstown to Wanaka; Day 8 Wanaka back to Christchurch; and Day 9 Christchurch to Picton and the ferry crossing to the North Island. Arrive in Wellington on Day 10 and start your North Island road trip!
Caravan road trip South Island – three weeks
Explore the South Island at a leisurely pace following this itinerary (we’ve scheduled it day by day in our Caravan Holidays in New Zealand – Top Five Road Trips blog [LINK].)
Kaikōura (1-2 days)
Abel Tasman National Park (3-4 days)
Arthur’s Pass (2 days)
Franz Josef Glacier (1-2 days)
Wanaka (2-3 days)
Milford Sound (2-4 days)
Routeburn Track (3 days)
Queenstown (4-5 days)
Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park (2-3 days)
Lake Tekapo (1-2 days)
Or take between two and three weeks on a South Island loop from Christchurch, via Queenstown, Nelson and Dunedin.
Resources and tips for New Zealand road trips
Official site for Tourism New Zealand – travel times and distance calculator
Tourism New Zealand – South Island road trips