Mount Cook Day Tour From Queenstown

This was the most terrifying bus ride of my life. The driver strictly forbade any food or drinks on board, forcing my 10-year-old child to go hungry for five hours all the way to Christchurch. We called the company during the trip, and they confirmed that the driver's behavior violated company policy—passengers are actually allowed to consume food on the bus, as long as it is not hot food. Worse still, the driver engaged in dangerous driving, including reckless overtaking and aggressively honking. This driver is a severe safety hazard, and his behavior made us question if there was racial discrimination involved. We will be reporting this to the New Zealand Ministry of Transport and Consumer Protection. Completely unacceptable and terrifying service!

Algreda from Altitude Tours drove us to Mt Cook from Queenstown and done a very good job, we made several stops along the way including Cromwell famous for fruit and vineyards and Omarama, big on sheep and Twizel, then along Lake Pukaki to lookouts and finally to Mt Cook village where we done a couple of walks to get views of the mountains and glaciers. We had lunch there as well and had a look in the visitor centre. Algreda is very knowledgeable about the region and is patient with us and a good bus driver too

We are here to share our poistive feedback about Brian our Coach Driver / Tour Guide/ Encyclopedia etc. It was an epic tour all because Brian went out of his way to explain and provide information about things we did not even know existed in the first place. Thank you Brian. We did the Greymouth to Franz Josef (Great scenery) Franz Josef to Queenstown (almost dream and picturisque) Queenstown to Christchurch via Mt Cook (the best because Brian was heading it)

Not sure this was worth it...it was a very long day to see some beautiful scenery which we had seen all over New Zealand. Although Mt Cook is historically significant, and beautiful, once you've seen the Rocky Mountains in Canada, it pales in comparison (I know I shouldn't compare)....I'll repeat: it's a very long day with most time spent on a coach bus.

We did the full day trip last month with driver Stuart on a GreatSights bus. It was a well-paced day with lots of stops at places with good travel food, clean toilets and/or photo opportunities. Stuart quietly explained the landscape & told stories that highlighted an aspect of places all along the journey. He pointed out glaciation evidence, infrastructure projects and historically important locations. We heard about famous people & animals who hailed from places along the route, eg Rutherford the physicist, Shrek the sheep and many more. He touched on issues such as the politics of the fur trade, the growth of the dairying industry & explained what we were looking at as we cruised comfortably in the well appointed bus. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

The bus was comfortable. The driver friendly and informative. Both my husband and I enjoyed the bus ride very much. Unfortunately it was a little dampening because it was raining the whole way through.

Very informative, friendly and efficient bus driver. Scenic route. Would love to have more photo stops when reaching near mt cook (before heritage hotel) Overall - an enjoyable experience

Beautiful countryside and views of Mt. Cook...it is a very nice ride if you have the time...a lot of it is dropping off and picking up people along the way...

Our bus driver/guide was Stewart. He has full of information about the geography of the land, farming practices in NZ, as well as important (but unknown to us) Kiwis. It helped to pass the LOOONG drive. The scenery through the mountains, Aoraki/Mt Cook, lakes Putaki and Tekapo were all amazing. Buffet lunch at the Hermitage was delicious. Great way to see the country as you travel from one place to another without having to drive the mountain roads yourself.

Our very long day began with a pickup problem. We had specified a hotel pickup and booked a hotel that would accommodate that, but our confirmation specified that we would be picked up at a lot several blocks from our hotel, so, at extra expense, we booked a cab to that location. When we arrived at the lot, the tour bus was there, loading passengers, but the driver, Stuart, was surprised to see us because we were on his list to be picked up at our hotel! In the end everything worked out, except for the extra cost ($11.20) and a half hour earlier start to our day. Stuart was very knowledgeable and full of interesting bits of knowledge. The scenery was spectacular but there were too many stops for snack and coffee breaks which made for a very long day.

A very long trip but you get to see the one of the most beautiful scenic route in New Zealand. Lunch buffet in Hemitage Hotel was great. Really enjoyed it after a long morning ride from Queenstown. They gave you plenty of time to enjoy the buffet and take pictures. The afternoon journey was also great by stopping by the Church of Good Shephard, it's beautiful, wish we had a bit more time, like 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes stop. Arrived Christchurch around 8pm. Long but worthwhile. Great views from both sides. But sitting on the right side of the bus gives you a higher chance for a better view, the frequency is higher. There is a toilet on the bus.

comfortable bus and very nice driver and guide that took us along the tour. bus depart on time. lots of stops for take photos and refreshments.

The scenery was beautiful especially Mt Cook. The food at Heritage Lodge was absolutely delicious with wide variety. Our bus driver was knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful.

We booked this tour because Christchurch was our next stop after Queenstown and we wanted to make the most of our trip. We did this on November 8 and Stuart was our driver (with Mike as a translator for the Japanese tourists). They were a good fit. While Stuart was a good driver and quite full of interesting information, it was difficult to hear him sometimes (low talker) as he could be a bit monotonous on occasion. In contrast, Mike was lively, energetic and quick to laugh. This is a long trip and we were sidelined by road closures putting us a full 30 minutes behind schedule. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at Aoraki/Mt Cook, we had to scarf down our hot lunch just to have enough time for a 30 minute hike. 30 minutes was nowhere long enough for this scenery. We wished we would have stayed the night at the Hermitage and continued on the next day to take advantage of the INCREDIBLE scenery and because this was a LONG drive. The lunch was good, not spectacular. All in all, it was a very good tour.

We split up our trip from Queenstown to Christchurch into two parts, giving us the opportunity to spend the night at Aoraki Mt Cook village and fit in a couple of hikes before being picked up the following day at around 2pm for the bus trip from Aoraki Mt Cook to Christchurch. Trying to do the trip in one day would leave very little time to do much at Aoraki Mt Cook other than have lunch, so our decision to spend the night was a good one. Fantastic scenery. The bus trip was great with probably the best commentary, courtesy of driver Stuart, that we’ve ever had on a tour. As an ex geography teacher and local dairy farmer, Stuart had a wealth of knowledge on every aspect of New Zealand, from geology, agriculture, history, flora and fauna and local anecdotes and kept up the commentary as we passed through the changing landscape. He also kept an eye on a few passengers behaving unsafely by the roadside. We had a few stops, including a couple of scenic photo ops and a local orchard shop selling fresh produce. Really enjoyable way to see the countryside at eye level, in comfort.

Although it was a long day, it was enjoyable and worth every minute. Our driver was terrific and his ongoing commentary made the trip go quickly and added a lot of interest as we passed things we would not have understood the significance of.

This is my second time to do this tour- first with friends and this time with family. The driver/guide was a mountain of information, spewing it while driving smoothly. The lakes were beautiful and vibrant despite the gloom. The highlight of the tour was seeing Mt Cook up close but unfortunately the fog and rain did not show its peak. Nonetheless we enjoyed playing with the snow and had fun taking photos despite the drizzle. After the visit to the Church of the Good Shepherd there were no more intersting places to see on the way to Christchurch.

Mt Cook: The location was lovely; even with the grey sky and low-hanging clouds, the views were great. I opted for lunch at the Hermitage Hotel and was glad I did. It was a bit pricier than I would normally go for but the restaurant was brilliant and the food was so good I had about three platefuls. I think that a day trip is about the right amount of time to spend in the area – you could easily stretch to a couple of days as the scenery is beautiful and I think there are a lot of walking/hiking paths nearby to explore, but you wouldn’t feel like you’re missing out if you’re only there for the afternoon. GreatSights tour: The driver was ok but had an annoying tendency of repeatedly pointing out how much better the view would be without the bad weather. Well no s**t Sherlock, we could work that out for ourselves funnily enough, we don’t need a reminder every five minutes. It just put people in a bad mood about what they were missing instead of enjoying the view that they had, which (despite the low clouds) was still very impressive. The scenery on the south island is generally worth looking out the window for, so there was enough to see on the drive. The bus was comfortable enough that you could doze off if you wanted and the wifi was pretty reliable as well.

I had an awful day and experience in this ride. The driver Stuart was extremely rude and pretty much yelling when we boarded the bus. I have never seen such behavior while traveling to 21 other countries. They take unnecessary stops along the way to pick people from different towns on the way and waste a lot of time. Then they take you to a hotel hermitage for lunch and gives u a total of 2 hours and that's it your Mt Cook tour is done. You will even can’t see Mt Cook on the tour.  They should call it Queenstown Hermitage Christchurch tour. I seriously regret my decision to take this tour ️

The charge of NZD312 by Greatsights was more than 5 times of that of intercity bus from Christchurch to Queenstown. After taking into account of the more comfortable seating and an extra ride to Mt. Cook, the cost was still way excessive. The driver/guide was supposed to make the key difference and justify the huge markup in the bus fare but unfortunately our driver (who never introduced himself) talked very infrequently and in a sleepy voice that could hardly be understood. We had to get on the bus very early (7am) only to pick up a bunch of other people in other hotels, which was a waste of time. There would have been a huge saving in money and time if I had rented a car or just jumped on an intercity bus. One thing to note, however, is that the buffet lunch at Hermitage Hotel in Mt. Cook was very nice and should not be missed.

We took this trip on the 5th of January. Our bus driver/ tour guide was incredibly informative with lots of dry humor and wit. Plenty of stops too. Stuart had plenty of geology, flora and fauna knowledge made us feel we had South Iland 101 course. Thank you for a wonderful entertaining and educational trip. Drop of in Christchurch was very efficient too.

Mount Cook and lake Pukaki are amazingly breathtaking and the tour was good, the guide was a super guide and driver. I am glad I took this tour.

<p>I chose this tour so I could see more of New Zealand since we only had limited amounts of time to explore the country. We were able to see a lot on this tour and the scenery is amazing! The place where we stopped for lunch had amazing views and great food to purchase and we had plenty of time to walk around and take photos. The only thing I disappointed about was a lot of the places we stopped at were busy especially the house of the Good Shepherd and we had such a short time at some of the spots so it was hard to get good photos without people in them. I'm not sure how you would avoid that unless you go at a different time of year or know what to hit the viewing spots during non busy times. Also our driver was seemed somewhat moody and not sure if he didn't enjoy driving 12 hours that can be tiring or what his issue was, but overall it was worth the trip for me just for the scenery.</p>

<p>It was a very interesting albeit long day. the driver was knowledgeable about the areas we drove through. The lunch provided was excellent as was the view of Mt Cook.</p>

<p>The tour was terrific we drove through spectacular mountain scenery and had a long stop in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, during which we had time to walk trails, check out the Visitors' Centre, and appreciate the landscape more fully. The guide was knowledgeable and helpful. My only concern was that the company running the tour didn't have proper records of my pick-up and drop-off points, and it took some effort to inform them again about what I'd already told them. Overall, though, I highly recommend it as a way to travel between Queenstown and Christchurch you can take the tour in either direction and see and learn about things you might otherwise miss.</p>

This was an unexpected tour to us because we planned to drive from Queenstown to Christchurch at first. But when we arrived there we found driving in the mountains are very dangerous and easy to be tired, so we gave up driving and choose the bus tour. The bus drivers and bus assistants are very nice, especially the bus driver from Mt. Cook to Christchurch, he saw my husband and I were not very good in English and we had many luggage， so he dropped us in front of our hotel, instead of the Bus Station Center. The whole journey was very great, the bus stopped almost every hour and you can take a short break and enjoyed nice views like Cromwell, Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo. This bus stopped near the foot of Mt. Cook for about 2 hours in the noon so that you can have dinner there. This is absolutely a good choice for tourist.

<p>This tour was very disappointing.<br/> I had expected it to be more of a tour-cum-transport option but it was just a regular bus service with a weird route. The bus stopped for 4-5 times at service stations / road side shops for toilet and shopping and only twice at scenic locations for photos one of which was barely 5 minutes long.<br/> The hotel and lunch at Mount Cook was nice. The scheduled stop there was 1h45 minutes. We arrived about 30 minutes late, but left on schedule. That left practically no time to do anything else besides lunch. It wasn't even enough to thoroughly see the alpine centre at the hotel itself.<br/> This tour is too expensive for what is nothing more than a local bus service.</p>

<p>Enjoyable ride with good commentary. Plenty of opportunities to stop and take pictures.</p>

<p>Traversing Queenstown to Christchurch with a lot of stops specially in Mount Cook is a great experience for me. Having a limited time in New Zealand this is another great option to do.</p>

<p>Our weather was horrible so we could not see the mountains. I cannot blame that on the tour. This area has a lot of rain. Would recommend going in NZ's summer or spring, not the fall May.What I would NOT recommend is the lunch at the Hermitage hotel. It was described as a high class hotel with an excellent lunch. It was a buffet lunch with much of the food soggy, bland or unidentifiable. Definite disappointment. Driver was excellent on dangerous roads. He kept up a continuous chatter giving us a feeling for the people who lived in the various towns that we drove through.</p>

<p>Driving from Queenstown to Christchurch is beautiful! Mount Cook is a must go.</p>

<p>It was really amazing trip! Especially you could be see all beautiful place on the way, and also when the bus arrived Christchurch ,they were helps us droped your accommodation as well ! It was really helps.<br/> Thanks for a lot!<br/> I would like to use this tour again!</p>

<p>A full on day of travel with a very informative host/driver and his multilingual companion. Mount Cook was snow covered and magnificent viewed from the lodge where we had a splendid well set out buffet meal. As a tired couple we were dropped off at our hotel door and grateful for a safe, very informative and long journey.</p>

<p>Poor Experience, could not get fmaily to sit together, driver is very rude</p>

<p>This tour leaves at around 8am, and due to the frequent rest stops, picking up and dropping of passengers, and of course, the trip into Mount Cook National Park, the whole show really does take about 11 hours as stated in the description, so yes, it does make for a very long day.</p> <p> That being said, its a very fun day and gazing at the giant snow capped peaks inside the yellow grassed valley was absolutely worth the temporary stop before heading to Christchurch.</p> <p> Throughout the trip and for what youd expect for a tour like this, there is lots of continuous commentary about the surrounding region, environments, and history of many of the towns.</p> <p> Once getting to the national park, and depending on the conditions when youre there, you may be surrounded by heavily snow laden mountains and the views are rather stunning. I even tried hiking up a mountain area at one point to try and reach a hanging glacier, but it ended being a lot farther than I expected and thus did not actually get to it but still got a decent picture.</p> <p> From there the bus goes to Lake Tekapo which seemed to be the halfway point roughly in the trip where we stopped to see the small church that still holds weekly services. The views upon the lake were also just amazing.</p> <p> Onward from Lake Tekapo you'll go through a number of other small towns including a country café in a town called Geraldine which features the biggest sweater in the world and was entered as a Guinness Book of World Records victory.<br/> The only thing I may recommend is to not stop so frequently for bathroom and snack breaks. I think cutting a few of the stops would cut down on the lengthy time for this trip otherwise.</p> <p> All in all, the excursion was really cool and totally worth the stop off in the national park along with all the other history that is provided to you when you do this tour. Definitely recommended when going from Queenstown to Christchurch, or visa versa.</p>

<p>At first, I thought that we will stop in a lot of places with the beautiful spot. in fact, the don't. I don't know if it is due to bad weather or not. Lack of time to take pictures in the beautiful spot. The women tour guides are not helpful yet the driver is so kind and give a lot of information along the way.</p>

<p>The driver was very knowledgeable and the bus was very comfy. I did feel the stops were so brief it felt really rushed- i also am aware this was due to a handful of passangers that was constantly late and the driver had to make up for time.</p>

<p>Nice guide, but the office is bad,... They asked me to be ready at 6:50 and no one picked me up,.. After calling in the morning, they told me pick up time is 7:30 so wake up call 40 min. to early... : not a good service</p>

<p>Very knowledgeable and entertaining driver. Was disappointed that there are so many stops along the way. We had very little time at MT. Cook. Had he dropped the through passengers first we would have had at least l/1 hour longer there.</p>

<p>it was wonderful , but unfortunately weather wasn't good . Next time I will stay at Mt. cook</p>

<p>The operator I spoke with to book hotel pick up explained the bus would not come to my hotel because they had no access. I was watching a "Cooks to Christchurch bud drive past our hotel as we were speaking. He also told me I would not be permitted to get off the bus at Rolleston. I gave up arguing with him and asked the driver the following day. He had no problems with this and let me off at the Station. Operator needs to get story straight!! Driver was very informative. Snow prevented us actually seeing Mt Cook.</p>

<p>Knowledgeable and funny bus driver, beautiful scenery, plenty of comfort stops</p>

<p>Awesome tour. Very knowledgeable guide. Beautiful Scenery. Very memorable and a must do for all visiting the south island.</p>

<p>Fabulous - good way to see sites and get from point A to point B</p>

<p>The main attraction we were looking forward to in this tour was the Mount Cook. And we got to spend just 50 minutes at the Hermitage hotel so we just had lunch there. The your should not mislead people by saying it's via Mt. Cook. The translator was rude at most times. Not recommended!</p>

<p>Not the best of trips the weather closed in and was raining for most of the day, couldnt actually see Mount Cook and the stop at the top was for 1 1/2 hours with nothing really to do as all flights cancelled. The other thing i thought was unfair was that the trip was more of a local bus not an organised tour as we stopped and started dropping and picking people up at differenct locations all day</p>

<p>Unfortunately it rained and was foggy most of the day so we didn't get to see Mount Cook. However, the driver shared much interesting information during the day that we would not have had access to if we had travelled on our own. Pickup and drop off at our hotels was greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Grumpy bus driver and too many stops. Mt. Cook was a beautiful site to behold, and we are glad we stopped by on our way between Queenstown to Christchurch.</p>

<p>We had previously flown from Christchurch to Queenstown and arranged our itinerary so that we could get this 1-day coach trip back to Christchurch for the next leg of our 4-week holiday. We therefore had all of our luggage but this wasn’t a problem as it was large air-conditioned coach so it was stored underneath. </p> <p>We were also concerned that the trip may not run so we’d have been stranded on South Island for Christmas but again this wasn’t a problem as it we were told they run the trip every day - it seems to be a local bus service as well so this could explain why. For example, we picked up a few people at various remote locations on the way and dropped them off again at youth hostels or other remote locations en-route. The driver even stopped at one place to drop off the post! This didn’t affect our schedule and we had lots of stops on the way to take photos.</p> <p>We had a great lunch at the foot of Mount Cook and the scenery was fabulous. We left Queenstown at 8am and arrived in Christchurch at 6:30pm. It was a great trip and I would definitely recommend it.</p>