Savour the Journey

The Top of the South is a loop, not a line. Leaving Christchurch it runs north through the Hurunui’s vineyards and hot springs to Kaikōura, where a deep-water canyon a few kilometres offshore brings whales in close all year. From there the coast road turns inland into world-class Marlborough wine country and on to the Marlborough Sounds

Over the hill is Nelson Tasman: golden beaches, the country’s most accessible Great Walk, open year-round with gentle walking, and the growers and makers who supply most of what you will eat on this trip. Then south down the West Coast, which is rainforest and glaciers on one side and the stunning Tasman Sea on the other, before the alpine passes bring you home.

Nine nights covers all five regions without hurrying. Fourteen gives Abel Tasman and Golden Bay their own days, adds a second day on the water at Kaikōura, and lets weather have its say in Glacier Country without costing you the glacier.