Three Great Walks in 16 days: Milford, Routeburn, Abel Tasman
Read this part before the itinerary, because it is the part that decides whether the trip is possible.
- Duration
- 16 days
- Pace
- Active
- Hotel changes
- 12
- Best months
- Nov, Dec, Feb, Mar, Apr
- From
- $4,960 per person
The Great Walk huts are allocated through a booking system that opens on one announced date each year, several months before the season starts. The Milford Track and the Routeburn Track sell out within minutes of that opening. Not days. Minutes. Everything else about this trip is easy, and this one thing is not.
What that means in practice: we agree your dates six to eight months ahead, we hold a first, second and third choice of start date, and we are online at the moment bookings release with your details already entered. If your dates cannot move, we will tell you honestly whether the walks you want are realistic, and where they are not we will suggest tracks that are just as good and less contested.
Who it suits: walkers comfortable with five to seven hours a day carrying their own gear, sleeping in bunk huts, and weather that changes without warning.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive Queenstown. Transfer, gear check, and the walk up Queenstown Hill in the afternoon if the legs want it.
Day 2: Queenstown. A shakedown day. Ben Lomond Saddle for anyone acclimatising, or the Routeburn Nature Walk. Buy the fuel canisters and repellent you could not fly with.
Day 3: To Te Anau. Two hours south, a track briefing at the visitor centre, and an early night. Last chance to leave anything behind.
Day 4: Milford Track, day one. Boat up Lake Te Anau to Glade Wharf and an easy 3 miles (5 km) along the Clinton river to the first hut. A short day by design, and the valley makes it worth arriving early.
Day 5: Milford Track, day two. Up the Clinton valley to Mintaro, about 10.5 miles (16.5 km), with the walls closing in either side. The whole track is walked in one direction only, north to south, so there is no returning.
Day 6: Milford Track, day three. Over the Mackinnon Pass and down to Dumpling Hut, about 9 miles (14 km) and the day everyone remembers. A side trip to Sutherland Falls in the afternoon if there is anything left.
Day 7: Milford Track, day four. Out to Sandfly Point, about 11 miles (18 km), and the boat across to Milford. A cruise on the sound in the afternoon before the coach back to Te Anau. The point is named accurately, and repellent goes in a pocket rather than the pack.
Day 8: Rest day, Te Anau. Deliberately empty. Laundry, food, a lake swim if the water allows.
Day 9: To Glenorchy. Drive north via Queenstown to the head of Lake Wakatipu, about 3 hours. Repack for three days.
Day 10: Routeburn Track, day one. Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Falls, about 5 miles (8 km) climbing through beech forest to a hut on the edge of a drop. The full track is about 20 miles (32 km).
Day 11: Routeburn Track, day two. Over Harris Saddle with the Hollyford valley opening below, and down to Lake Mackenzie, about 7 miles (11 km). The best middle day of any track in the country.
Day 12: Routeburn Track, day three. Out to the Divide via Earland Falls, about 7.5 miles (12 km), then the transfer back to Queenstown. A proper dinner.
Day 13: To Nelson. Fly north, about two hours, and drive to Marahau at the southern end of Abel Tasman National Park. Coast, sand and no altitude, which after two alpine tracks is the right order.
Day 14: Abel Tasman, day one. Water taxi north to Tonga Quay and walk back down the coast to Awaroa or Bark Bay, depending on the tide, which governs the estuary crossings. About 8 miles (13 km). The full coast track is about 37 miles (60 km) and is normally walked in sections with boats, which is a legitimate way to do it rather than a shortcut.
Day 15: Abel Tasman, day two. South along the coast to Anchorage, about 7.5 miles (12 km), with beaches to swim from at almost every bay. Sandflies at dusk, so cover up before the sun goes.
Day 16: Out, and home. Water taxi to Marahau in the morning, drive to Nelson and fly out.
What is included
Hut bookings on all three Great Walks, held on the release date, accommodation either side of each track, all track transport including the Te Anau boat, the Milford coach, the Routeburn transfer, the Abel Tasman water taxis and the internal flight, a Milford Sound cruise, gear hire where you would rather not fly with it, track notes with distances, ascent and hut facilities, food planning for the tracks, a day-by-day document with tide tables for the Abel Tasman crossings, and a WhatsApp group with your specialist and our partners on the ground.
What we would change, and when
- The dates you want are gone. Common, and not the end of it. The Kepler Track, a loop from Te Anau of about 37 miles (60 km) over three or four days, is as good as the Routeburn and far easier to book. The Hump Ridge Track in the deep south is newer to the network and quieter still.
- You would rather not carry a pack or sleep in a bunk. There are guided lodge options on both the Milford and the Routeburn, with private rooms, hot showers and meals cooked for you. They book on a different system, they also fill far ahead, and they cost roughly three times the hut version. We build either.
- Travelling outside the season, May to October? The tracks leave their booked season and become serious alpine undertakings with avalanche risk and no bridges in places. We would not build this route in those months, and we would say so rather than take the booking.
Related
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