Hiking in New Zealand🥾🏞️

New Zealand is known for its amazing mountain views and variety of beautiful hikes. There are so many walks and hikes to choose from, so this blog will focus on the hikes I did during both of my trips. At the end of this blog, it will also include other hikes that we would recommend to do but we weren’t able to fit in/do.

1. Cathedral Cove Walk, North Island.
2. Tongariro Alpine Crossing, North Island*.
3. Kaikōura Coastal Walk, South Island.
4. Abel Tasman National Park, South Island.
5. Hokitika Gorge Walk, South Island.
6. Roberts Pass Hike, Franz Josef, South Island.
7. Callery Gorge Walk & Peters Pool.
8. Roys Peak, Wanaka, South Island*.
9. Isthmus Peak, Wanaka, South Island*.
10. Routeburn Track, Fiordland National Park, South Island*.
11. Mount Cook National Park, South Island*.

(* we personally think are 100% must do hikes)

Cathedral Cove Walk

The scenic 2.5km walk down to the famous Cathedral Cove Beach is a must! This moderate walk is in the Coromandel Peninsular, and takes around 1.5 hours to complete, involving uphill and downhill sections, ending with steep steps to the beach. This beach is gorgeous and the perfect place to spend the day, and you may recognise it from the movie Narnia, Price Caspian.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is probably one of the most popular hikes in New Zealand. It is in the North Island, a forty minute drive from Taupo and is a 20.2km hike over an active volcano.

I first did this hike in 2020 with the Kiwi Experience, and it was honestly incredible! With the Kiwi Experience your tour will organise your drop off and pick up points and your guide at the time will go with you. We went in January and the views at the summit were amazing!

I enjoyed it so much that I wanted Ned to do it as well. However, the weather when we went in 2025 was terrible. The first two days we were there, the park was closed due to heavy rain and snow. We managed to hike to the summit on our third try, but it definitely wasn’t for the weak. The whole track was cloudy, snowy and at some points dangerous from the snow freezing over to slippery ice. We managed to get to the summit, but the views weren't great, as you can see from the comparison photos. Still it was such an amazing experience and we both really enjoyed ourselves. We hope to one day come back to try again so Ned can see the views I got to see in 2020.

Tips beforehand, is to book the shuttle bus from the end point to the start to avoid being stranded at the end. For the Kiwi Experience your bus will be at the end waiting for you. However, if you are doing it yourself, and you don’t have a bus or transport organised, it is an additional couple hours walk from the end to the start. This is because the hike is meant to be completed one way so make sure to book the shuttle ahead of time. Park your own car/camper at the finish, catch the shuttle bus to the start and once you’ve finished your hike you will be where you parked!

Kaikōura Coastal Walk

There are loads of walking/hiking trails in Kaikōura. We did the Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway; Coastal Trail, where you can see amazing surrounding views of the mountains and get the opportunity to see Fur Seals in their natural habitat! This walking trail is pretty easy, with only a little incline throughout the whole walk, it took us between three to four hours to complete the loop as we kept stopping to take in the views and see all the seals.

Abel Tasman National Park

Spend a few days at Abel Tasman National Park, as they have so many different trails to choose from. One of the ones we did was the Abel Tasman Coastal Track and the views were insane along the way! We only went to Akersten Bay and back, which took us four hours as we had to turn back around. Normally you can reach Anchorage in four hours and then get the boat back, but annoyingly the boat stopped at 4pm so we couldn’t make it there in time. As there were no other boats, we would have had to walk the four hours back, which we didn’t want to do when it got dark. So take into account the boat times and make sure they align with your hike. There are also a lot of other spots for hiking so definitely check them all out!

Hokitika Gorge Walk

The Hokitika Gorge Walk is a 2 km loop, which can take between 45 to 60 minutes to complete. Located only a twenty minute drive from Hokitika, it is an easy, well-maintained trail through the forest. It has a swing bridge with views of the beautiful turquoise river, and different viewing platforms. Perfect morning walk to start your day.

Roberts Pass Hike, Franz Josef

There are two main hikes to do in Franz Josef, one is the Heli Glacier Hike, which takes you into the glacier. However, it is very weather dependent and only 50% of the time it can actually be done as the weather changes so much. After our hike got postponed, we decided to do the Roberts Pass hike instead and it didn’t disappoint. It doesn’t take you onto the glacier, but you can see it quite closely from the top of the viewpoint. The hike is 12.3km return and can take between 4-6 hours to complete. The track offers stunning views of the Franz Josef Glacier, involving stream crossings, multiple swinging bridges, rock climbing, stairs and steep sections with waterfalls and sheer cliffs.

Callery Gorge Walk & Peters Pool

Two other short walks to add to your Franz Josef list are Callery Gorge Walk and Peters Pool. Callery Gorge is a 5.2km return walk, which can take between an hour and an hour and a half. It is an easy walk, begins at Cowan Street and takes you through the native forest and to a suspension bridge, which overlooks the gorge.

Peters Pool on the other hand, is a short 1.1km walk, very easy to do and can take between twenty and thirty minutes to finish. It takes you through the rainforest to a small mirror lake with views of Franz Josef Glacier Valley. The perfect place for sunrise if you can get up early enough!

Roys Peak, Wānaka

I did Roys Peak for sunrise with the Kiwi Experience in 2020 and it is a must do hike! You go as a group and it is an early 3am wake up call. The guide drives you to the base of the hike and you start at 4am to ensure you reach the top for sunrise. The hike is 16km return and can take between 5-7 hours to complete if you are there for sunrise, with it being classed as a moderate to hard hike depending on your pace and fitness level. The views at the top are completely worth it and we were lucky with a gorgeous sunrise to start the day. Annoyingly, when I went with Ned, the route was closed due to lambing season, which we didn’t realised lasts for over a month. This typically happens between 1st October to 10th November, so take this into account when you go to Wānaka.

Isthmus Peak, Wānaka

Ned and I chose to hike Isthmus Peak when we realised Roys Peak was sadly closed due to lambing season! However, Isthmus Peak also closes for lambing season, which happens between 20th November to 20th December, so make sure to also take this into account if you want to do both hikes, which we 100% recommend to do.

Both hikes are incredible and completely different. Roys Peak you can see an amazing sunrise and the surrounding hills and mountains, and from what I can remember it is steep but not the worst hike I have done. Isthmus Peak on the other hand provides you with a 360 degree view of Lake Wānaka and Lake Hāwea and the surrounding snowy mountains at the summit.

Isthmus Peak isn’t a challenging hike in terms of terrain or steep inclines, but it is quite long and deceivingly so. There are many false summits that make you think you are near the top, when in fact you have some way still to go. Apart from this, we both agree this is one of the best hikes we have done, not just in New Zealand.

Routeburn Hike, Te Anu

On the way to Milford Sound, we drove past the sign for this hike, which was recommended as one of the best New Zealand’s great walks in the Lonely Planet Guide, so we made sure we had enough time for this on the way back.

Only a two hour return hike, it is a moderate hike to the top. For a harder hike, you have the option to do a 3 day hike to the hut at the summit, however, we just chose to go to the lake and back. The views at the top were incredible, even with it being cloudy, so you can imagine what the views would look like if it was completely blue skies and sun! The track takes you in a loop in between the mountains with surrounding trees and lakes. The 360 view of the mountains is incredible as you can see mountains from all angles.

Mount Cook, Aoraki National Park

Mount Cook, Aoraki National Park was one of our favourite hikes of New Zealand. There are a three hikes in this National Park that are highly recommended, the Sealy Tarns Summit Track and Mueller Hut, the Hooker Valley Track and the Tasman Glacier View Track .

We spent the whole day at the National Park, starting with the Hooker Valley Track. Sadly it was only half open as the other half of the track was closed off due to maintenance. The half track took around an hour return back to the car park and we did this as our morning walk before breakfast.

We then did the Searly Tarns Track and it was pretty incredible. We were so lucky with the weather, as just a week before they had really heavy snow so the whole track was covered and quite dangerous to hike, however, for us, the views were insane. The hike is only 8km but it can take up to five hours to complete because of the incline and the amount of stairs you have to take. It is very hard on your knees because of this and required a few breaks in between. But the view at the top is totally worth it. We went a little further down from the summit over the edge so that we could see the glacier up close and it was beautiful, we were even lucky to see an Avalanche!

The track however, is a middle point as you can go to Mueller Hut, which is another 6km but up even steeper steps. You can the whole hike in one day if you want, but some people camp at the hut if you book a slot.

Hikes Recommended but couldn’t do:

1. Mount Fyffe, Kaikoura, South Island.
2. Arthur’s Pass National Park, South Island.
3. Franz Josef Heli Hike, South Island.
4. The Aspiring Hut Track (West Matukituki Track), Mount Aspiring National Park, Wānaka.
1. Queenstown Hill Hike.