Christchurch & South Island Things to Do

With an entire network of rivers cascading down from the Southern Alps, and only a million residents in an area the size of New York, the South Island of New Zealand is a rugged paradise for river pursuits suck as kayaking, boating, and white water rafting.

A cruise to New Zealand is an excellent way to experience the small country in the South Pacific made up of a North Island and a South Island. Many of New Zealand’s attractions are water-based or can be easily reached from port. When cruising to New Zealand you have several different itinerary layout options. Some itineraries just sail to the North Island or South Island, some go to both and some combine a trip to Australia into the itinerary as well.

The South Island of New Zealand offers some of the world’s best hiking and alpine scenery, and the area around Arthur’s Pass National Park definitely isn’t any exception. While areas of the South Island such as Queenstown and Milford Sound receive a lot of the attention, Arthur’s Pass National Park offers alpine scenery that’s just as stunning but without a lot of the crowds.

This post originally appeared on Viator’s travel blog as the Top 25 Things to Do in Australia and New Zealand as part of our annual Viator Travel Awards.

 Each year we check out traveler reviews, data from the millions of people who travel with Viator.com during the year, and information on which tours in the region travelers book most often and select the best things to do in the region. From the list, here are some of the top things to do in New Zealand! 

Playfully billed as “The Sound of Silence,” the sheltered waters of Doubtful Sound were not always held in such heralded esteem. In fact, the name of the sound is actually derived from when Captain Cook opted not to enter the area given that he was “doubtful” of the chances it could be navigated safely.

Anyone who knows about New Zealand wines knows that the South Island is famous for its Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. This classic grape of New Zealand’s South Island is used in wine which most frequently finds its way on to international wine menus and in foreign cellars. Those who have been wine tasting on the South Island of New Zealand will tell you, however, that there is far more to South Island wines than just the well-known vineyards of Marlborough.