While in the Southern Alps, don’t miss the chance to experience the views on this fully guided day trip including not one but two scenic helicopter flights. Be amazed by the views of Aoraki Mt. Cook and the Tasman Glacier, then set foot on the glacier for a hike with a difference. Guides will accompany you the whole way and tell you about the natural and cultural significance of the places you visit.

A great way to see and do a lot in a single day
Snacks and bottled water are included
Full-day tour including heli hike & guided bus tour, starting in Queenstown
See many famous sights on the road journey to Aoraki Mt. Cook

What's Included

Small Group Fully Guided Bus Tour
Tasman Glacier Heli Hike including all equipment
2 Scenic Helicopter Flights
Snacks
Bottled water

Alcoholic beverages (available to purchase)
Gratuities
Lunch - opportunities to purchase along the way.

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

The Station - Home of Adventure in Queenstown
Corner of Shotover & Camp Streets, 25 Shotover Street, Queenstown 9300, New Zealand
Please pick this location if your hotel is not on our list. We do not pick up from your hotel, motel or private property if it is not listed.

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

06:30 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

Pickups are from the below hotels only. If your hotel is not listed, please select your closest alternative and meet us there. If you are not sure where your closest alternative is, please contact us in advance so that we can advise you. If you have not yet booked a hotel then please select The Station (Home of Adventure) as your pickup location. You can update this once your hotel is booked by contacting us or amending your pickup directly through Viator. Note: our pickups begin 15 mins before tour start time so please check your confirmation for the exact pickup time from your chosen location as these will vary. Kamana Lakehouse Mercure Queenstown Heritage Hotel Rydges Lakeland Resort QT Queenstown Hotel St Moritz Crowne Plaza Novotel Nomads Hostel Flaming Kiwi Backpackers Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel Pinewood Lodge The Station Information Centre (default central pickup point) LyLo Queenstown Sofitel Aspen Lodge Ramada Queenstown Central Heartland Hotel Scenic Suites Holiday Inn Express Millennium Hotel Copthorne Hotel & Resort Lakefront Copthorne Hotel & Apartments Lakeview Swiss Belsuites Pounamu Oaks Shores Resort The Rees Holiday Inn Frankton Road Sherwood Hotel Frankton Bus Interchange (closest stop to airport) Sudima Five Mile

What To Expect

Queenstown (Pass By)

Kawarau Suspension Bridge (Pass By)

Cromwell

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Lindis Pass

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Omarama

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Lake Pukaki

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Mount Cook Ski Planes & Helicopters

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Tasman Glacier

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (Te Wahipounamu)

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Mt. Cook Village

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

High Country Salmon

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Jackson Orchards

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Queenstown

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Near public transportation
Not wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level

Heli-Hike is always 'on request' until confirmed by our airline partner
Heli Hike is weather dependent and may be cancelled if unsafe to fly.
A large amount of hiking is involved.
Please dress in 3 – 4 layers of warm upper body clothing and no jeans
Children under 12 years are not permitted for this activity.
Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 16 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Steve_F

One of the best experiences of my life. Our bus driver was great she was an excellent driver and gave us a lot of info during the tour. Plenty of stops for photos and breaks. The heli hike was amazing and something I would recommend if you are able to. I would book this trip again. Cheeky kiwi did a great job.

Reviews

5.0

45 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 45 reviews

Hunter is the guy!!

Yunmei_C, Apr 2024

The glacier ice cave tour and actually all the activities that “Hunter” lead us to is great… we fully enjoy the trip!!

A good trip

jiaying_Y, Apr 2024

I think the trip was very meaningful, met a lot of new friends, the guides were very professional and humorous, everything was good

Incomplete Rating - but tour guide was awesome for us not being able to fly

Michael_D, Mar 2024

Unfortunately, we were unable to fly to the summit of Mt Cook because of poor flying conditions. The Cheeky Kiwi team made the most of it by guiding us to Hooker Valley and the scenic route prior to Mt Cook area. Our tour guide, Cameron, was outstanding! He really made the experience exponentially more enjoyable despite us not being able to fly up that day. We really wished we could've heli-ed & hiked. Will have to rebook the heli-hike only in the future!

Amazing experience

Steve_F, Mar 2024

Best day

Mariane_M, Jan 2024

Thank you Collen from cheeky kiwi for giving us the best day and d guide from d hike too, you guys are great!😊

Remarkable experience

VICTORIA_R, Jan 2024

This was the highlight of our trip to NZ. We were fortunate to have such perfect weather to be able to make the flight. We recognize that sometimes due to weather the heli ride up needs to be canceled so feel very fortunate to have such an amazing day. This was such a remarkable experience I would highly recommend it. This books up fast and needs to be booked advanced. Although it was a bit pricey on aviator perhaps check with other local tour groups to optimize your price. Our tour guide Jeff was super knowledgeable and really a lovely person. Appreciate his patients with the crew and helping to shepherd everyone along!

Book in advance but cancelled heli hike, but the tour is good and worth

Josephine_T, Dec 2023

The most important thing I wanna to do is Heli hike on glacier, I booked in very advanced. But just before few days, they told me the heli hike fully booked and need swap to other activities ( but not due to the weather problems). I’m shocked and disappointed for that. The tour keep going, just cancel the heli hike. FYI, then I swap to helicopter and landing ( without hike). They tried very hard to reorganise, I felt very thankful about that. And, The tour was good, the guide super nice and very informative and knowledgeable, really learnt a lot. But, the tour ultimately didn’t go to the Mt cook village & in the fruit Orchard, little disappointed. However, all the staff and the plan is very smooth. For what happened during the tour time was very good. I would said super worth for it. Just something different with what the tour page said.

5 stars :)

Jenny_W, Dec 2023

Helihike was fantastic, guide (Ryan) was excellent. One of the stand out experiences of my trip here.

A Breathtaking Experience in Otherworldly Beauty

Daniel_G, Oct 2023

This experience was undoubtedly the crown gem of my time in New Zealand. I cannot overstate how much I recommend the operators to anyone interested in exploring Aoraki Mt. Cook and/or the Tasman Glacier. My positive experiences began well before I even set foot on the bus in Queenstown, with Matlida doing a fantastic job explaining what to expect, where I should be, and other guidance for the experience. The day before departure, she notified me that there was a good chance that weather would scrub helo activities near the glacier and spelled out the options for alternative itineraries and ways to refund the flight portion of the trip. I did -- and still do -- appreciate her sincerity and professionalism. However, it turns out that weather forecasts on the South Island are something of an art more than a science. The weather on the day of the flight was perfect. Collin, the charming bus driver who shuttled our crew up from Queenstown, communicated to me and one other helihike participant updates on the weather while en route, in between explaining the history and trivia of the stunning scenic vistas we were traversing. I don't know if I expected a bus ride to be a huge plus to a day spent hiking on a glacier, but it certainly was! Likewise, the staff conducting Aoraki Mount Cook helihikes were very professional, and their dedication to safety was evident from the moment I arrived. We received briefings on navigating the glacier itself and how to behave around the helicopters that would ferry us to and from the Tasman Glacier. There were ample amounts of gear for us, as well. Windproof layers, down jackets, good boots, thick wool socks, waterproof bags, crampons, and more were ready for us to use. The operations at the airport were smooth, professional, and speedy. Now, the hike itself. I find myself struggling to describe what a unique, incredible, astounding experience it was. The magnitude and scale of the living mountains are hard to encapsulate. The sounds of the glacier, the waterfalls, the icefalls, and the rock slides punctuated the air between the whispered "wows" from the participants. Ryan, our guide that day, deftly led us across the glacier to a series of caves and undulations in the ice that we could explore. It was stunning, and I still find myself flipping through the photos I took that day. I wholeheartedly recommend this trip to anyone up for a great adventure in New Zealand. Just remember, the mountain and weather heed no plans from man. Be ready to be flexible and be gracious if the mountain allows you to traverse its wilds. A canceled flight or hike does not mean your experience was ruined; it means someone genuinely cares about your well-being and respects the raw power of this untamed yet beautiful, corner of the world.

Fabulous day

Marcus_F, Oct 2023

The whole trip was wonderful and unforgettable. Stunning views especially frlm the helicopter. I hadn't realised that appropriate clothing, gloves and boots were provided so that was good for those that needed. I dropped one star simply because we had less time actually walking on the glacier that I'd anticipated (about 1.5 hours) We wore crampons which was a first for me! But a fab trip and great tour leader.

Mount Cook magnificent

Paul_K, Jun 2023

Fantastic experience all round from the moment we left. Ice caves truly unique and guided professionally

We had a terrific guide,...

Eileen_T, May 2023

We had a terrific guide, Rich, who ensured we had a wonderful experience!! It was a beautiful Blue Bird day!! Cheers!

Awesome tour guide and driver on a rainy day

Steven_C, Apr 2023

The driver and the tour guide, "Plate" (the sound of his name) was trying to create a positive atmosphere for this Mt Cook tour on a cold and rainy day (5th April, 2023) He's knowledgeable and introduced related background information about the things we saw along the route to Mt Cook. The cafe in Omarama that we stopped for a break was fantastic and we had a lovely hot chocolate and sandwiches for morning tea there. (much better than another cafe in Omarama which is chosen by InterCity) He also kept us up-to-dated to the weather condition that might affect our helicopter flight to glacier (was cancelled due to the unstable weather conditions on the mountains)

one of, if not, the most memorable excursion I had in New Zealand

Fan_Y, Mar 2023

I have never done heli hike before. Our group spent about 2 hours hiking on the glacier. It was quite a fun experience. I highly recommend it!

Brilliant tour choice for South Island

Thomas_P, Oct 2022

Amazing experience to fly above and then walk on the glacier. Breathtaking views on the helicopter ride. Fabulous hosts from start to finish.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Thanks for joining us on tour! Sounds like you had an amazing day at Mount Cook!