Fox Glacier from Queenstown

No Fox Glacier heli-hike package from Queenstown is sold on GetYourGuide. The nearest thing is True South Flights’ Queenstown: Franz Josef Glacier Heli Hike & Scenic Flight, from $1,134 per person: you fly from Queenstown to Franz Josef, about 25 km north of Fox, and spend about 2 hours walking on Franz Josef Glacier before flying back the same day. To hike on Fox Glacier (Te Moeka o Tuawe) itself, drive or take the bus to Fox, stay at least two nights, and book Fox Glacier Guiding’s Fox Glacier Heli-Hike: Up to 3 Hours on the Ice there, from $483 per person.

Quick picks

• One day and no car: the fly-in day, 6.5 hours with hotel pickup in Queenstown, on Franz Josef Glacier.
• Fox Glacier itself: drive or bus to Fox, stay two nights and book the Fox heli-hike, up to 3 hours on the ice, weather permitting.
• The most ice time of the tours compared here: the Franz Josef extended heli-hike, up to about 5.5 hours on the ice, from age 14.
• A shorter trip from Fox: the Fox Glacier and Mount Cook helicopter flight, 35 minutes with a snow landing, from $281.

How the fly-in day works

The day runs on a tight itinerary. True South Flights collects you from your Queenstown hotel and gives a 30-minute safety briefing. A one-hour plane flight crosses the Southern Alps to the West Coast, with pilot commentary, and the listing promises you a window seat in the plane. A 15-minute bus ride takes you into Franz Josef township, where you check in at the Glacier Base, pick up crampons and waterproofs, and sit a second 30-minute briefing.

A 15-minute helicopter flight lifts you onto the Franz Josef Icefall, and you spend about 2 hours hiking with a guide among crevasses and ice formations, weather permitting. Then the order reverses: helicopter, bus and a one-hour flight back to Queenstown, with an hour’s break built in. The listing puts the whole day at 6.5 hours, and hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

Food is not included. The listing recommends a packed lunch, a small water bottle and sunscreen, and asks for 3 to 4 warm layers, shorts or light trousers (no jeans), sunglasses and any daily medication. Everything you take onto the ice has to fit in the 2-litre waist bag provided, and the listing says lockers in the Glacier Base Building hold the rest.

The limits are strict. The tour is not suitable for children under 10, anyone under 30 kg or over 115 kg, people with mobility impairments, or anyone with a low level of fitness. Give everyone’s full name and approximate weight at booking: large differences can stop you joining.

The weather risk on a one-day trip

You get one attempt. The day depends on flying weather in Queenstown, over the Alps and at Franz Josef, and the West Coast can change quickly. One reviewer’s glacier walk was called off for low cloud after the flight across, although the scenic flight went ahead. The listing gives free cancellation up to 24 hours before but does not set out what happens to the price when only the hike is cancelled, so ask True South Flights before you book. The tour has 28 reviews on GetYourGuide, rated 4.8.

It is also the most expensive tour on this site and the only one that starts in Queenstown. Book it if you have one free day in Queenstown, no car, and you would like the flight over the Alps to be part of the day.

Driving from Queenstown to Fox

The road route runs north through Wanaka and Haast on State Highway 6, the only road into the national park from the south. Glacier Country puts Fox 3 hours 14 minutes (262 km) from Wanaka and Franz Josef 4 hours 40 minutes (351 km) from Queenstown. Fox is about 25 minutes short of Franz Josef on the same road, so plan on roughly four and a half hours at the wheel, and most of a day once you stop for photos and food.

By bus, InterCity takes about 7 hours 15 minutes from Queenstown to Fox, and its main Fox stop is on Main Road outside the Fox Glacier Guides building, where the heli-hike checks in. A journey that long leaves no room for a hike on the day you arrive.

Fill up before the long stretch south of Fox. Fox Glacier Motors sells fuel in the village, and the nearest pumps beyond it are at Haast, about 120 km south, and Franz Josef, about 25 km north. Glacier Country says mobile coverage is limited around Haast. Check NZTA’s live road map before you set off, because slips have closed State Highway 6 on this coast before.

Our getting-there guide has the full table of drive times, buses and flights.

A two-night plan from Queenstown

Fox Glacier Guiding runs the heli-hike at 8:50 am and 11:50 am, with check-in 20 minutes before at 44 Main Road. With two nights you get two chances:

1. Day one: drive from Queenstown and settle in. Walk to Lake Matheson in the evening if the sky is clear.
2. Day two: the heli-hike, up to 4 hours in total with up to 3 hours on the ice, weather permitting. Fox Glacier Guiding makes its weather call 10 minutes before departure and refunds a cancelled trip in full.
3. Day three: your rebooking slot if day two was cancelled. If you already hiked, take the walks without a helicopter before the drive on.

The Fox heli-hike suits ages 9 and up with reasonable fitness, and is not suitable for anyone over about 115 kg or for wheelchair users; leave the jeans at home. For accommodation, see where to stay in Fox Glacier.

Fly-in day or the drive to Fox

Book the fly-in day if you have one day, no car, and the flight across the Alps matters to you. Choose the drive to Fox if you want Fox Glacier itself, more time on the ice and a second chance at the weather. The drive costs you two days, but the Fox heli-hike is $651 less per person, and you walk on the ice for up to 3 hours.

Already planning to stay in Franz Josef? The 2.5-hour Franz Josef heli-hike checks in there, from $511 and rated 4.7 from 404 reviews, the most of the heli-hikes on this site. Our Franz Josef heli-hike page covers both Franz Josef hikes, and the Fox or Franz Josef guide compares the two glaciers in detail.

Read our breakdown of the fly-in day for the full inclusions, and when you have a date, check availability.