Franz Josef Heli Hike

If the Fox Glacier heli-hike is full on your dates, or you are staying in Franz Josef, book Franz Josef Glacier Guides’ Franz Josef Glacier: 2.5-Hour Heli-Hike with Helicopter Transfer, from $511 per person. It has the most reviews of the heli-hikes sold on GetYourGuide, 404, with a rating of 4.7. A helicopter flies you onto Franz Josef Glacier (Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere) in around 4 minutes, and you spend up to 2.5 hours on the ice with a guide. It checks in at Franz Josef, about 24 km and 25 minutes’ drive north of Fox Glacier township.

Next to the Fox Glacier heli-hike (from $483, up to 3 hours on the ice), it gives you up to half an hour less on the ice for $28 more, and children must be a year older. It also has one more departure a day in summer, which helps when the weather is unsettled.

Quick picks for a heli-hike near Fox

• Staying in Franz Josef, or Fox is sold out: the Franz Josef heli-hike, from $511, up to 2.5 hours on the ice, 4.7 from 404 reviews.
• Staying in Fox: the Fox heli-hike, from $483, up to 3 hours on the ice and about 4 hours in total, with no drive. Our Fox heli-hike breakdown has the details.
• A full day on the ice: the Franz Josef Extended Heli-Hike with Lunch, from $881, up to about 5.5 hours on the ice with no more than four guests.
• Based in Queenstown: a fly-in day package to Franz Josef, from $1,134, covered on our Queenstown heli-hike page.

How the Franz Josef and Fox heli-hikes differ

The two trips follow the same pattern: a briefing and kit fitting in town, a short helicopter flight, a guided walk in crampons, and the flight back. Each glacier has one heli-hike company. The differences that matter when you book:

• Time on the ice: up to 2.5 hours at Franz Josef, according to the listing, though Franz Josef Glacier Guides’ own FAQ says up to 2 hours. Fox gives up to 3 hours.
• Minimum age: 10 at Franz Josef, with a minimum weight of 35 kg and height of 137 cm. Fox takes children from age 9.
• Weight: the GetYourGuide listings for both trips say they are not suitable for people over 115 kg.
• Departures: Franz Josef runs 7:30am, 10:00am and 12:30pm in summer. Fox runs 8:50am and 11:50am all year, with extra trips on demand.
• Check-in: 15 minutes before at Franz Josef, 20 minutes before at Fox.
• Group: Franz Josef needs at least four guests and works to one guide for every 11. Fox needs at least three and publishes no ratio.
• Operator price: Franz Josef Glacier Guides lists NZ$899 and Fox Glacier Guiding NZ$849, both valid to 30 September 2027.

For the full side-by-side, including the two townships and where to stay, read our Fox or Franz Josef heli-hike guide.

What happens on the Franz Josef heli-hike

You check in at Franz Josef Glacier Guides in the township 15 minutes before your trip time. Staff fit you with boots and socks, crampons, poles, waterproof jacket and over-trousers, a helmet and gloves, and run a safety briefing. You walk a short way to the helipad and fly over the rainforest and the valley for around 4 minutes, landing high on the main icefall. The flights are operated by INFLITE.

On the ice, your guide picks a route to suit the conditions and the group. The listing mentions crevasses, ice formations and blue ice caves, but the glacier changes constantly and no feature is guaranteed. After up to 2.5 hours you fly back down. Franz Josef Glacier Guides puts the whole trip at up to about 4 hours from check-in to finish, although GetYourGuide’s card shows 4 to 8 hours.

Bring warm clothing, long pants, sunglasses, sunscreen, a camera and a water bottle. Jeans are not suitable. Food and drinks are not included, and luggage or large bags, drones, selfie sticks and vaping are not allowed. You need a reasonable level of fitness and agility: Franz Josef Glacier Guides says that if you can walk comfortably for 2 to 3 hours on uneven ground, including steps cut into ice, you will likely manage. The trip is not suitable for pregnant women or people with back problems. Our what-to-wear guide covers layers in more detail.

Two low-star reviews show what can go wrong. In one, the trip was called off shortly after landing and the group flew straight back down. In another, a hiker felt the walking itself was much shorter than the headline time once preparation and waiting were counted. If the trip does not go ahead on the scheduled departure, the listing offers a full refund.

The extended small-group heli-hike

Franz Josef Glacier Guides also sells a longer day on GetYourGuide. The extended heli-hike lasts 8 hours, with up to about 5.5 hours on the ice and a picnic lunch and drinks served on the glacier. The listing says you land at around 1,200 m, groups are limited to four guests per guide, and the kit includes a harness and helmet as well as crampons, boots, waterproofs, hat and gloves. It costs from $881 per person.

It is not suitable for children under 14, pregnant women or people over 115 kg, and you must tell the operator about any pre-existing medical conditions. The trip needs a minimum of four guests; if that is not met, you can move to the next departure, take another trip if one is offered, or get a full refund. It has only one review on GetYourGuide so far (5.0), so you have little guest feedback to go on. Our breakdown of the extended heli-hike has the itinerary.

Fox Glacier Guiding runs its own all-day trip, the Extreme Fox All Day Heli Hike, with up to 7 hours on the ice from NZ$1,049 on its website, but it is not sold on GetYourGuide.

When Franz Josef is the better booking

• You are staying in Franz Josef. The town has more accommodation and facilities than Fox, and the heli-hike starts in the township.
• Fox is sold out for your dates. The two companies take separate bookings, so one can have space when the other is full.
• You want another chance at a weather window. Franz Josef has three summer departures to Fox’s two, and both companies make the weather call shortly before departure. Franz Josef Glacier Guides needs a four-hour window of clear weather. Both glaciers lie in the path of the same westerly weather, so a booking on the second glacier gives you one more chance with no guarantee of clear skies.
• You want a full day on the ice with lunch: book the extended trip.

Choose Fox if you are staying there, if a child in your group is 9, or if the extra half hour on the ice matters more to you than the extra summer departure.

If no heli-hike works out

You cannot walk onto Franz Josef Glacier from the valley. Foot access to the ice ended around 2011 to 2012, and helicopters are now the only safe way onto the glacier for guided walks. The valley walk to the viewpoint is about 1.7 km return and 30 minutes, and the viewpoint is about 3 km from the glacier’s face.

If the age or weight limits rule you out, or you want the view without the walk, a scenic flight lands in the snow for a few minutes. HeliServices.NZ’s Twin Fox & Franz Josef Glaciers Helicopter Trip leaves from Franz Josef, takes 30 minutes and starts at $262; our twin-glacier flight page compares it with the other flights over both glaciers.

Book the heli-hike for your first full day in the area and keep the next day free. When you have dates, check availability for the Franz Josef heli-hike.