Start your time in Glacier Country with a stop at the visitor information centre in Franz Josef. This is a wonderful source of information about the cultural, ecological and geological history of the area and if you don’t have anything pre-planned for your time here is also a good place to organise some sightseeing.

There is a wealth of glacier-related activities, from guided hikes to the base of the glacier to more challenging hikes on the glacier, and the wonderful heli-hike experience, whereby you take a short helicopter ride to a flat part of the glacier and explore on foot for a couple of hours. This is a great way to explore all the nooks and crevices of these impressive glaciers, and the views are pretty spectacular too.

On a clear, still day, Lake Matheson, just outside Fox Glacier, provides one of the most famous viewpoints in New Zealand, superbly reflecting the Southern Alps and Mount Cook. It’s often most settled first thing in the morning so head there early if the sky is clear. It takes around 40 minutes to reach the pontoon with the famous view, and around one-and-a-half hours to walk the whole way around the lake.