New Zealand Lodges
The South Island's legendary lodges, heli-access and the Southern Alps.
- Nature · Private
- Ideal length: 8-11 days
- Best time: October through April, when the Southern Hemisphere summer opens the reef, the vineyards and the alpine trails all at once.
- Private guiding, access and transfers throughout
- From US$16,000 per traveler — a starting point, tailored to you
- Designed one-to-one by a Forest Travel advisor
- Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels
The South Island's legendary lodges, heli-access and the Southern Alps.
Two nations at the edge of the world offer coral gardens, ancient rainforest, glacial peaks and some of the most remote luxury on earth.
When to go
October through April, when the Southern Hemisphere summer opens the reef, the vineyards and the alpine trails all at once. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
The experiences
A sense of what this journey can hold — each one arranged privately and shaped to you:
- A helicopter landing on a glacier or a remote alpine tarn, with a picnic laid out on the ice.
- A private day on a spring-fed river with a ghillie, casting for wild brown trout in gin-clear water.
- A guided hike into a hidden valley of the Southern Alps, returning to the fire by dusk.
- An evening of estate wines and locally sourced tasting menus at one of the finest lodges, seen only by your party.
A sense of the rhythm
The South Island rewards those who let the landscape set the tempo. Days are shaped by weather and light rather than a schedule, moving between mountain, lake and river with the lodge as your anchor. Expect long, generous evenings and mornings that begin whenever you wish.
One lodge or a circuit
Settling into a single great lodge lets you go deep, building a rapport with the land and the team who know it. A circuit of two or three trades that intimacy for variety across mountains, fiords and high country. For a first visit we lean toward two lodges, unhurried.
How to do it well
The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:
- Time your visit for the shoulder months of November or March to avoid the peak crowds and catch stable weather.
- Build in buffer days; helicopter access depends on the skies, and the best experiences reward patience.
- Pair a mountain lodge with a coastal or fiord one so the terrain shifts as you move south.
- Resist over-scheduling the heli days; one grand landing done well beats three rushed ones.
What only your advisor can open
The difference between a good trip and an unrepeatable one is access — and access is a relationship, not a booking. Every guide, room and moment is chosen and sequenced for you.
Who it's for
Travelers who value privacy, time and doing it once — beautifully — and who would rather have one trusted advisor orchestrate every detail than assemble it themselves.
Estimated investment
From US$16,000 per traveler, based on double occupancy — scaled to your dates, party size and level of privacy. A starting point, not a final quote; confirmed once your advisor tailors the itinerary.
Designed entirely around you
Nothing here is a package. A Forest Travel advisor shapes the whole journey and stays one message away before and throughout your trip.
Your Virtuoso privileges
As a Virtuoso member, Forest Travel includes benefits reserved for Virtuoso guests at the finest luxury hotels, at no added cost: a room upgrade on arrival when available, daily breakfast for two, a property credit toward dining or spa, and early check-in with late check-out when the hotel allows.
Continue exploring Australia & New Zealand
Part of our Australia & New Zealand travel guide. Related private journeys:
Begin the conversation
Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design New Zealand Lodges around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →
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