Top Things to do in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (Te Wahipounamu)
Top Hotels in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (Te Wahipounamu)
6 Things to do Good for Big Groups in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (Te Wahipounamu) That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (Te Wahipounamu), New Zealand including Aoraki/Mt. Cook, Hooker Valley Track, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park Visitor Centre, Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier walks, Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, Glacier Explorers.
Restaurants in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (Te Wahipounamu)
1. Aoraki/Mt. Cook
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 532 reviews
Reviewed By BradJill - Hong Kong, China
Mount Cook also referred locally by its Maori name of Aoraki is the highest mountain in New Zealand and the darling of the Southern Alps range on South Island. It dominates the peaks of the Mount Cook National Park and can be viewed well from both sides of the mountain range. We recently spent some time around Mount Cook National Park enjoying views of Aoraki from numerous hiking areas and trails. Most enjoyable was probably at Lake Hooker, a beautiful reflection lake made up of melt water from Hooker Glacier located a short distance from the Mount Cook Village. A similar impressive view of Mount Cook can be found at Lake Matheson, another famous reflection lake near the Fox Glacier Village on the west side of the range. There is a very good Visitor Centre in the Mount Cook Village with quality displays and historic accounts of mountaineering and general exploration of Mount Cook and fellow peaks in the area. You can also learn quite a bit about hiking and other activities related to visits to Mount Cook on the DOC National Park website. This is well worth spending some time researching before making trips to the area.
2. Hooker Valley Track
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,041 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By Falsendrach - Auckland Central, New Zealand
We did the Hooker Valley trail in May, just after NZ dropped to Covid Alert Level 2. It was a great time to do it with the lack of tourists around. Because of the popularity the Hooker Trail is usually very busy, sometimes with so many people on the trail you feel like you're walking in a queue. Parking can be an issue if you're arriving later in the day and you sometimes have to park on the access road and walk 15-20mins to the trail start. With the current Covid international travel restrictions though there's few tourists and it's not hard to get a space in the carpark. Wonderfully though this time it felt virtually empty. Sure, we ran into other people but only about 60-70 rather than the 1000+ you'd expect. The trail is about 90mins each way, culminating at Hooker Lake. Do allow extra time as we happily spent an hour playing at the frozen-over lake skipping stones & throwing sheets of ice around. As far as reward vs effort goes, the Hooker Valley trail is one of the best short tracks you can do as it's wide, mostly flat, taking you over three suspension bridges that offer gorgeous views of turbulent pale azure water rushing underneath, majestic hills sweeping up on either side and Mt Cook/Aoraki as a stunning backdrop. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes as the trail is mostly rock, & switch out to boots in colder/wetter weather. Layers are essential & you'll find that coming back in the afternoon it's quite a bit cooler once the sun has dipped behind the peaks. And on that note, bring a torch or headlamp if you're setting off within 4 hours of sunset. There are some toilets about two thirds the way along the track but they aren't great. You should definitely pack some hand sanitiser & a roll of toilet paper in case they run out (they frequently do). At the height of the tourist seasons there's usually a queue.
3. Aoraki Mount Cook National Park Visitor Centre
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 684 reviews
4. Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier walks
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 267 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By Jules060617 - Lausanne, Switzerland
This is not a long walk (allow 60 minutes plus drive) but it is straight up a hill with many well laid out steps so expect to huff and puff going up. The view at the top overlooking Abel Tasman's glacier lake and it's iceberg with a backcloth that includes a different face of Mount Cook is worth the effort. Be careful if you are wearing a hat as one sailed off someone's head while I was taking pictures and fell inaccessibly to the moraine below. If you don't want to walk, at least drive part of the way for the views.
5. Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 603 reviews
Designed to educate and entertain, the centre features a spectacular state-of-the-art 3D movie, New Zealand's first full dome digital Planetarium and Museum which documents the pioneering heart of the region and features the impressive Hillary Gallery. The cafe and bar area offers indoor and outdoor seating and floor to ceiling mountain views.
Reviewed By Kiwifreespirits - Auckland, New Zealand
We visited this exhibition on our last visit a few years ago and wanted to have another look . We again really enjoyed looking at the memorabilia on display . It is much more than an exhibition on Sir Edmund Hilary as important as this undoubtedly is . Even in respect of Sir Ed it is a reminder of his Antartic adventures and achievements which understandably tend to be overshadowed by the legend of Everest .There is excellent information on other notable mountaineers and also the very interesting history of Mt Cook Airlines and the the Mt Cook area including developement over the years . Well worth a visit . Last time we also watched the excellent film in the theaterette but skipped it this time. Not sure how often the fil runs at the moment as unusual times with less visitors about
6. Glacier Explorers
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 584 reviews
