Our top pick260 reviews
3 h3 Hour Heli Hike to the Tasman Glacier
★ 4.8 · 260 reviews
- Three hours, Two hours walking on the glacier
- Helicopter transfer to the ice
- Day trip
- Free cancellation
$540
Check availability→ 
Tasman Glacier walk
Tasman Glacier walk gives you two hours on the ice after a flight from Mount Cook Village. We compared 11 tours, with prices from $514, free cancellation, and the top tour rated 4.8 from 260 reviews. The lake track reveals glacier views and icebergs.
Price from
Heli hike$514
Today's lowest heli hike across all 11 trips
Average rating
All 11 trips48
1,585 verified reviews across 11 trips
Time on the water
Shortest to longest25min–13h
Shortest: Scenic Helicopter Flight
Longest: Mt Cook Day Trip/Lake
Free cancellation 24 h
Small groups
Mobile voucher
Crampons and boots supplied
Instant confirmation
The view track is free
Everything you can book here
Every trip onto and over the Tasman Glacier
Eleven trips out of Mount Cook Village — two heli hikes that walk the ice itself, six flights that land on the snow above it, and the road trips that bring you in from Christchurch. Time on the ice first, flights after. The view track in the valley you can also walk for nothing.
328 reviewsRated 4.9
3 h3-Hour Tasman Glacier Helicopter Ride and Hike
★ 4.9 · 328 reviews
- Three hours, Land high on the Tasman Glacier
- Crampons and guiding included
- Day trip
- Free cancellation
$514
Check availability→ 
517 reviewsMost booked
25 minScenic Helicopter Flight with Alpine Landing
★ 4.7 · 517 reviews
- 25 minutes, Snow landing in the Southern Alps
- Views over the Tasman Glacier
- Most booked
- Free cancellation
$217
Check availability→ 
Plane and helicopter360 reviews
45 minSki Plane and Helicopter Glacier Combo Flight
★ 4.7 · 360 reviews
- 45 minutes, Ski plane landing on the snow
- Helicopter and plane in one trip
- Guided tour
- Free cancellation
$314
Check availability→ 
Alpine landing46 reviews
30 minHelicopter Flight with Alpine Landing
★ 4.8 · 46 reviews
- 30 minutes, Thirty minutes over the glaciers
- Alpine landing included
- Guided tour
- Free cancellation
$277
Check availability→ 
Park and glacier40 minutes
40 minTasman Glacier & National Park Scenic Flight
★ 4.7 · 22 reviews
- 40 minutes, Flight over Tasman Glacier and park
- Aoraki and the icefall from above
- Guided tour
- Free cancellation
$363
Check availability→ 
Straight to the TasmanSnow landing
40 minTasman Glacier Helicopter Flight
★ 4.7 · 11 reviews
- 40 minutes, Direct flight over the Tasman Glacier
- Snow landing in the high basin
- Guided tour
- Free cancellation
$375
Check availability→ 
Rated 5.0Across the divide
50 minTasman Glacier and West Coast Helicopter Flight
★ 5.0 · 7 reviews
- 50 minutes, Tasman Glacier and the West Coast
- Fifty minutes across the divide
- Guided tour
- Free cancellation
$477
Check availability→ 
Lowest price hereOne way
8 hChristchurch to Mt Cook via Lake Tekapo (one-way)
★ 4.9 · 20 reviews
- Eight hours, Christchurch to Mount Cook village
- Lake Tekapo and Pukaki on the way
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$129
Check availability→ 
Full dayRated 5.0
13 hMt Cook Day Trip/Lake Tekapo & Tasman Glacier
★ 5.0 · 3 reviews
- 13 hours, Full day from Christchurch
- Tasman Valley and the glacier lakes
- Longest trip here
- Free cancellation
$200
Check availability→ 
From QueenstownLongest day here
6 hTasman Glacier Heli Hike & Return Scenic Flights
★ 4.5 · 11 reviews
- Six hours, Round trip from Queenstown
- Two hours on the Tasman ice
- Day trip
- Free cancellation
$1,029
Check availability→ Two questions
Which Tasman trip is yours?
Seen the eleven above and still torn? There are really only four answers at Aoraki. Put crampons on and walk the glacier itself. Land on the snowfield above it and stand in the quiet for a few minutes. Take the ski plane, which is the trip people remember for the landing rather than the view. Or sort the road in from Christchurch first. Pick what matters and we will point at one.
See it before you pay for it
What the ice and the valley actually look like
Two different days, filmed. The valley walk is a graded track up the moraine to a lookout above Tasman Lake, with the glacier at the head of it and icebergs on the water. The ice is the other film: meltwater tunnels and crevasse walls that a helicopter drops you into, because the terminal face now sits behind the lake.
Side by side
The free view track, the scenic landing, and the walk on the glacier
Three different days, and most people book before they know the difference. The view track costs nothing and ends on the moraine above the lake. A scenic flight lands you on the snowfield higher up for a few minutes in the quiet. The heli hike is the one that puts crampons on your feet.
Swipe the table sideways →
| The view track | TOP PICK3 Hour Heli Hike to the Tasman Glacier | Scenic Helicopter Flight with Alpine Landing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | Free, on your own | $540 | $217 |
| What it is | The moraine track to the lookout | Helicopter transfer and a hike on the ice | Scenic flight with a landing on the snow |
| Time it takes | An afternoon | 3 hours | 25 minutes |
| Where you end up | On the moraine, above the lake | High on the glacier, in crampons | On a snowfield above the icefall |
| Guide | None | Glacier guide | Pilot commentary |
| Booking needed | None | Yes, and early | Yes |
| Gear supplied | Bring your own | Boots, crampons, jacket | Nothing needed |
| Weather window | Walks in most weather | Needs a clear morning | Needs a clear morning |
Verdict
Walk the moraine first
It is the walk almost everyone here should do first, and it is the one you can do for nothing. The public track climbs the moraine to a lookout with the glacier across the lake and icebergs on the water below. Only after that does the helicopter question become worth asking, and the answer is usually yes.
Check dates and availability→Before you book
The ice is reached by helicopter
The Tasman has retreated a long way up its valley and a lake has formed in front of the terminal face, so the valley track now finishes on the moraine above the water with the ice in view across it. To stand on the glacier itself you take a short helicopter transfer to a landing site and walk from there, with boots, crampons and a guide supplied. That is why the two kinds of “glacier walk” on this page differ so much in price.
Two-minute check
Which Tasman Glacier trip fits your day?
Three things decide it: how long you are at Aoraki, how you are on your feet, and whether you want to see the glacier or stand on it. Answer three questions and find out before you pay rather than at the heliport.
How long are you at Aoraki?Mountain weather moves fast, and a spare morning changes your options
How are you on your feet?The view track is graded; the glacier is uneven under crampons
What do you want out of the day?This is the only real variable here
Answer the three questions above
You'll get a straight yes or no, the flight that fits your day, and the specific thing that would trip you up at check-in.
Six ways to see it
1,585 reviews across eleven Tasman Glacier trips
Ratings are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown as published. We do not write reviews and we do not average other people’s into a score of our own.
4.8
★★★★★
Based on 1,585
verified reviews
5 ★88%
4 ★9%
3 ★2%
2 ★1%
1 ★0%
All eleven Tasman Glacier trips on this page, rated on GetYourGuide.
Read all 1,585→🧊
3 Hour Heli Hike to the Tasman Glacier
From $540 · 260 reviews
★★★★★
The trip that actually walks the ice
Three hours out of Mount Cook Village, two of them on the Tasman Glacier itself. The helicopter carries you over the lake and the moraine to a landing high on the ice, boots and crampons come with the trip, and a guide cuts the route as the surface changes. Rated 4.8 across 260 reviews.
🏔
The Tasman Glacier View Track
Free · an afternoon
★★★★★
The moraine track costs nothing
A graded public track climbs the moraine wall from the Tasman Valley car park to a lookout above the lake. It needs no booking, no guide and no fee, and it gives you the glacier across the water with icebergs drifting below you. For a lot of people that is the day they wanted.
🚁
Scenic Helicopter Flight with Alpine Landing
From $217 · 517 reviews
★★★★★
The most booked trip at Aoraki
Twenty-five minutes over the longest glacier in New Zealand, with a landing on the snowfield above it and time outside in the quiet. It carries more reviews than anything else on this page — 517 of them at 4.7 — because it is short, it is the cheapest way above the ice, and it lands.
✈
Ski Plane and Helicopter Glacier Combo Flight
From $314 · 360 reviews
★★★★★
The one with the ski plane
Forty-five minutes with both aircraft: a helicopter leg and a ski plane that puts its skis down on the snowfield high above the Tasman. The landing is the part people describe afterwards. Rated 4.7 across 360 reviews.
🌊
Tasman Lake and its icebergs
Seen from the view track · free
★★★★☆
The lake the glacier is calving into
Tasman Lake sits between the end of the moraine track and the glacier, and blocks of ice break off the terminal face and drift across it. From the lookout you see both at once: the ice cliff at the head of the water and the icebergs below you.
🚕
Getting here from Christchurch
From $129 · 8 hours
★★★★☆
The drive in, done for you
Mount Cook Village is a long drive from anywhere. The one-way transfer from Christchurch runs via Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki and takes eight hours, which frees you to fly out instead of driving back. The full day trip does the same road and returns the same night.
What it really costs
The view track is free. The ice is the part you pay for.
This is the part no booking page leads with. Walking the moraine track to the lookout above Tasman Lake costs nothing and needs no booking. What money buys here is either a landing on the snowfield above the glacier, or the helicopter and guide that put you on the ice itself.
Swipe sideways →
| What you do | Price | What that buys | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tasman Glacier View Track, on your own | Free | The moraine track, the lookout and the icebergs on the lake | n/a |
| Scenic flight with an alpine landing | $217 | Twenty-five minutes flying and a landing on the snow | Free up to 24 hours |
| Heli hike onto the Tasman Glacier | $514 | Helicopter both ways, boots, crampons, guide, two hours on the ice | Free up to 24 hours |
Costs the listing doesn't show you
- The view track is free. No booking page mentions that the moraine track to the lookout costs nothing. What you are buying is the time on the ice, the gear and the guide.
- The quoted hours are not all walking. Three hours covers the briefing, the gear fitting and both flights as well as the two hours on the glacier.
- Getting here is most of a day. Mount Cook Village sits at the end of one road, and the transfers on this page exist because of it.
- Weather decides. Flights run on windows rather than schedules, so a spare morning is worth more here than anywhere else on the trip.
What is genuinely included
- The helicopter both ways, from the village to the ice and back
- Boots stiff enough for crampons, and the crampons themselves
- A glacier guide, cutting the route as the surface changes
- A jacket if the weather asks for one, and the safety briefing
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, with a full refund
The honest answer
Is the heli hike worth it when the view track is free?
Five hundred dollars, in a valley where the track to the lookout costs nothing — so the question is fair. What the ticket buys is the two hours on the ice itself, the boots and crampons that make it possible, and a guide who cuts the steps as the surface changes through the season.
What makes it worth it
- Two hours walking on the Tasman Glacier, which the valley track cannot reach
- Boots stiff enough for crampons, the crampons themselves and a jacket, all supplied
- A glacier guide cutting the route as the surface shifts through the season
- The flight over Tasman Lake and the moraine, which is a scenic trip in itself
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours, so an early booking costs you nothing
Keep in mind
- The view track above the lake is free, and it is a good walk on its own
- Helicopters need a weather window, so keep a spare morning if the ice is the plan
- Three quoted hours include the briefing, the gear fitting and both flights
- Mount Cook Village is a long drive from Christchurch or Queenstown
- Morning departures fill first in summer, when every bed at Aoraki is taken
The trip, hour by hour
Village to glacier and back
Look at the forecast, then book anyway
Free cancellation runs to 24 hours, so holding a morning costs you nothing. The mountain decides on the day, and the earlier slots have the best odds.
Check in at the village
Weigh-in, a safety briefing and the gear: boots stiff enough for crampons, a jacket if you need one. You bring socks and a warm layer.
The flight in
Over the moraine wall, over Tasman Lake with the icebergs on it, and up the length of the glacier to a landing site chosen that morning.
Crampons on
The guide fits the crampons on the ice and shows you how to walk in them. Short, flat steps, and the first few minutes feel strange to everyone.
Two hours on the glacier
Meltwater channels, crevasse walls, and blue ice where the surface has been scoured. The route changes week to week, which is why the guide goes first.
Back to the landing site
The helicopter comes back to the same spot. On a clear day the pilot takes the long way home down the glacier.
Back in the village
Back at the base by early afternoon, which leaves the light for the view track in the Tasman Valley or the drive out to Lake Pukaki.
Best time of day
Fly in the morning, walk the moraine in the evening
These two work in opposite directions, which is why you can do both in a day. The air over the Alps is stillest just after dawn, so the first flights of the morning are the ones least likely to be stood down and the smoothest once they are up. The view track is the reverse: late light comes down the valley and lands on the ice cliff at the head of the lake, and the car park empties as the coaches leave. Fly at eight, stand on the moraine at seven, and the day has done what you came for.
On the ground
What the Tasman actually looks like
The ice
Two hours on the glacier itself, reached by helicopter from the village.
The track
The moraine track to the lookout is public, marked and costs nothing.
The lake
Ice breaks off the terminal face and drifts down the lake below the lookout.
The landing
Scenic flights put down on the snowfield above the icefall, engine off.
What it's like
One lake, one free track, and the ice on the far side of it
Most people arrive at Aoraki with one picture in their head: themselves, on the ice, in crampons. Then they drive up the Tasman Valley, walk to the lookout, and find the glacier is on the far side of a lake. It is worth knowing the shape of the place before you book anything.
The Tasman is the longest glacier in New Zealand and it runs down the eastern side of the main divide, out of the highest country in the Southern Alps. Over the past decades the terminal face has pulled back and a lake has formed in front of it. Blocks of ice break off and drift across the water, which is why photographs from the lookout so often have icebergs in the foreground.
That lake is also the reason the phrase “Tasman Glacier walk” means two completely different things here. On the moraine you are looking at the glacier across the water. On the ice you are standing on it. The first costs nothing and takes an afternoon; the second starts with a helicopter.
The free version is the Tasman Glacier View Track. It climbs the moraine wall from the car park in the Tasman Valley and ends on a shoulder above the lake, with the ice cliff at the head of the water and Aoraki standing behind it. No permit, no booking, no guide. Thousands of people walk it every summer and a good number of them decide that is the day they wanted.
The heli hike is the other answer, and it is the one most people on this page book. Three hours out of Mount Cook Village: the flight over the lake and the moraine, a landing high on the glacier, and two hours walking on it with a guide. Boots stiff enough for crampons, the crampons, and a jacket come with the trip. What the guide does is read the surface — the meltwater channels and crevasse walls move week to week, so the route is cut fresh.
Between those two sit the flights. The most booked trip at Aoraki is a twenty-five-minute scenic flight with an alpine landing, and it carries more reviews than anything else here because it is short, it is the cheapest way to get above the ice, and it puts its skids on the snow. The ski plane version lands on the snowfield with skis instead, which is the detail people describe afterwards.
What surprises most visitors is how far away all of this is. Mount Cook Village sits at the end of a single road up the side of Lake Pukaki, and the nearest cities are most of a day away. The transfers on this page exist for that reason: eight hours in from Christchurch via Lake Tekapo one way, or a full thirteen-hour day that gets you to the Tasman Valley viewpoint and back without driving yourself.
So the plan that works is usually two days rather than one. Walk the view track on the afternoon you arrive, while the light is still on the ice. Keep the next morning for the helicopter, because morning is when the air is stillest and the weather window is most likely to hold. If it closes, you still have the rest of the day and the lake is not going anywhere.
While you're at Aoraki
The three things people do with the other half-day
You want a spare day here for the weather, and this is a good place to lose one. A ski plane landing on the high snow, a wide loop over the park and the icefall, and the transfer that saves you the drive back to Christchurch — all of them out of the same village.
Plane and helicopter
Ski Plane and Helicopter Glacier Combo Flight
45 minutes · ★ 4.7 (360)
$314See dates Park and icefall
Tasman Glacier & National Park Scenic Flight
40 minutes · ★ 4.7 (22)
$363See dates The drive in
Christchurch to Mt Cook via Lake Tekapo (one-way)
8 hours · ★ 4.9 (20)
$129See datesPractical
Plan the trip
Five things decide how it goes: which trip you book and in what order, what you wear above the snowline, when you book, how you get to Mount Cook Village, and whether you want the ice as well as the view of it.
The heli hike
Three hours out of the village, two of them walking on the glacier, with crampons and a guide. The only trip that reaches the ice.
The Tasman Glacier View Track
A graded public track up the moraine to a lookout above the lake. Free, no booking, an afternoon.
Scenic flight with an alpine landing
Twenty-five minutes over the glacier with a landing on the snowfield above it. The most booked trip here.
The ski plane combo
Forty-five minutes with both aircraft, and a ski plane landing on the high snow.
Flights over the park
Forty to fifty minutes across the national park, the icefall and, on the longest one, the West Coast.
From Queenstown
A six-hour day with the flight in, two hours on the ice and the scenic return.
A warm layer, every month
You are above the snowline on the ice and on the landing sites. It is colder there than in the village.
Sunglasses and sunscreen
Snow and ice throw the light back at you. This is the item people forget most often.
The glacier gear is supplied
Heli hikes provide boots stiff enough for crampons, the crampons, and a jacket. You bring socks and a warm layer.
Shoes you can walk a moraine in
The view track is loose gravel and steps. Trainers manage it; walking shoes are better.
A windproof shell
The valley funnels wind off the ice, and the lookout is exposed.
Something for your camera
Cold drains batteries faster than you expect. A spare in an inside pocket earns its place.
The view track needs no booking
No permit, no fee, no guide. Drive up the Tasman Valley road and walk.
Book the ice for your first morning
If the helicopter is stood down by weather you still have a day in hand to try again.
Free cancellation to 24 hours
Booking early costs nothing, so hold a slot as soon as your dates are firm.
Morning slots fill first
Summer mornings go first, and the whole village is competing for the same weather window.
One price everywhere
Operator office, platform or hotel desk — the fare is the same. Booking ahead buys the slot, not a discount.
Check what the hours include
Quoted durations cover the briefing, the gear fitting and both flights as well as the walking.
Mount Cook Village
At the end of a single road up the western side of Lake Pukaki, inside Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park.
The Tasman Valley road
A short drive from the village to the car park where the view track starts.
From Christchurch
Eight hours one way via Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, transfer included on this page.
From Queenstown
A six-hour day trip that flies you in, walks the ice and flies you back.
Fuel and food
The village is small. Fill up at Twizel or Lake Tekapo and do not count on late kitchens.
A full day from Christchurch
Thirteen hours door to door, taking in both lakes and the Tasman Valley viewpoint.
Best time
When to come
Trips run all year at Aoraki, and the mountain decides the day. What changes month to month is daylight, how busy the village is, and how often the helicopters get a window through to the glacier.
Feb – Apr
The window
Late summer into autumn: the most settled weather of the year, long enough days for a morning on the ice and an afternoon in the valley, and the January crowd has gone home.
Nov – Jan
Long days, full village
Fifteen hours of daylight and every trip running, but every bed at Aoraki booked. Morning departures fill first. Book ahead — cancellation is free to 24 hours.
Sep – Oct
Spring, fresh snow
Fresh snow on the landing sites and the cleanest air of the shoulder season. Cooler on the ice, quieter guides, and fronts that cross the Alps quickly.
May – Aug
Winter, and the clear days
Short days and cold mornings, but the stillest air of the year between fronts — the days when Aoraki stands over the valley without a cloud. Trips still run.
Worth knowing
Six things that aren't in the listing
01
The Tasman Glacier View Track is free. It needs no booking and no guide, and it is a good walk in its own right. Anyone charging you for access to the track itself is selling you something else.
02
“Glacier walk” means two things here. On the moraine you look at the ice across the lake. On the glacier you walk on it in crampons, and that version starts with a helicopter.
03
A lake sits between the track and the ice. The terminal face has pulled back and the water in front of it is what the icebergs drift across. That is why the lookout is as close as the valley track goes.
04
Book the ice for your first morning. Helicopters need a window, mornings give the best odds, and a stood-down flight still leaves you a day in hand.
05
The quoted hours are not all walking. Three hours covers the briefing, the gear fitting and both flights as well as the two hours on the ice.
06
Mount Cook Village is further than it looks. It sits at the end of one road up Lake Pukaki, and the transfers on this page exist because the drive is most of a day.
Round out the trip
Booked alongside
The other heli hike
Mount Cook: 3-Hour Tasman Glacier Helicopter Ride and Hike
3 hours · ★ 4.9 (328)
$514View Most booked here
Mount Cook: Scenic Helicopter Flight with Alpine Landing
25 minutes · ★ 4.7 (517)
$217View Across the divide
Mount Cook: Tasman Glacier and West Coast Helicopter Flight
50 minutes · ★ 5 (7)
$477ViewGo deeper
More on walking the Tasman Glacier
Common questions
Tasman Glacier walks, answered
Can you walk on the Tasman Glacier?
You can, and a guided heli hike is the way it is done. The glacier has pulled back behind Tasman Lake, so guides fly you from Mount Cook Village to a landing site on the ice and walk from there. Two hours on the glacier, with boots, crampons and a guide supplied, from $514.
Can you walk to the Tasman Glacier from the valley?
You can walk the Tasman Glacier View Track, which is free: a graded public track climbs the moraine from the Tasman Valley car park to a lookout above the lake, with the ice cliff at the head of the water. The glacier itself is on the far side of that lake, and reaching it is a flown trip.
How long is the Tasman Glacier walk?
The guided heli hikes run three hours door to door, of which about two are spent walking on the ice; the rest is the briefing, the gear and both flights. Walking the free view track in the valley is an afternoon, depending on how long you stand at the lookout.
Is the Tasman Glacier walk free?
The view track is, yes — no permit, no booking, no guide needed. Time on the ice is the part you pay for, from $514 for the three-hour heli hike, and from $217 for a scenic flight with a landing on the snowfield above the glacier.
Is the Tasman Glacier heli hike worth it?
If walking on a glacier is the reason you came to Aoraki, it is the only trip that does it, and both operators are rated 4.8 and above across several hundred reviews between them. If you mostly want to see the ice, the free view track and a twenty-five-minute scenic landing give you that for a fraction of the price.
What is the difference between the heli hike and a scenic flight?
A scenic flight lands on the snowfield above the glacier, you step out for a few minutes and fly back — twenty-five to fifty minutes in total, from $217. A heli hike lands lower on the ice and gives you two hours walking it in crampons with a guide, which is the part that needs the boots and the briefing.
How do you get to the Tasman Glacier?
Everything starts at Mount Cook Village, at the end of the road up Lake Pukaki inside Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park. From Christchurch the transfer runs eight hours via Lake Tekapo from $129, and there is a thirteen-hour day trip that returns the same night. From Queenstown there is a six-hour trip that flies in.
Free · no account needed
Two days at Aoraki — the plan we'd follow
One PDF: which morning to book the ice, what to do with the afternoon while the cloud sits on the Alps, and how to get in from Christchurch or Queenstown. Built from the operators’ own listings and the same live prices as this page.
- The heli hikes and the flights, with times from the listings
- The order to do them in, so the weather works for you rather than against
- The free view track against the heli hike, decided, with both sets of numbers
- What to wear above the snowline, month by month
Check your inbox
The plan is on its way. If it isn't there in a minute, look in Promotions.
Why trust this page
How we put this together
Checked, not guessed
Durations, inclusions and operator names come from the live GetYourGuide listings for each trip. Prices and ratings are read off the same listings and updated with the page.
How we pick
Every trip onto and over the Tasman Glacier bookable at Aoraki is on this page, and so is the free track that competes with them. Nobody pays to be featured.
We say when it is free
The Tasman Glacier View Track costs nothing, and we lead with that. A page that hides it is selling you something you already have.
The ice, stated plainly
The glacier has pulled back behind its lake, so time on the ice begins with a helicopter. We say so rather than leave people to work it out at the lookout.
The answer
Walk the moraine. Fly if you want the ice.
Walk the view track on the afternoon you arrive — free on the public moraine path, with the glacier across the lake and icebergs below you. Then keep the next morning for the helicopter that puts crampons on your feet, from $514 with two hours on the ice.
Check dates and availability→ Free cancellation up to 24 hours · Reserve now, pay later