On the iceFrom Queenstown
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$171.50 / hour
Check availability→ From Queenstown
The Tasman Glacier from Queenstown: one day, two aircraft, two hours on the ice
There is exactly one booking that takes a Queenstown morning and returns it with glacier ice on your boots. It flies by plane over the Southern Alps, transfers onto the Tasman Glacier by helicopter, fits crampons, walks you across the ice with a guide, and flies you home: six hours, $1,029. It is the most expensive trip on this site, and for a traveller whose bed stays in Queenstown it is also the only one of its kind. This page is about when that trade is worth making.
Quick answer
The short answer. If you are staying in Queenstown and have one day, book it: $1,029, six hours, eleven reviews at 4.5, plane out, helicopter onto the ice, two hours walking on the Tasman with a guide. If you are already going to Mount Cook Village, do not book it — the same walk from the village is $514 or $540 for three hours, and the difference is the flights you no longer need.
The Queenstown day, in numbers
- The trip
- Heli hike and return flights$1,029
- Length
- 6 hoursdoor to door from Queenstown
- Rating
- 4.5from 11 reviews
- Out and back
- By planeover the Southern Alps
- Onto the ice
- By helicopteras the listing describes
- On the glacier
- Two hourscrampons and an expert guide
- Same walk from the village
- 3 hours$514 or $540
- Cheapest flight here
- 25 minutes$217, from the village
- The glacier
- New Zealand’s largestas the listing states
- Free walk instead
- Tasman Glacier View Trackabove Tasman Lake, no booking
What you are buying
A plane, a helicopter and the ice in one day
The extra money buys the journey, not extra glacier. That is the honest trade.
The listing is unusually clear about the shape of the day: hike New Zealand’s largest glacier on a day trip from Queenstown, flying by plane over the Southern Alps, transferring onto the ice by helicopter, then strapping on crampons and exploring with an expert guide. Six hours, $1,029, eleven reviews at 4.5.
Two aircraft is the part that explains the price. A trip from Mount Cook Village needs one helicopter, up and down. This one needs a plane to cross the Alps in both directions and a helicopter at the far end to do the actual work of landing on the glacier. You are paying for the distance, not for extra time on the ice — the two hours of walking are comparable to what the village trips give you.
What you get in exchange is a day that does not disturb the rest of the holiday. No hotel change, no long drive in the dark, no second night booked in a village with limited beds. For a lot of Queenstown itineraries that is exactly the constraint that matters, and this is the only listing here that solves it.
Against the village
The same ice, from two different starting points
Set the numbers next to each other. From Mount Cook Village the three-hour helicopter ride and hike is $514 and carries 328 reviews at 4.9; the three-hour heli hike that spends two of those hours walking on the glacier is $540 with 260 reviews at 4.8. From Queenstown the same activity, wrapped in return flights over the Alps, is $1,029.
So the decision is not really about the glacier. It is about where you are sleeping. If your plan already includes a night at Mount Cook — and the eight-hour transfer from Christchurch at $129 exists precisely to put you there — then the village trips are far better value, and they carry many more reviews.
If your plan does not include that night, the arithmetic changes. Moving a Queenstown holiday to Mount Cook for one activity costs a travel day in each direction plus a bed, and it puts the whole thing at the mercy of a single morning’s weather. The flying day compresses that into six hours and leaves the rest of the week alone.
Every trip, current fare
Every Tasman Glacier trip, by the hour
The Queenstown day is the highest fare here and the village heli hikes the highest cost per hour on the ice. The flights from the village are the cheap end of the air.
| Trip | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Hour Heli Hike to the Tasman GlacierOur top pick: two hours walking on the Tasman ice | 3 h | $540 | Helicopter + 2 h on the ice | $180.00 | 4.8 · 260 |
| 3-Hour Tasman Glacier Helicopter Ride and HikeFlown onto the glacier, crampons included | 3 h | $514 | Helicopter + guided ice walk | $171.33 | 4.9 · 328 |
| Scenic Helicopter Flight with Alpine LandingA short flight with a snow landing | 25 min | $217 | Snow landing | $520.80 | 4.7 · 517 |
| Ski Plane and Helicopter Glacier Combo FlightSki plane and helicopter in one trip | 45 min | $314 | Ski plane + helicopter landing | $418.67 | 4.7 · 360 |
| Helicopter Flight with Alpine LandingThirty minutes over the glaciers, with a landing | 30 min | $277 | Alpine landing | $554.00 | 4.8 · 46 |
| Tasman Glacier & National Park Scenic FlightThe length of the Tasman Glacier from above | 40 min | $363 | Scenic flight | $544.50 | 4.7 · 22 |
| Tasman Glacier Helicopter FlightThe Hochstetter Icefall and a snow landing | 40 min | $375 | Snow landing | $562.50 | 4.7 · 11 |
| Tasman Glacier and West Coast Helicopter FlightAcross the divide to the West Coast glaciers | 50 min | $477 | Scenic flight | $572.40 | 5 · 7 |
| Christchurch to Mt Cook via Lake Tekapo (one-way)Christchurch to the village, via Lake Tekapo | 8 h | $129 | One-way transfer | $16.12 | 4.9 · 20 |
| Mt Cook Day Trip/Lake Tekapo & Tasman GlacierA full day from Christchurch and back | 13 h | $200 | Day trip with stops | $15.38 | 5 · 3 |
| Tasman Glacier Heli Hike & Return Scenic FlightsQueenstown to the Tasman ice and back | 6 h | $1,029 | Plane, helicopter + ice walk | $171.50 | 4.5 · 11 |
Who it suits
Four travellers, and what each one should book
The trip is right for some plans and wrong for others, and the difference is not budget.
- Based in Queenstown, one free day, wants to stand on the glacier
Book it: $1,029, six hours, plane and helicopter, two hours on the ice with crampons and a guide. There is no cheaper way to do this without moving hotels.
- Already driving to Mount Cook Village
Book from the village instead. $514 for the ride and hike with 328 reviews at 4.9, or $540 for the version with two hours of walking, 260 reviews at 4.8. Both are three hours.
- Wants the scenery rather than the ice
From the village the 25-minute alpine landing at $217 looks directly at Aoraki and lands on the snow, and it carries more reviews than anything else here. The ski plane and helicopter combination at $314 puts two aircraft into a 45-minute flight.
- Travelling on a tight budget
The view track above Tasman Lake costs nothing and shows you the end of the glacier and the icebergs in the lake. Paired with the Christchurch transfer at $129, it is the cheapest way to see this glacier at all.
Book direct
The Queenstown day, and the village trips it competes with
One flying day from Queenstown; four departures from Mount Cook Village.
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$180.00 / hour
Check availability→ 
Likely to sell outRated 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$171.33 / hour
Check availability→ 
517 reviews25 min
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$520.80 / hour
Check availability→ 
360 reviewsSki plane
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$418.67 / hour
Check availability→ What three hours on the Tasman ice includes, and what it needs from the weather.
Read about the heli hike→Common questions
Queenstown to the Tasman Glacier, answered
Can you do the Tasman Glacier from Queenstown in a day?
Yes, on one booking: $1,029 for six hours, flying by plane over the Southern Alps, transferring onto the ice by helicopter, and walking on the glacier with a guide before flying home.
How long do you spend on the ice?
Two hours on the Tasman, with crampons and an expert guide, according to the listing.
Why is it so much more expensive than the Mount Cook trips?
Because it includes return flights across the Southern Alps as well as the helicopter that lands on the glacier. From Mount Cook Village the same activity is $514 or $540 for three hours.
Is it worth it?
It is worth it when your bed stays in Queenstown. Moving a holiday to Mount Cook for one activity costs two travel days and a night, and stakes the whole thing on one morning’s weather. If you are going to the village anyway, book there instead.
How many reviews does the Queenstown trip have?
Eleven, rated 4.5. The village heli hikes carry far more — 328 at 4.9 and 260 at 4.8 — which is what you would expect from trips that run from the doorstep.
Is there a cheaper way to see the Tasman Glacier from Queenstown?
Not in a single day. The cheap routes to this glacier all start from Mount Cook Village: the 25-minute flight at $217, or the free Tasman Glacier View Track above the lake.
What happens if the weather stops the flight?
Mountain flying days move. Check the cancellation terms on the listing before you book, and where possible pair a flying day with a flexible one — several village trips, including the three-hour ride and hike, carry free cancellation.
Go deeper
More on the Tasman Glacier
Every way onto the ice
Every way onto the Tasman Glacier
The free view track, the flights with a landing and the walk on the ice, in one list.
The free view trackThe Tasman Glacier View Track
The short walk above the lake, what it shows you and what it costs.
Can you walk on itCan you walk on the glacier?
The straight answer, and how the two hours on the ice are arranged.
The heli hikeThe Tasman Glacier heli hike
What the flight, the crampons and the guided hours on the ice include.
How long it takesHow long the walk takes
Every trip timed, from a 25-minute flight to a thirteen-hour day.
Which glacier to walkWhich glacier to walk
Two very different glacier days, and which one suits your route.
