Journey with JunyuanNew ZealandOceania
Lake Tekapo is stunning. There's a quiet, cinematic quality to it — the kind that gives main character energy in the best possible way. On a sunny day, the lake is a vivid, almost unreal turquoise, framed by golden tussock grass and the softer, rounder mountains of the Mackenzie Basin. It's a completely different landscape to the dramatic, jagged peaks of the Southern Alps further south. 🌾
Tekapo is also your gateway to Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest peak. If you're short on time, Tekapo makes a brilliant base for visiting the national park as a day trip, without needing to stay in Mount Cook Village itself.
I stayed for 3 days in Tekapo, which felt about right, though like in most places in New Zealand, I could have happily stretched it out a little longer.
If you're coming from Wanaka or Queenstown, the journey takes around 3.5 hours with the InterCity bus. I travelled from Wanaka via a Yello shuttle to Tarras (included in my ticket), then connected onto a Queenstown–Christchurch InterCity service heading towards Tekapo.
If you're flying into Christchurch, Tekapo is a straight-forward 3-hour direct InterCity ride away.
Tekapo is even smaller than Wanaka, really just a village. However, it was the most expensive place I stayed in accommodation-wise in New Zealand! Staying close to the lake is still worth the splurge: you get beautiful scenery right outside your window, and you're close to both the Mt John trailhead and the pick-up point for the Mt Cook / Aoraki day trip.
A few places worth considering:
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Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park is the must-do day trip from Tekapo, no question! I went there with Tekapo Shuttle and the whole trip was brilliantly organised from start to finish. The just over 1-hour drive to the national park was gorgeous in its own right, winding alongside Lake Pukaki, where we stopped for photos. Our guide , like most other guides in New Zealand, was full of fun facts about the local area and kept us entertained throughout the day.
Once at the national park, I had time to do 3 hikes at my own pace — Tasman Glacier Track, Hooker Valley Track, and Red Tarns Track. Tekapo Shuttle very conveniently dropped us off at Tasman Glacier car park and ferried people between there and Mt Cook Village every 15 minutes or so. Every track was extremely well sign-posted and easy to follow — hiking infrastructure in New Zealand really is unmatched!
Even though it was a grey, drizzly day when I went, and Mt Cook was hiding behind the clouds the whole time, seeing the floating icebergs at Tasman Glacier was genuinely surreal, and so was seeing the swing bridges and that incredible glacial-blue river on the Hooker Valley Track. On our way back, we stopped at a lavender farm for ice cream, and then at the famous alpine salmon shop, which felt like a nice way to wrap up the day!
💡Tekapo Shuttle seems to offer drop-off and pick-up in Mt Cook Village across different days too. So it's a nice option if you want to stay in the national park overnight and explore at a more relaxed pace. Even though there were no shops in the village, The Hermitage Hotel comes with a café and a restaurant.
⚠️ I booked my Tekapo Shuttle ticket over 1 month in advance, and there were only 2 spots left for that day. So definitely book way ahead of time if you can!
That gorgeous turquoise blue of Lake Tekapo
The high tussock grass, the turquoise water, and the rolling mountains give Lake Tekapo a very gentle, soft energy, and it invited me to slow down, wander aimlessly by the water, and just take in the atmosphere. I also did a lakeside run around sunset and it was magical!
The Mt John Summit Track is a beautiful, easy loop hike just above town, with panoramic views over Lake Tekapo and the wider Mackenzie Basin spreading out below. At the top sits the Mt John Observatory, along with the lovely Astro Café, a perfect spot for cake and a coffee before heading back down.
Just behind the village, Cowans Hill is a short and easy walk that offers a quietly spectacular landscape: the turquoise of Lake Tekapo on one side, and the wide, rolling tussock hills of the Mackenzie Basin on the other. There's an otherworldly, cinematic quality to it up there.
Lake Tekapo falls within the UNESCO Dark Sky Reserve, making it one of the best places on Earth to see the night sky. You can join a guided tour, which usually comes with a telescope, or simply walk out after dark and look up. Sadly, I had cloudy nights during my stay, but still I could see plenty of stars through the gaps.
Tekapo Springs & Stargazing hot pools just sits right under Mt John, so it's a lovely way to wind down after a few hours of hiking and enjoy a warm soak with mountain and lake views all around you. At night, they also run a dedicated stargazing session that combines the hot pools with telescopes, which felt like a particularly Tekapo way to spend an evening.
The Church of the Good Shepherd in early morning light
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Following my adventure-packed days in the southern alps, Lake Tekapo offered a different, slower, mellower atmosphere that felt magical in its own way. If you only have one night to spare here, make sure at least one of them is clear, and get yourself under that sky. 🌌🌙
👉 Explore the full New Zealand South Island itinerary here
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