Every walk, free and guided
A Franz Josef Glacier walk means one of three different days. You can walk the valley track to the lookout on your own and pay nothing. You can walk the same valley with a guide who takes you off the main track into the rainforest, from $63. Or you can step onto the ice itself, which is reached by helicopter and starts at $455. This page lays out all three, with the twelve bookable trips, their real durations and their live ratings, so you can see in one screen which one you are actually buying.
Quick answer
The short answer. Walk the valley track to the lookout — it is free, it takes about an hour and a half return, and it ends facing the glacier. Add a guided walk from $63 if you want the rainforest, the geology and the side trails that are closed to unguided visitors. If you want to stand on the ice, that is a heli hike from $455, and it is a different day out entirely.
The geography in one paragraph
The valley is walked. The ice is flown to. Everything else here follows from that.
Two glaciers come down out of the Southern Alps within thirty minutes of each other on the West Coast of the South Island. Franz Josef Glacier sits above the township of the same name. Fox Glacier is the next valley south, and the drive between them takes half an hour each way according to the operators who run it daily.
Both have the same shape. A road ends at a car park, and from it a track runs up the river flats between walls of rainforest, gaining almost nothing in height, to a lookout with the glacier in front of you. That walk is open, free and signposted, and it is what most people mean when they search for a Franz Josef Glacier walk.
Beyond the lookout the ground belongs to the glacier and its river, and the ice is reached by helicopter. Operators are straightforward about it: the walking listings say «valley» and «lookout», the ice listings say «land on the glacier».
Six ways to do it
Durations and ratings below are the live listing figures, read in September 2026.
From the car park at the head of each valley, a graded track runs up the river flats to a lookout facing the glacier. No booking, no permit, no guide, and flat enough for most fitness levels. Signage at the car park tells you where the marked track ends on the day you arrive.
The most reviewed walk on this site: 188 reviews at 4.7. Glacier Valley Eco Tours drive you the thirty minutes from Franz Josef, then take a gentle, gradual climb through the rainforest with views of Fox Glacier and Mount Tasman, and a break with tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
The same operator on the other glacier: 169 reviews at 4.8. This one goes through ancient podocarp rainforest and along a glacial-fed river to the Franz Josef Glacier lookout, with a one-guide-to-ten-guest ratio and the option of off-track sections that unguided walkers do not see. The listing is honest that the valley is stunning in clear skies and atmospheric in rain.
The walks that are not in a glacier valley: Lake Matheson and its reflections of Aoraki and Mount Tasman, the private rainforest trail inside the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary, and the old mining township of Okarito. Several pair a boat or a kayak with the walk, which is how you reach trails that have no road to them.
A flight over the icefalls, a landing in a remote part of the glacier, crampons fitted, and up to three hours following steps cut by the guide past ice caves and arches. 363 reviews at 4.9, the highest rating on this site.
The most reviewed trip here: 399 reviews at 4.8. Gear and a briefing in the township, a short walk to the helipad, then a flight over rainforest to the ice for 2.5 hours among blue ice caves and crevasses. The extended version runs eight hours with up to 5.5 hours on the ice and a picnic lunch, at $886.
Wondering whether the guided version is worth paying for when the track is free?
Free walks, and what a guide adds→What you are buying
The valley track costs nothing, so the honest question is what the guided walks add. From the listings, three things.
Ground you cannot reach alone. The Franz Josef walk describes off-track sections through the rainforest and a one-to-ten ratio that makes them possible. The Lake Mapourika trips reach a private trail inside the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary, a boat ride from the nearest road.
The reading of the landscape. Both valley walks come with guides who explain the geology, the glaciation and the plant life as you go. Rainforest growing almost down to the ice is part of why this park carries UNESCO World Heritage status, and it is the kind of thing you walk straight past on your own.
The transport. The Fox Glacier walk includes the thirty-minute drive from Franz Josef and back, which matters if you are here without a car.
Access to the ice is the one thing a guide alone does not add. That is the helicopter, on every listing that offers it.
Book direct
The two glacier valley walks, two trips that pair a boat with a rainforest trail, Lake Matheson, and the cheaper of the two ice walks.
★ 4.7 · 188 reviews
★ 4.8 · 169 reviews
★ 4.8 · 77 reviews
★ 4.9 · 73 reviews
★ 4.8 · 17 reviews
★ 4.9 · 363 reviews
Every trip, current fare
All twelve listings with cost per hour worked out. Read it alongside the free valley track to the lookout, and the picture is complete.
| Tour | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half-Day Walking & Nature Tour with Local GuideThe Fox Glacier valley on foot, with a local guide | 3.5 h | $63 | Guided valley walk | $18.00 | 4.7 · 188 |
| Franz Josef Glacier Lookout Guided WalkThe Franz Josef Glacier valley and its rainforest | 3 h | $63 | Guided valley walk | $21.00 | 4.8 · 169 |
| 2-Hour Scenic Lake Mapourika CruiseLake Mapourika under the Southern Alps | 2 h | $71 | Lake cruise | $35.50 | 4.8 · 145 |
| 3-Hour Kayak Tour on Lake MapourikaPaddling into a rainforest creek on Lake Mapourika | 3 h | $85 | Kayak + guide | $28.33 | 4.9 · 137 |
| 2.5-Hour Lake Mapourika Cruise and WalkA lake crossing and a private rainforest trail | 2.5 h | $85 | Cruise + rainforest walk | $34.00 | 4.8 · 77 |
| Kayak & Walking Tour to Okarito Kiwi SanctuaryOkarito by kayak, then the sanctuary trail on foot | 4 h | $102 | Kayak + rainforest walk | $25.50 | 4.9 · 73 |
| Kiwi VIP Backstage Pass Tour -Booking EssentialThe kiwi hatchery, behind the scenes | 45 min | $57 | Guided visit | $76.00 | 4.4 · 47 |
| Half-Day Nature Tour to Lake MathesonLake Matheson and its reflections, guided | 4 h | $69 | Guided walk | $17.25 | 4.8 · 17 |
| Half-Day Guided Tour to OkaritoOkarito township, its history and its birds | 4 h | $63 | Guided walk | $15.75 | New |
| Up to 3 Hours Hike with Helicopter TransferFox Glacier: flown in, then three hours on the ice | 4 h | $455 | Helicopter + ice walk | $113.75 | 4.9 · 363 |
| 2.5 Hour Glacier Hike with Helicopter TransferFranz Josef: flown in, then 2.5 hours on the ice | 4 h | $514 | Helicopter + ice walk | $128.50 | 4.8 · 399 |
| Extended Heli‑Hike with Lunch (Small Group)The longest day on the ice, with lunch | 8 h | $886 | Helicopter + ice walk + lunch | $110.75 | 5 · 1 |
Month by month
The valley walks run all year. What changes is the daylight, the rain and how busy the township is.
Feb – Apr
The steadiest weather of the year on this coast, so the flights lose fewer mornings to cloud. January crowds gone, rainforest still warm to walk in.
Nov – Jan
The longest daylight and the fullest beds. The ice walks book out first, because each flight carries only a few people. Book ahead and keep a spare day.
Sep – Oct
Fronts come through quickly off the Tasman Sea. The valley walks go ahead in rain while the flights wait for a window.
May – Aug
Short days and some of the clearest air of the year between fronts. The valley tracks stay open and the crowds are gone.
Common questions
The valley track to the lookout is free — no booking, no permit and no guide required. What costs money is a guided walk, which starts at $63 and adds off-track rainforest sections and commentary, or a heli hike onto the ice itself from $455.
About an hour and a half return on the free valley track. The guided version of the same valley is three hours, and the Fox Glacier walk is three and a half including the drive.
The same kind of day in two valleys half an hour apart. Fox is the more reviewed at 188 reviews and 4.7 and includes the drive; Franz Josef is rated 4.8 across 169 reviews and runs a one-to-ten guide ratio. Take whichever fits your timing.
Walking on the ice is done with a helicopter transfer. The flight lands you where there is no ground route, crampons are fitted there, and you follow steps cut by the guide. Trips start at $455 on Fox and $514 on Franz Josef.
For the valley walks, no more than for a normal country walk: the Fox listing describes a gentle, gradual climb suitable for all ages and fitness levels. The ice walks ask more, but involve no climbing and no rope work.
Lake Matheson for the reflections of Aoraki and Mount Tasman, the rainforest trail inside the Okarito Kiwi Sanctuary reached by boat or kayak across Lake Mapourika, and the old mining township of Okarito. They run from $69.
Two comfortably: a guided valley walk in the morning and a lake or rainforest trip in the afternoon, both leaving from Franz Josef township. Put the heli hike on its own day, in the morning, and keep the afternoon spare in case the weather moves it.
Go deeper
When to walk the Franz Josef and Fox Glacier valleys — seasons, rain, daylight and the hours that give the clearest view up the valley.
Can you walk to the glacier?You can walk the free valley track to the Franz Josef Glacier lookout in about 90 minutes return.
Fox Glacier walksWalking at Fox Glacier — the valley track through rainforest, the viewpoints, Lake Matheson, and the guided half-day at $63 with transfers from Franz Josef.
Hiking without a helicopterWhat you can hike at Franz Josef and Fox on the ground: guided valley walks from $63, what a guide adds, and where the walking ends and the ice begins.
Free and self-guidedFranz Josef Glacier walk free: which valley tracks cost nothing, what the guided walks at $63 add on top, and when each one is the right call.
Getting hereWhere Franz Josef and Fox Glacier sit, where tours meet you, and why two nights beats one — planned around the weather.
Half-Day Walking & Nature Tour with Local Guide
★ 4.7 · 188 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h