The timings mentioned on your tickets is when you’ll have to check-in. We suggest arriving at least 20 minutes prior to make sure that all processes run smoothly and on time. These include filling a waiver form and a briefing by your guide.
Tucked away in the heart of the Southern Alps, the Fox Glacier is a natural marvel that captures the imagination of every traveler. The fast moving ice of this ancient frozen river forms fascinating shapes that you can not only view from above, but also venture close enough to touch! Fly to the top of the glacier to land on the ice and head on a guided adventure with a glacier guide to view the beautiful caves, crevasses, seracs and tunnels.
Get information on what’s included in the heli hike adventure, how to get here, ways to prepare for your trip and more!
As the terminal face of the glacier is always changing, getting to the top of the glacier through just mountain climbing requires some experience. Instead, hop into a chopper and land directly on top of the glacier and explore its various ice formations from up close with the help of a glacier guide.
Fly above the beautiful glacier to view towering seracs that stand like silent sentinels. Meanwhile, the guide will share with you legends of how the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers got their beautiful names in Maori culture.
Your helicopter flight doesn’t just include views of the Fox Glacier. You can also spot famous peaks of the Southern Alps, like Mount Cook and Mount Tasman along with the Franz Josef glacier. Keep an eye out for Victoria falls too, which cascades from the Victoria glacier nearby.
Only after undergoing rigorous training and certifications does one become a glacier expert. Get a personal glacier coach to guide you to and through the various ice formations on the glacier on your heli hike. With one expert attending to a small group of 2-3 people, you can rest assured that you’ll have their full undivided attention to keep you safe on your journey.
Your Fox Glacier heli hike, depending on the experience you pick, will include your guide’s briefing on how to use the equipment to walk on the ice, helicopter rides up and down the glacier, and a 3-hour or a 7-hour hike on the ice. You will also be provided with a waterproof jacket, overpants, boots, crampons and walking sticks for your experience.
If your Fox Glacier heli hike gets canceled due to unexpected weather changes, then you can either get a full refund or reschedule your experience for another day, depending on availability.
You get brilliant panoramic views of the glacier with stunning ice formations like deep crevasses, towering ice cliffs, ancient blue ice, and more. You can also observe the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps and on clear days, you can even catch glimpses of the lush rainforest below and the Tasman Sea coastline.
The helicopter ride to the glacier top takes about 5-6 minutes each way.
While the heli hike is not entirely risk-free, your glacier guide will always be around to ensure your safety. A single glacier guide is assigned for up to 3 people to ensure you have their undivided attention. The guide will carve the ice and create a pathway for you to follow for your hike. As long as you heed to your guide’s instructions, you should have a safe and comfortable heli hike.
The glacier hike will occur slowly to make sure you move safely on the ice. That being said, as long as you exercise regularly and are able to run or jog for more than an hour, you should be able to complete a 4-hour heli hike without concerns.
One glacier guide is assigned to a group of 2-3 people on a Fox Glacier heli hike.
No matter what season it is in the town below, snow is always falling atop the Fox Glacier. You can visit the glacier at any time of the year and still enjoy an icy adventure.
The temperature on the glacier is usually about 10 degrees lower than the town below. During the summers, the township temperatures are usually between 5 to 15°C and in winters, the temperatures fall between -5 to 10°C.
There is a 3kg limit per person for carry-on bags as the helicopter has limited space. We suggest that you carry light to help reduce the helicopter’s fuel consumption and also ease your hike.
You can make changes to your bookings up to 24 hours before the departure time on your voucher. If there are less than 24 hours left for your trip, you will be unable to modify your bookings.
You don’t have to worry about having any prior experience before heading on a Fox Glacier heli hike. The glacier guide will give you all the instructions you need to complete the experience.
There are no toilet facilities on top of the glacier. So, we suggest that you use the loo once before you start the experience.
The most amazing experience! Our guide Connor was an absolute LEGEND - informative, personable and worked so hard to give us the best time possible. Would highly recommend this to others.
The Heli flight (unfortunately very short) was fantastic. The guide was funny and friendly. But we spent most of der time in small area of the glacier - just on a altitude of 700 m - lots of talks and doing ice holes crossing again and again. We expected more ice walking, hiking and seeing more of the glacier including the upper part. The price - performance ratio was not what we expected. You should offer more options for people, who are used to mountains and have experience. At least you should better inform, about the things in advance.
A very home-like and fmily-like atmosphere.
Our guide Always safety first Very well organized
Fantastic experience, Fiona was very experienced and knowledgeable, the other guide ( sorry I forgot his name ) was very friendly and helpful , the glacier was fascinating and beautiful, we got to see ice caves and get great photos , the weather was perfect , you don’t need to be super fit to do it , I’m 56 and in general good health and found it totally doable , definitely a big highlight of my holiday , if you can weather permitting definitely do this adventure!
An amazing trip. The company has twin objectives of safety and providing an experience to stay with you for a lifetime. We’re an older couple and coped well. Stretch was a great guide - and very tall! The company offers a no questions asked if you arrive and realise there is a chance of not being able to be airlifted from the glacier that day. Bear in mind that this trip is weather dependent. Play it safe and spend an extra night in either Fox or Franz Josef townships.
The guides are the best at Fox Glacier Guiding, we went with Toa and had a great time! He made sure that everyone in the group (12 ppl) had enough time to see, stop, and explore on the glacier. He was super informative, funny, and made sure to keep us safe. Would recommend to everyone!
Inclusions
4-hour guided Fox Glacier hike
Round-trip helicopter ride
English-speaking expert mountaineering guide
Leather boots & crampons
Hats, gloves & backpack
Waterproof jacket & overtrousers
Our Guide was very good. He give is so many information about this area. It was very interesting We enjoyed the time very much.
The tour was awesome because of the individuality and the very good guiding. The ticketing with headout was horrible. Seven different persons always asked the same questions per email. I answered eight times using three different mail accounts to avoid spam. I used the direct and indirect chat two times and at least after six days headout finished the order.
Inclusions
Tour of Fox Glacier Valley
Expert guide
E-bike
Bike helmet
Leather boots
Waterproof jacket
Backpack
Superb tour, flew right round mount cook saw both fox and Franz Joseph glaciers. Pilot was great.
Experience was super but at time of writing I have not received any credit for being moved to a cheaper tour the next day .So tour was awesome but admin from headout not so good as no credit received for much cheaper tour on the following day.
Absolutely outstanding & a must do. Every staff member was exceptional. And this experience I feel is a must do. We were incredibly lucky with the weather. This goes down as one of the experiences I’ve lived to date. Chris and Dee you are awesome
I wish I could give more than five Stars. Our helicopter departed from Franz Josef early in the morning before the clouds rolled in. It was a perfectly clear sky. We flew around Mt. Cook, Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier and did a snow landing. The ride was smooth and the views were spectacular. I strongly encourage everyone to take the Grand Tour.
Wow this was spectacular, the views, the landing, our pilot was helpful and gave a great commentary. This will be a highlight of this holiday. The check in and ground crew were also very helpful and considerate of my mobility issues. Couldn’t have been kinder.
Inclusions
20-min Fox Glacier helicopter tour
Snow landing
Pilot guide
30-min Franz Josef & Fox Glacier helicopter tour (optional)
30-min Fox Glacier & Mt.Cook helicopter tour (optional)
40-min Glaciers, Mt.Cook & Mt.Tasman helicopter tour (optional)
There were road closures and we were not going to make it on time to Franz Josef. We called them and they rescheduled our trip to next day. Thank fully there was an open spot. It is recommended to book the ride for the day you reach Franz Josef so that u have some flexibility in can of any issues. Smooth check in and a memorable trip. We took 1 glacier 20 min ride. The pilot was excellent and took pictures for us .. we stopped for a good 7 mins even though it was supposed to be a 2 min stop. Definitely worth the money.
The Franz Josef / Fox Glacier helicopter tour has honesyly been the best experience of our 4 week holiday. The booking was easy & confirmed quickly,, location was easy to find, booking in & safety talk was enjoyable, everything just flowed , all customer advisers were knowledgaeble & reassuring, pilot was phenomenal & truly made this whole experience wonderful. The scenery is jaw droppingly beautiful, really takes your breath away - as does so much in NZ. However this trip was so humbling & peaceful , it truly has been the cherry on the trifle ♥️
Most amazing experience I've ever had! Clear skies and a amazing view. We did the 20 min. With snow landing and it was worth every minute!
A great experience. It worth the wait till the weather conditions maje the trip possible.
Awesome experience thoroughly recommend this
The walk around the glacier was fantastic.
Loved walking out on glazier.
Incredible experience. We were blessed with perfect weather and beautiful blue skies. Wonderful memories with our 2 babies for whom the ride was free. Thank you so much!
The weather and the pilot was amazing. The hole glacier landscape is funtastic.
The scenery was beyond compare. I got to throw a snowball at my husband. Our pilot-Olivia was full of good information and operated the heli very smoothly. One of my favorite things I've done in NZ
It was amaze balls dude!!!!!!!!!!
the views and experience was amazing
Inclusions
20-min Franz Josef helicopter tour
Snow landing
Pilot guide
30-min Franz Josef & Fox Glacier helicopter tour (optional)
40-min Glaciers & Mt. Cook helicopter tour (optional)
Denise
Aditi
Ephraim
Inclusions
Ice climbing at Fox Glacier
Expert mountaineering guide
Round-trip helicopter transfer
Socks & climbing boots
Crampons
Waterproof jacket & trousers
Gloves & hats
All technical & safety gear
Backpacks
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
You can cancel these tickets up to 24 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.
Book now without paying anything. Cancel for free if your plans change.
Inclusions
Full-day tour of Fox Glacier
Expert guides
2 helicopter flights
Ground transport
Socks and climbing boots
Crampons
Waterproof jacket and trousers
Gloves and hats
All technical and safety gear
Backpacks