Hotel in Picton
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Queen Charlotte Track Self-Guided Walk
5 days / 4 nights
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New Zealand|
Four days from Ship Cove to Anakiwa with a lodge and a restaurant at the end of every stage, your bag moved by boat and a water taxi back to Picton.
Four days from Ship Cove to Anakiwa with a lodge and a restaurant at the end of every stage, your bag moved by boat and a water taxi back to Picton.
Four days from Ship Cove to Anakiwa with a lodge and a restaurant at the end of every stage, your bag moved by boat and a water taxi back to Picton.
Highlights
- Step off the water taxi at Ship Cove, where Captain Cook anchored five times
- Walk the whole 73-kilometre track in four days, lodge to lodge
- Sleep at Furneaux Lodge, a 1908 homestead at the head of Endeavour Inlet
- Follow the ridge between Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru sounds, water on both sides
- Climb to Eatwell's Lookout for the view over the Bay of Many Coves
- Send your bag ahead by boat and carry a day pack the whole way
What’s included in the price?
Self-guided
Are you looking for a good adventure and limitless flexibility? Then you should try out a self-guided tour, perfect for independent explorers who want to set their own pace. Without the need to stick to a group schedule, you’re free to linger at scenic viewpoints while the logistics are taken care of in advance.
INCLUDED
4 nights in a hotel and lodges, private room with own bathroom
Water taxi from Picton to Ship Cove and from Anakiwa back to Picton
Your bag moved by boat from lodge to lodge every walking day (one bag per person, up to 15 kg)
Queen Charlotte Track land pass
Digital guidebook with itinerary, route instructions, and practical information
GPS navigation with an easy-to-use app
Tour design and organization
Service and support during your walk
NOT INCLUDED
Meals
Ferry or flight to Picton
Accommodation levelComfort
Carefully selected hotels and lodges, all with private en-suite rooms. Expect comfortable, well-appointed rooms in scenic waterside locations — every lodge on the track has its own restaurant and bar, where breakfast and dinner are paid on the spot.
These are examples of the type and standard you can expect. Actual properties may vary depending on availability.
What to bring to the tour
- Hiking shoes/boots
- 25 to 45-liter backpack
- Base layer
- Sports T-shirts
- Hiking shorts
- Hiking water-repellent pants
- Waterproof jacket
- Midlayer
- Sports socks and underwear
- Leisurewear for evenings
- Down jacket
- Gloves
- Shade hat/cap
- Warm headwear
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Headlamp
- Hiking poles
- ID card or passport
- Snacks
- Cash
- Water bottles or hydration pack
- Sleeping liner
- Toiletries
- Toilet paper
- Small first aid kit
The Queen Charlotte Track is the walk New Zealanders recommend when you ask for one that is long, beautiful and comfortable at the same time. It runs 73 kilometres along the Marlborough Sounds, from Ship Cove at the outer edge to Anakiwa near Picton, and because every stage ends at a jetty, a lodge sits at the end of each day.
You start by boat. The water taxi from Picton takes about an hour and a half down the sound and puts you ashore where Captain Cook refitted the Endeavour, and from there the whole track is in front of you: bush and bays for two days, then two days on the ridge.
The lodges are part of the walk, not just beds. Furneaux Lodge is a homestead from 1908 with a bar on the lawn; Punga Cove has chalets up the hill and a pool; the Portage looks out over Kenepuru Sound. Each has a restaurant and a packed-lunch counter, so you carry a day pack and nothing else. The boat company moves your bag from jetty to jetty while you walk.
Day 4 is the one to respect: 24 kilometres on the ridge with no boat stop in between, and the finest views of the trip from Eatwell's Lookout. The other days are shorter and gentler, and day 3 is over by lunchtime.
Distances and climbs on this page are approximate: they are measured on our own route lines and rounded, and the official track figures differ by a kilometre here and there.
The track is shared with mountain bikes and well made for it: wide, benched and signposted at every junction. You will not need your hands anywhere; what you need is the fitness for two long days back to back.
We book the lodges and the boats, put the land pass in your hands, and give you the route on your phone in our guidebook. You walk on your own, at your own pace, and the water taxi is waiting at Anakiwa to take you home.
Frequently Asked Questions
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from 1.195 € /person
