The Travel Guide to Mt Cook for Families [2024]

© Unsplash

Family Adventure Activities

Get into the adventure spirit of New Zealand and discover the breathtaking landscapes of Aoraki Mt Cook National Park on one of its family-friendly tours.

Tasman Glacier Lake Tours

A good place to start is a boat tour on a glacier lake with Glacier Explorers. On the terminal lake of New Zealand’s largest glacier, you’ll encounter giant icebergs that have broken away from the Tasman Glacier. The tour begins with a 30-minute walk on a gravel track with a steady gradient before embarking on a MAC boat that has been custom-made to navigate the lake. Learn about the interesting formation of the lake and its everchanging nature from your knowledgeable guide. All in all, it’s a pretty special experience to share with your loved ones, as it’s the only accessible glacier lake with icebergs in New Zealand.

Family-Friendly Mt Cook Flights

To see the towering mountains, rivers of ice and dramatic valley landscapes from another perspective, how about a scenic flight? Take the kids to play in the snow atop the Tasman Glacier with INFLITE Experiences (more info on Viator, Tripadvisor and Klook) and their ski plane tour. Soar over the Tasman Valley and touch down on the upper snowfield of the glacier where you’ll get time to jump out into the snow. Alternatively, kids usually find riding in a helicopter is pretty darn cool, so treat them to a scenic flight with The Helicopter Line (see Viator and Tripadvisor for more details). Their 20-minute trip over the Ben Ohau Range is a good one for those with short attention spans.

Stargazing Tour and Planetarium

Wrap up an epic day in Aoraki Mt Cook with a mesmerising and educational experience with Big Sky Stargazing. Kids love the Dome Planetarium during the first part of the tour where your guides get you orientated with the night’s sky in the Southern Hemisphere. Then it’s over to their secret stargazing spot where you’ll get to observe the night’s sky of an International Dark Sky Reserve using powerful telescopes!

For more family activities, head to the 7 Things to Do in Mt Cook with Kids.

© NZPocketGuide.com

All-Weather Family Activities

Admittedly, most of Mt Cook’s attractions require good weather to be enjoyable and safe, so if you find yourselves stuck in Mt Cook on a rainy day, it could be a good time to relax and do some of the less active experiences.

Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre

A tribute to the New Zealander who was one of the first to summit Mt Everest, the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre is an interesting museum inside The Hermitage Hotel Mt Cook. Check out the transport, mountaineering and hotel memorabilia and watch educational shows on the 2D and 3D Dome Planetarium cinema.

Family-Friendly Dining in Mt Cook

If all else fails, you can always relax with a bit to eat in Mt Cook. The most family-friendly option is the Old Mountaineers’ Cafe (3 Larch Grove) with crowd-pleasers that even the fussiest kids will enjoy and floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing the majestic scenery of the Aoraki Mt Cook National Park.

© Unsplash

Free Family Activities

Families on a budget will find that the short walks around Mt Cook are a great way to enjoy the scenery for free.

Family Walks in Mt Cook

While the three-hour Hooker Valley Walk is a popular choice, families looking for something better suited to kids are best to venture up the Tasman Valley Road. There, you’ll find the Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier View Track, just a 40-minute return walk to get spectacular views of the Tasman Glacier and its lake full of icebergs.

Branching off the Blue Lakes track, the Tasman Glacier Lake Track is a flat one-hour walk to get another perspective of the terminal lake of the Tasman Glacier.

Finally, accessible from Mt Cook Village, the Governors Bush Walk delves into stunning beech forest where kids may be able to spot fantail birds and kea parrots. The walk takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.

For more walks, check out the 10 Free & Cheap Things to Do in Mt Cook.