Ultimate Lord of the Rings Road Trip Itinerary - South Island - Britz

Four nights and 694 kilometres from Christchurch to Queenstown in a campervan, linking the South Island’s Lord of the Rings locations.

The Rakaia Gorge and Methven come first, then Mount Sunday, a lone moraine hump standing in the middle of the upper Rangitata flats, which was dressed as Edoras and is now bare tussock again, reached down an unsealed road with the Southern Alps behind it.

Geraldine, Fairlie and Lake Tekapo follow, then Lake Pukaki, turquoise from rock flour and used for the approach to the mountains in several shots, and Twizel, where the flats nearby served as the Pelennor Fields and several hundred local people were employed as extras. Cromwell and Queenstown come next, then Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu, where the beech forest stood in for Lothlorien and the Ithilien country.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Five days for 694 kilometres is comfortable, and the locations are largely unmarked, which is part of the appeal: most are simply landscape that needed no alteration at all. The Mount Sunday road is unsealed and the walk to the top takes half an hour. Guided location tours run from Queenstown and Twizel for anyone who wants the detail. Even without the films the route stands up: the Mackenzie Basin and the head of Lake Wakatipu are among the best landscapes in the country.