Lake Tekapo Travel Guides (Updated September 2026)

The weather was cloudy to begin with but we were given a choice to experience a 10-minute trial at the start. It was worth it. Guthrie (our guide) was knowledgeable and gave lots of information about the stars and his colleague (Estelle) was friendly. There were many stars and the night was beautiful. Then clouds began to drift fast and wind blew, the tour was cancelled. Wish we were staying longer at Tekapo to enjoy on another night. But its really a night to remember.

A must do when visiting Tekapo! Great facilities and customer service was superb 👏. Looking forward to visiting again! The experience provided both scientific and cultural astronomy.

Our guide was so knowledgeable, it was such a wonderful and wholesome experience. Worth the experience and 9:45pm slot is the perfect one!

The tour was great and had some really cool visual effects and good blend of science and Māori storytelling. Our guide was also very patient with some energetic young kids, which was appreciated. We had the tour to ourselves as a bonus.

Our guide Barbara was energetic, nice, thoughtful and enthusiastic all day long. You can tell she loves the places she takes you to. Although the weather was awful, the tour helped us make the best of the day in Mount Cook, and we were given rain ponchos and towels to cope with the heavy rain. Great!

What a great tour and a fabulous day! We had the lovely Barbera for our driver / guide. Barb was an excellent driver, knowledgeable, could answer many questions, gave great advice. The stops along the way were stunning! You could see Mt Cook was cloudy and most likely rain from the distance but everyone hoped it might change including Barb so we could take everything in. Mother Nature does what she likes and although you couldn’t really see it Barb made sure we knew exactly where it was at different stops in case the clouds parted. Lake Pukaki was stunning and had changed colour by the time we were on our way home. We chose to do the Tasman Glacier River walk which suited us and wow what a stunning place. It drizzled but we didn’t care for us it’s all part of it. We loved minute of it and Barb was so attentive to everyone helping take photos and boy does she take a good pic! We got to get some photos of the 2 of us that Barb took that we will frame. We decided not to do the next walk as we felt for us we did enough. We went back to the Hermitage with Barb showing us the visitors Centre on the way. Hermitage was great. The bus was clean, warm, cosy. There was water and snacks. We even got to see the most stunning rainbow on the way back to Tekapo. Top marks for Barbera she is really a gem and we loved this tour!

Simply Brilliant. We experienced a very clear night and the dark sky turned on its glory. The guide was extremely informative and educated us on various elements of the planets, stars and more (satellite). We felt blessed to participate in this tour and loved every minute.

The experience was epic! It was really well organised & well run with good communication on what was happening with the group through the whole session. What we could see through the telescopes was amazing! There were fantastic & knowledgable guides, they told us loads of interesting things about what we were seeing and answered all the questions. It wasn’t rushed and always moving to the next point, well timed. The time in the hot pools had enough time to change before and after and it was more interesting info and group questions throughout. Bennie was a fantastic group guide - personable, fun & super knowledgeable.

Very detailed explanations and we were able to see the stars and milky way clearly. The location was optimal even though it was cloudy near the lake.

Fantastic experience and the guides shared interesting stories on the stars. Great fun and suitable for all ages!

Punctual, Friendly, Informative, Safe environment. We had a fantastic time, We came over from Oamaru with our children and Mother In-law from Australia. It was amazing!

Our 4x4 adventure was perfect from start to finish. We were picked up on time by our guide Bill and it ended up just being me and my husband on the tour so it felt like such a private experience. The vehicle was clean and comfy, and exactly what I would have expected for this type of excursion. Bill was friendly and full of information. We got to see so many beautiful and wonderful places in our 4+ hours and just being the only people out there just felt extra special. Would recommend for anyone!

We had a very pleasant experience. Our guide, Chris, was highly experienced and passionate, sharing plenty of interesting information about the places we visited. He brought us to several locations that were perfect for photography. There was no rush at all—the time passed so quickly that we even exceeded the tour by an hour! Highly recommended!

Definitely the highlight of our trip to New Zealand. The stargazing location was excellent, offering a clear and unobstructed view of the night sky. Our guide, Jacob, was amazing—he shared plenty of fascinating insights about the stars and planetary systems, while keeping the session engaging with his humor. Since there were only two of us, Jacob kindly took the opportunity to let us view even more through the telescope instead of strictly following the original plan. Would highly recommend this tour.

We had the opportunity to experience the scenic tour of the Cass valley. Chris , our guide was a wealth of information. The tour was a fabulous mix of miunrain scenery & environment. We even had a cup of alpine water straight from the waterfall. Chris's knowledge was endless , & ge really tge tour wonderful. I would fully recommended this tour. You wont be disappointed

Great for kids. Tour guides did a great job explaining everything and answering questions. Thanks for making it enjoyable