Climbing the Frans Josef Glacier

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
0
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
9
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
4
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
72 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
132nd/454
Top 30%
continent
Oceania
country
New Zealand
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$310 ($115-$475 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
June
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Adrenaline rush Glaciers Waterfalls
All Tags
Caves Cliffs Glacial lakes Helicopter Thermal Baths
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐
Summary

As part of the trip up the stunning west coast of New Zealand, one of the must-do activities is to see one of the fastest moving accessible glaciers in the world, and, even better, to climb through it

 

5 tips:

  1. Climbing – climbing through the glacier with the crampons on and the ice axe at the ready was what made this such a great experience, so be sure to give yourself the day to include this.  The only issue is the price.  A few years ago you were able to simply rock up to the glacier and climb through it (NZ$250), whereas unfortunately now you often need to take a helicopter further up the glacier and explore from there (NZ$795).  On the plus side, you’ll get some amazing views of the glacier from the helicopter
  2. Climbing can get a bit hairy! – when climbing, be prepared for it to be a little scary at times.  We thought it would just be a walk but, depending on your guide, you may be climbing up sheer slopes and starring down into the ice abyss below – you’ve been warned!
  3. Fans Joseph or Fox? – both are similar, but their nearby towns make it a choice between bigger with wider facilities but a bit busier (Frans Jospeh) and smaller with few facilities but quieter (Fox).  When I visited, I went for Frans Jospeh and it was a great experience.  It also has Glacier Hot Pools which would be great to enjoy after the climbing
  4. Hiking – if you don’t want to climb, one activity that you simple must do is a hike to get a feel for the scale of the glaciers.  The Glacier Valley walk for Frans Jospeh is fantastic as its gives you a nice walk past the small lakes and view out across the glacier.  6km / 3.7miles return and will take around 1.5hours
  5. Two things we wish we’d done – we left thinking that we would have loved to have taken a scenic flight to see the glaciers from the sky (you can cover this now with the helicopter trip) and also kayaked in the more tranquil nearby Lake Mapourika, with the “Classic Trip” taking 3 hours in the early morning
Highlights
P8040947-aspect-ratio-900-675

#1 Getting the crampons on, the ice axe out and heading off to climb up the various fissures in the giant flowing rivers of ice

P8040959-aspect-ratio-900-675

#2 Exploring around the glacier itself as you look down some of the chasms and make (slow) progress walking along it

P8040928-aspect-ratio-900-675

#3 Taking the views in from the valley floor at just how steep and huge the Frans Jospeh Glacier is

P8040951-aspect-ratio-900-675

#4 The views out across the ice as you look past seemingly endless peaks in the distance

P8040945-aspect-ratio-900-675

#5 The awesome waterfalls that plummet down from the impossibly steep sides of the valley

P8030925-aspect-ratio-900-675

#6 The nearby west coast scenery with its superb small islands dotted all the way along

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Adrenaline Experiences around the World

Bungy jumping the Thrillogy in Queenstown
⭐⭐⭐

Helicopter trip to El Mirador in the heart of the Guatemalan jungle
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Zip-lining and night-time creepy crawly tours in Bahia Drake (near Corcovado National Park)
⭐⭐

Paragliding in Queenstown
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Diving with bull and tiger sharks by Beqa Island
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Zorbing by Rotorua
⭐⭐

Climbing the summit of Cotopaxi Volcano
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Swimming with Humpback Whales and relaxing in paradise in Vava’u
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Scuba diving the Cenotes of Tulum
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cycling down the Taroko Gorge
⭐⭐⭐

Climbing the Valley of the Giants and the Gloucester Tree
⭐⭐

Rafting the Navua River, near Pacific Harbour
⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *