3-Day Cycle Tour

This package is ideal for those with more limited time to spend on the trail.

(Please note that we may recommend some modifications to this itinerary, depending on circumstances at the time.)

Pick up in Queenstown between 8.00 and 8.30am
Transported in the Off The Rails vehicle to the Rail Trail start in Clyde.
Bikes, helmets, panniers fitted to begin cycling around 10.30am
We will meet you in Alexandra, to make sure everyone is comfortable, riding well and happy with their bikes.
A couple of hours cycling across the Manuherikia River Bridge No3, through to Galloway for morning "smoko",then across the Manuherikia again over Bidge No.2, the longest bridge on the Rail Trail (120m).
Lunch at the historic Chatto Creek Tavern. We will check in with you here and see how you're all going.
After lunch, grab Tiger Hill by the tail (at a gradient of 1:50, its hardly a hill!!)
Downhill to Omakau and Lauder. We will meet you at Lauder and bring you to our accommodation in Ranfurly.
Dinner tonight at the Ranfurly Hotel, the Waipiata Country Hotel or at the Wedderburn Tavern

After breakfast, we will return you to wherever you finished cycling the day before at Lauder.
Across the Manuherikia River again, over bridge No.1, through the Poolburn Gorge tunnels (229m and 201m) and onto the 37m high, 108m long Poolburn Viaduct.
Then down the Raggedy Range to the Ida Valley and the Ida Burn, which is a natural skating rink in winter.
Take a trip to the Hayes Engineering Works before lunch at Oturehua. (Extra cost involved)
After lunch the Rail Trail's other hill takes you up to Rough Ridge and the highest point of the Trail at 618m.
Then an easy ride down to Wedderburn and the possibility of afternoon tea at Wedderburn Tavern.
Cycle across the Maniototo Plain to Ranfurly, where you'll have earned a freshen-up before heading to Naseby for a spot of curling and dinner at the Royal Hotel.

A quick 7.5kms to Waipiata where you can stock up with a pie for lunch. Then over the Taieri river bridge and follow the Taieri River to Kokonga and Daisybank, where you might like to pick up some home baking for morning tea from the Daisybank picnic spot.
After Daisybank, through the Tiroiti gorge, one of the highlights of the trail.
Before you reach Hyde, Prices Creek brings you a 32m high Viaduct and a 152m long Tunnel.
Stop at Hyde for that pie!.
The final 28kms will take you past Hyde Railway Station, where 21 people lost their lives in a tragic accident in 1943.
Then you leave the Taieri Gorge behind as the land broadens into the Strath Taieri plain.
Look out for cloud formations known as the 'Taieri Pet' over the Rock and Pillar range.
We will meet you at the end of the Trail in Middlemarch and take you to the cafe for some well-earned refreshments.
It's now all aboard for the scenic drive back to Queenstown or a trip out to the "Edinburgh of the South' if you have booked the Dunedin option.

Please note: Lunches and evening meals are at the guests expense.