Departure Dates

Photo gallery

Taieri Gorge Train

Beside the Rail Trail

New Zealand South Island Cycle Tours

Otago Rail Trail

Spend four days riding the former Otago Central Branch railway line from Clyde to Middlemarch.  The trail surface is similar to a good unpaved road.  For the truly authentic experience, we finsh with the Taieri Gorge Tourist Train to Dunedin.

Enjoying summer on the Rail Trail

Accommodation in character hotel and comfortable B&Bs.

Itinerary

DAY 1 CLYDE.
Meet in Clyde, or drive over from Queenstown with us.

DAY 2 LAUDER.
Ride over a wooden trestle bridge and through typical Central Otago schist rock and wild thyme landscape.  In the afternoon we visit the spectacular blue lake and Vulcan Hotel of St Bathans, by minibus.

DAY 3 WEDDERBURN.
Cross the Pool Burn on the spectacular Poolburn Viaduct..  Enjoy the impressive gorge scenery as you pass from one valley to the next.

DAY 4 HYDE.
This is one of the most spectacular sections of the Rail Trail.  We have the option of visiting the old goldmining town of Naseby by minibus.

DAY 5 DUNEDIN.
From the narrow confines of the upper Taieri Gorge cross the wide open spaces of the Strath Taieri plain as you head for Middlemarch.  Catch the Taieri Gorge train to Dunedin, where the tour ends.