Most first-time guests to New Zealand’s South Island put Queenstown on the itinerary with out a lot deliberation. It’s the world’s journey capital – a title and a repute deservedly earned and as such one of many headline ‘must-visit’ locations in New Zealand.
Most individuals could have heard of Queenstown even when they will’t let you know the place it’s in New Zealand, however as soon as they know its tiny airport welcomes worldwide flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast in addition to home shifts it turns into the default reply when anybody asks the place to base themselves within the Southern Lakes.
That’s not incorrect, however Wānaka sits 45-minutes away and travellers who discover their method there are likely to cease asking whether or not they made the fitting name pretty rapidly.
Queenstown: the place to start out
Simply to place the journey capital label into perspective: bungy leaping was invented right here. AJ Hackett’s unique Kawarau Bridge website nonetheless runs, alongside the Nevis, which drops 134 metres above a distant river gorge and stays one of many extra severe issues you possibly can voluntarily do with a Tuesday afternoon. The Shotover Jet might be the following greatest recognized adrenalin thrill because it speeds you thru a slim schist canyon at near 90km/h.
On the different finish of the tempo spectrum, the TSS Earnslaw, a coal-fired steamship in-built 1912, nonetheless crosses Lake Wakatipu to Walter Peak Station, the place the high-country farming demonstration is much less tacky than it sounds. It runs all season lengthy and even when the Earnslaw is wintered there are nonetheless cruise choices throughout the lake. For many who choose to get their kicks from dashing downhill on snow, there are two ski resorts – The Remarkables and Coronet Peak – working inside thirty minutes’ drive. If downhill on two wheels is extra your factor then Coronet and the paths across the Skyline Luge in summer season are your playground.
Past Queenstown, however very a lot magnetic to the Wakatipu must-do listing are the Sounds and Glenorchy. Taking a day journey to Milford Sound or Uncertain Sound (the latter being ever so barely extra beautiful and due to this fact booked up quicker) is a protracted day journey however a manageable one – until you go for an impressive in a single day cruise, and even an opulent fly-cruise-fly possibility.
Glenorchy is house to Paradise. And till very lately it was precisely that, nonetheless is in the event you’ve by no means been earlier than. Forty-five minutes from Queenstown alongside a lake highway that passes between water the color of pewter and mountains dropping virtually vertically into it, the city sits the place the Dart River meets the northern finish of Lake Wakatipu. The peaks above it served as Rohan and Lothlórien within the Lord of the Rings movies. A jet boat up the Dart (or a jet boat up and a kayak again), or a morning on horseback into the valley past, is a special New Zealand completely from what most guests see. So making it your must-see could possibly be the standout second in your journey.
The Gibbston Valley, twenty minutes east of Queenstown en path to Central Otago is a chosen Worldwide Darkish Sky Park with some groundbreaking vineyards and a few fabulously pleasant cellar doorways. A lot of the grapes listed below are Pinot Noir rising in schist soils with cool in a single day temperatures and scorching, dry summers. A number of cellar doorways function alongside the gorge highway; Peregrine’s structure alone is well worth the drive and for one thing rather less industrial pop into The Church.
Queenstown serves up location (it really is a surprising lake setting), journey and thrills, a mighty and various meals scene, and entry to the elements of New Zealand the place ‘these’ images are taken. It’s an apparent, straightforward and exquisite place to start out your Southern Lakes journey and whereas folks do keep away from it due to its adrenalin repute and a worry of commercialism, we all know the right way to discover these still-authentic spots.
Wānaka: fall in love with life by the lake
Whereas we’re right here to make a comparability, Wānaka actually deserves its personal platform and positioning. It’s my favorite place within the Southern Lakes after visiting many instances and even earlier than dwelling in Central Otago however for guests on a once-in-a-lifetime journey it will probably get missed. Right here’s why (and why you undoubtedly don’t need to miss it)…
Smaller city, wider lake, quieter every thing. Life occurs across the lake in Wānaka and that’s a mirrored image of the city’s work to protect its dimension and restrict growth or commercialisation over time. It’s additionally your gateway to the Matukituki Valley, which runs west from the lake’s edge into Mount Aspiring Nationwide Park. There, beech forest provides solution to open valley flooring and ultimately the east face of Mt Aspiring itself. Merely driving into the valley slightly method with a picnic could have you glued to your digital camera, however there are mountaineering choices for a variety of expertise and skill too.
Wānaka’s most well-known hike is Roys Peak, notably a pre-dawn tramp in time to look at the dawn over the lake. Should you’ve seen almost-aerial view photos of Lake Wānaka, then they had been almost certainly taken from this path. It’s the path the place the automotive park is smaller than you’d think about and all the time busy, besides within the depths of winter.
Should you go wandering in direction of Mt Aspiring you’ll move the gate for one in every of Wānaka’s two ski fields: Treble Cone (the opposite being Cardrona). You may be on the base of the lifts inside a 40-minute drive of the city centre – no ski-in/out right here however wonderful entry all the identical.
Treble Cone’s north-facing terrain and altitude maintain snow properly into spring, and the absence of Queenstown’s carry queues on a Saturday is one thing skiers discover instantly. The truth that Treble, or TC because the locals name it, solely has two lifts tells you simply how a lot terrain there’s to play on, and that earlier than the hike to the Summit for these in search of deep powder play.
Lake Wānaka is swimmable from myriad locations across the shoreline, and since its a glacial lake its temperature barely fluctuates. There are sufficient kayaks and SUPs for everybody to rent. The tramping trails don’t get overcrowded.
To trace on the year-round enchantment of Wānaka: the heli-skiing and heli-biking entry from right here reaches terrain that carry techniques don’t contact. The poplar rows in April (the southern hemisphere’s autumn), gold towards the Buchanan Peaks. That Wānaka Tree in nonetheless water at first gentle. These items are actual they usually’re not carried out for vacationers, which is partly why the individuals who come right here hold coming again.
Arrowtown: The place heritage and the finer issues reside
Twenty minutes from Queenstown and about 45-minutes from Wānaka, Arrowtown sits alongside the Arrow River within the Wakatipu Basin, the Crown Vary rising steeply behind it to the west. The principle avenue, Buckingham Road, was established through the Otago gold rush and has the heritage buildings to show it. The Chinese language settlement on the fringe of city the place miners lived by the 1860s is extra affecting than most individuals anticipate, partly as a result of it isn’t offered as an attraction a lot as merely left there.
Autumn right here is one thing particular: very similar to the Wānaka tree it’s one thing that the locals merely settle for and adore, but social media has launched it to the remainder of the world and made it a factor. Autumn colors inject an power of color into the hillside and alongside these olde worlde streets when autumn strikes in late March. The Arrowtown Autumn Pageant runs every year by the month of April.
A number of eating places right here have constructed reputations that stretch properly past the area. Others, like Swiftsure from Waiheke Island’s Man ‘O Struggle vineyard, have noticed a chance to convey one thing from the North Island to the discerning palate of Southern Lakes residents and the considerable worldwide crowd passing by every year. And since tipping isn’t part of New Zealand tradition, all of your funds may be devoted to those scrumptious menus and beautiful wine lists.
All the pieces you could plan your journey in 2026
Queenstown or Wānaka?
Three or extra nights in every makes extra sense than attempting to resolve. Queenstown for the primary few nights in the event you’re arriving internationally, to get your bearings and canopy the massive experiences. Wānaka for the center of the journey, whenever you’ve adjusted to the size of the panorama and wish area to maneuver by it at your individual tempo. Arrowtown for just a few nights on the finish earlier than heading again to the airport and whenever you need someplace that doesn’t really feel prefer it’s optimised for guests.
It’s fairly the funding of time, in the event you’re not right here for lengthy, however in the event you’ve bought six weeks or extra, this provides you area to get to know every vacation spot for its highlights and quirks. Then you definitely’ll know the place to base your self whenever you come again for longer subsequent time!
Kate Stinchcombe-Gillies
Kate Stinchcombe-Gillies is CMO of Launch NZ. Launch NZ represents a portfolio of luxurious vacation lodging in Wānaka and Queenstown – their ardour being to attach company to every thing that makes this a part of the world so particular. If you want to be a visitor blogger on A Luxurious Journey Weblog with a view to elevate your profile, please contact us.
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