Located beside Lake Wakatipu, looking up at the soaring peaks of the Remarkables mountain range, Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island is a magnet for travelers. Nicknamed the “adventure capital of the world,” the city sits at the epicenter of staggering landscapes and is the prime base for exploring the island’s highlights. Read on for our recommendations for your visit.
Tall mountains set the scene for bungee jumping or paragliding in summer and skiing in the winter. Glacial blue rivers are ripe for packrafting or jetboating. Hiking trails crisscross the alpine terrain. Yet increasingly, this adventure-rich town is emerging as more than just a place for thrills. New high-end hotels and villas, wellness activities like floating saunas and cold plunges, and a growing appreciation for the wine and food mean visitors can enjoy adventure without compromising on luxury.
Kawarau River, near Queenstown
CULTURE
Many of the most popular events in Queenstown’s calendar are sporting ones — hardly surprising given that the lakes and mountains in the area are a playground for hikers, trail runners and mountain bikers. Most prominent among these is the Queenstown Marathon, which bills itself as the “world’s most beautiful marathon.” This might well be true, but it has stiff competition from other running events held in town. The Shotover Moonlight Marathon follows sheep tracks and historic mining water races through mountainous terrain near Queenstown. Climbing more than 8,200 feet, tracking along razor-sharp ridges and sliding down scree slopes, this is one of the most demanding and spectacular mountain marathons in New Zealand.
The Motatapu is another epic one-day event that offers the chance to mountain bike or trail run through high country terrain between Wanaka and Queenstown. And it’s hard to beat the Routeburn Classic, a 20-mile adventure run through two national parks, following the Routeburn Track from Mount Aspiring National Park to Fiordland National Park.
Shotover River at Arthurs Point
HISTORY
While Maori visited the Queenstown area seasonally to hunt or gather pounamu (South Island greenstone), it wasn’t until the Europeans arrived in 1860 that a permanent settlement began to grow on the lakeshore. Not long after their arrival, Europeans discovered gold in the region’s rivers and a gold rush ensued. The boom faded by the end of the 1800s, but the legacy of the rush is still visible in the schist stone and timber buildings of Central Otago’s small towns.
The most notable of these is Arrowtown, a 15-minute drive from Queenstown. The village is so well preserved it seems as if muddy-booted prospectors might appear among the tourists at any moment. Along the main street are original buildings with their quaint facades intact, although they now house a range of boutique stores, restaurants and bars. A five-minute walk from the center of Arrowtown, on the banks of a tributary to the Arrow River, is a partially restored Chinese village dating back to the 1880s — the last intact Chinese settlement in Otago. The huts offer a glimpse into the often-overlooked role and harsh living conditions of Chinese prospectors during the gold rush.
Another place providing a window into the gold-rush era is Skipper’s Canyon. The deep gorge is around 14 miles long, carved out of the rugged landscape by the Shotover River. Prospectors discovered gold in this river in 1862, luring tens of thousands of hopeful miners to the remote canyon. The Skippers Road, clinging to the edge of the gorge, was built to make access to the Shotover River easier for miners; before the road, there was only a pack track connecting settlers with the outside world.
By the time the road was completed, the gold rush had already subsided. The road endured, even as the settlements it led to slowly dispersed. Today, it still appears much as it did in the 19th century — little more than a narrow strip of rock hacked into the sides of the gorge walls. Sheer drops and a narrow width mean this isn’t a road for rental vehicles. Visit instead on a 4WD tour, for the thrill of the road itself, and to see the remnants of Skippers Township, an isolated community that rose during the gold rush.
Bouillabaisse at Gibbston Valley Winery
FOOD & DRINK
New Zealand doesn’t have a distinct cuisine, as such. Instead, it produces the finest quality ingredients; beef and lamb from sprawling high-country stations, crayfish from the wild waters of remote Fiordland and oysters from Bluff, on the southernmost coast of the South Island. Queenstown’s fine-dining restaurants — of which there are many — focus on elevating quality ingredients from Otago and beyond.
At Amisfield, chef Vaughan Mabee presents a tasting menu that reads as a long list of ingredients, and sometimes just places, rather than dishes. Items include “wild hare, “the whole beast,” and simply “rocks.” Each dish tends to highlight one flavor, and the result is sometimes provocative. Eel is served alongside its skeleton. Wild boar mortadella is shaped to look like a boar’s snout.
The degustation menu at Nest hits similar highlights. Dishes run the gamut from Fiordland red deer to Mount Cook alpine salmon and lamb loin. Where Nest ups the ante is with the view. Located within Kamana Lakehouse hotel, set on a hillside overlooking Lake Wakatipu, it’s one of the most scenic place to dine in Queenstown.
Most restaurants in the town are equipped with an extensive local wine list. The Central Otago region, while accounting for less than 5% of vines in New Zealand, is among the world’s great pinot noir growing areas. Hot days, cold nights and sandy soils on arid slopes are what convinced Irish expat Alan Brady to plant vines in the valley back in the 1970s. Brady’s pioneering project went on to become Gibbston Valley Winery, the largest producer in the area today.
The top destination for sampling the full spectrum of the region’s pinot noir is Kinross, where the cellar door hosts wine from six small, independent vineyards (including Wild Irishman, Brady’s “retirement” project). Neighboring Mt. Rosa Wines is a family-owned vineyard where all varietals grow in the plot of land surrounding the cellar door. In summer, the lawn, strewn with beanbag chairs, is the perfect spot to enjoy a platter, a glass of rosé and a view of the sheer surrounding hills. For more active wine enthusiasts, the Gibbston River Cycle Trail follows the Kawarau River through the valley, blending cycling, scenery and wine stops.
Vintage clothing at Country Lane
SHOPPING
Surrounded by sheep stations and only hours from where pounamu has traditionally been gathered, Queenstown is the ideal place to shop for authentic keepsakes like merino clothing and traditional Maori jewelry. Frank’s Corner, a small gift store celebrating New Zealand goods, stocks socks and gloves made using wool and fur from possums considered invasive pests culled to protect native flora and fauna.
Minutes from Queenstown airport is Country Lane, a collection of farm sheds, horse paddocks, shops and restaurants set in heritage buildings. Stopping by Country Lane could involve anything from petting a horse to dining out at Sundays, a woodfired pizza restaurant housed in a converted church. Each local business in Country Lane has its own specialty. Inside of a rustic shearing shed is Buzzstop, which stocks a large selection of New Zealand native and manuka honey, along with other honey-based products. The studio of artist and jeweler Jessica Winchcombe features her bold, expressive jewelry and art pieces. And the Arts Hole is Queenstown’s first and only urban art gallery.
Arrowtown is another excellent shopping destination. At Arrowtown Stonework, the same family has been hand-carving pounamu pieces for three generations. Maori tradition and culture underpin the studio’s work, so each creation has meaning behind it. Meanwhile, The Gold Shop in Arrowtown specializes in jewelry made from gold hand-mined from local rivers. Look out for the lockets full of gold flakes.
Queenstown’s markets represent a great opportunity to buy from local artisans. The Queenstown Market, held every Saturday on the lakefront, is a prime place to pick up a handcrafted gift or souvenir. Stalls range from stone jewelry, including pounamu, to landscape photograph prints of the Queenstown area, and ceramics made from clay dug from the South Island.
Another market worth bookmarking is the Remarkables Market, which takes place every Saturday during the summer months (October to April). The lineup of local makers and musicians is impressive, but what makes this market truly unique is the focus on sustainability. Single-use cups have long been banished; visitors are encouraged to bring a reusable cup or borrow one from the colorful cup stand.
Fiordland National Park
ADVENTURE
Ever since local entrepreneur AJ Hackett opened the world’s first commercial bungee jump at Kawarau Bridge in 1988, the high-adrenaline sport has been one of Queenstown’s most iconic activities. The repertoire of bungee-related activities has since expanded: these days, it’s also possible to be sent into freefall via a canyon swing or human catapult.
Another adventure activity born in Queenstown is the jetboat. The boats, which shoot up and down canyons and rivers in the area, were first developed back in the 1950s by South Island sheep farmer Bill Hamilton, who wanted to build a craft that would whip across Otago’s shallow rivers.
But not all activities here are adrenaline-fueled; many are focused around national parks. Queenstown is the primary gateway to Fiordland National Park, the vast wilderness blanketing the southwestern corner of the South Island. Many travelers make the pilgrimage to Milford Sound, a deep fjord carved into the coast and the main attraction in Fiordland, via State Highway 94. The remote road cuts a path through dense forest, offering many opportunities to gawk at mountain scenery, walk through virgin stands of moss-draped trees and spot kea, the world’s only alpine parrot. On Milford Sound, boats cruise beneath the towering Mitre Peak and the sheer fjord walls.
Fiordland is also home to three of New Zealand’s 11 Great Walks. The Milford Track, Kepler Track and Routeburn Track are the best of New Zealand’s expansive hiking trails, each offering the chance to escape into the heart of untouched wilderness.
Writer: Petrina Darrah
