Queenstown: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Queenstown is small — the historic centre is about six streets — and everything in it exists because of two things that happened here: gold in 1862, and the invention of commercial bungy jumping in 1988. The first built the town and emptied again within fifteen years; the second turned it into the adventure capital it calls itself. This walk is the town itself, and it takes two hours because there is not much more of it than that.

A short history of Queenstown

Before the Europeans arrived, the Māori passed through here on their way to the greenstone, pounamu. In 1860 William Rees set up a sheep station on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, but as early as 1862 gold was found in the Shotover River, and within a few months thousands of miners had arrived. The town received its name in 1863. When the gold ran out the place emptied almost completely, and for years it lived on farming and summer holidaymakers. In 1988 the world's first commercial bungy jump opened on the Kawarau Bridge, and since then this small town has become a centre for adventure sports and skiing.

The ten best sights in Queenstown

1
Queenstown Bay
The small bay the town is built around, with a beach of grey pebbles. The water is twelve degrees in February, which is high summer.
2
Lake Wakatipu
Eighty kilometres long, shaped like a lightning bolt, and over three hundred and seventy metres deep. The water level rises and falls about twelve centimetres every twenty-seven minutes, which is a standing wave and not a tide.
3
Queenstown Gardens
A peninsula of exotic trees planted from 1876 on glacial moraine, with a frisbee golf course that the town takes seriously.
4
Skyline Gondola
The steepest cable car lift in the southern hemisphere, four hundred and fifty metres up Bob's Peak in under ten minutes.
5
Bob's Peak
The viewpoint above the town, with the luge track, the bungy and the paragliding launch all on the same hill.
6
Kawarau Bridge
The first commercial bungy jump in the world opened here in November 1988. Forty-three metres, and about half a million people have jumped since.
7
Nevis Bungy
One hundred and thirty-four metres from a pod suspended on wires over a canyon, and the fall lasts about eight and a half seconds.
8
AJ Hackett
The company that invented commercial bungy, named after the man who jumped off the Eiffel Tower in 1987 to advertise it and was arrested.
9
Shotover River
Called the richest river in the world during the gold rush — in 1862 two men pulled about eleven kilograms of gold out of it in a single day.
10
Shotover Jet
Jet boats running the canyon at eighty kilometres an hour in water sometimes ten centimetres deep. The jet boat was invented in New Zealand in 1954 to work shallow rivers.

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Queenstown →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Queenstown:

Free walking tours in Queenstown

The Town on the Bay

Queenstown Bay · The town was founded in 1862 when gold was found in the Shotover, and within two years it had several thousand people and dozens of hotels. By 1900 the gold was gone and the population had dropped to a few hundred; the town survived on sheep and on tourists arriving by steamer.
Lake Wakatipu · Eighty kilometres long, over three hundred and seventy metres deep, and the surface rises and falls about twelve centimetres every twenty-seven minutes. It is a seiche — water sloshing in a closed basin — and Maori tradition explains it as the heartbeat of a giant buried under the lake.
Steamer Wharf and the Earnslaw · The TSS Earnslaw was launched in 1912, the same year as the Titanic, and was built in Dunedin, taken apart, carted overland and reassembled on the lake. It still burns about a tonne of coal an hour and you can watch the stokers work.
Queenstown Gardens · Planted from 1876 on a moraine — a ridge of rubble left by a glacier. The trees are all exotic, brought from Europe by settlers who wanted the place to look like home.
Skyline Gondola · The steepest cable car lift in the southern hemisphere, climbing four hundred and fifty metres. From the top the whole shape of the lake is visible, and the lightning-bolt bend is the glacier's path.
Bob's Peak · The hill above the town carries a luge track, a bungy, a zipline and the paragliding launch on one slope — which is the clearest statement of what this town decided to be.

Gold

In 1862 two sheep shearers found gold in the Shotover and within a year this valley held thousands of men. The Shotover was called the richest river in the world. By the 1880s the easy gold was gone, Chinese miners were invited to rework the tailings and then taxed for being there, and the towns emptied. This route is what the gold left behind, and almost all of it is within half an hour of Queenstown.

Shotover River · In 1862 two men, Hakaria Haeroa and Dan Erihana, pulled about eleven kilograms of gold from one stretch of this river in a single day after rescuing their dog from the water. The river was called the richest in the world and people still pan it.
Arrowtown · Founded in 1862 and it kept about sixty of its original buildings, which is rare — most gold towns were built of canvas and timber and vanished. The avenue of exotic trees along the river was planted by settlers and turns in late April.
Chinese Settlement · Chinese miners were invited from the 1860s to rework claims Europeans had abandoned, because the province needed the economy. They were then charged a poll tax of ten pounds a head, barred from bringing families, and lived apart in these stone and sod huts. New Zealand formally apologised in 2002.
Lakes District Museum · A small museum that tells the rush without romance, including the drownings, the suicides and the men who went home with nothing. It lends gold pans.
Kawarau Bridge · A gold-era bridge of 1880 that A.J. Hackett and Henry van Asch turned into the world's first commercial bungy site in November 1988, after Hackett jumped off the Eiffel Tower to advertise it and was arrested. Forty-three metres.
Gibbston Valley · The valley by the bridge. Central Otago is the southernmost wine region in the world, and the pinot noir works here because the days are hot, the nights are cold and the frost risk is extreme — the vines are stressed on purpose.

Up the Lake

The road from Queenstown to Glenorchy runs forty-five kilometres along the lake with the water on one side and the mountains straight up on the other, and it is widely called one of the best drives in the world. At the end of it the valley opens, the great walking tracks start, and the road simply stops at a farm called Paradise. A full day by car, and the weather changes without warning.

The Remarkables · One of only two mountain ranges in the world that run almost exactly north to south — the other is the Rocky Mountains' Front Range — and that is where the name came from in 1857.
Moke Lake · Twenty minutes out on gravel, and there is nothing there — a campsite, a flat track round the water and no buildings. It is the quietest place within reach of the town.
Lake Hayes · An eight-kilometre flat loop, and on a still morning the Remarkables are reflected in it whole. The lake suffers algal blooms from farm runoff and the community has been restoring it since the 1990s.
Glenorchy · Forty-five minutes up the lake on a road that was only sealed in 1962 — before that the town was reached by boat. It is the trailhead for the Routeburn and the Rees-Dart.
Paradise · A farm valley beyond Glenorchy, genuinely named Paradise on the survey maps, where the road ends. Nobody agrees whether it was named for the scenery or for the paradise duck that lives there.
Walter Peak · A high-country sheep station on the far shore with no road to it. It is reached by the 1912 steamer, and the sheep dogs working there are doing their job and not performing it.

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Getting to Queenstown and getting around

Queenstown Airport · Eight kilometres from town and one of the most difficult approaches in the world — pilots need a specific certification to land here and the airport closes at dark.
Frankton · The flat part of town where the supermarkets, the hospital and the bus hub are. Everything that does not fit in the old centre is here.
Steamer Wharf · Where the lake boats leave from, including the hundred-and-twelve-year-old steamer, and the walk into town is two minutes.

Cheap eats in Queenstown

Eight counters where Queenstown eats standing, and one warning: this is the most expensive town in New Zealand and the reason is simple — about fifteen thousand residents serve around three million visitors a year, and almost everything is trucked in over a mountain pass. A burger is about twenty dollars and a coffee about six, and nobody here apologises for it.

Fergburger · Order and wait outside · cash or card
The Mall · Lunch before noon is the trick
Frankton · Supermarkets open to ten
Arrowtown · Lunch is better value here
Amisfield · Book weeks ahead
Chard Farm · Drive slowly · the road is narrow
Gibbston Valley · The trail is the sensible way
Cromwell · December and January only

Nature and day trips near Queenstown

Milford Sound · A fourteen-hour day from Queenstown
Ben Lomond · Take layers · the weather turns fast
Routeburn and Glenorchy · Book Great Walks months ahead
Lake Wanaka · The pass can close in snow
Moke Lake · Gravel road · fine in a normal car
Te Anau and Fiordland · Last petrol before Milford
Glowworm Caves · Boats several times a day

Things to do in Queenstown with kids

Skyline luge · Buy a multi-ride pass
Kiwi Park · Check the feeding times
Deer Park Heights · Bring coins for the feed
TSS Earnslaw · The engine room is open to look into
Queenstown Gardens · Free · the ice rink charges
Lake Hayes · Flat the whole way
Arrowtown · Pans from the museum

Museums in Queenstown

Lakes District Museum · Open daily · lends gold pans
Chinese Settlement · Free · always open
Macetown · Four-wheel drive tours only
Clyde · An hour out · worth the drive
Cromwell old town · Free · shops in the old buildings
Bannockburn sluicings · Free · forty minutes out
Roaring Meg · Visible from the road

Parks and gardens in Queenstown

Queenstown Gardens · Free · always open
Queenstown Hill · Free · steep but short
Queenstown Trail · Bikes hire everywhere in town
Lake Hayes · Free · a car park at each end
Kelvin Heights · Ferry from the wharf
Jack's Point · Free · twenty minutes out
Moke Lake · Free · gravel road in

Live music in Queenstown

The Mall · Busy from nine · year round
Steamer Wharf · Light until ten in December
Onsen Hot Pools · Book weeks ahead
Arrowtown · Weekends · twenty minutes out
Coronet Peak night ski · Winter only · Friday and Saturday
Skyline at night · Last gondola is late
Gibbston Valley · Summer only · check the programme

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Frequently asked questions about Queenstown

What is there to see in Queenstown?

The top sights in Queenstown are Queenstown Bay, Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown Gardens. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Queenstown?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Queenstown without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Queenstown?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Queenstown, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Town on the Bay.

How do you get to Queenstown and get around?

The main ways are Queenstown Airport, Frankton and Steamer Wharf. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Queenstown, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Queenstown that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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