Things to do
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Arrowtown
Gold miners built this small settlement on the Arrow River in the 1860s, and its wooden shopfronts, avenue of sycamores and restored Chinese settlement survive along Buckingham Street. Autumn colour in April draws crowds and a festival. Twenty minutes by car or bus from Queenstown, it makes a half day with a museum stop and a walk by the river.
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Ben Lomond
Above the gondola station, a marked track climbs through beech and tussock to a summit ridge at 1748 metres, with the Remarkables, Cecil Peak and the head of the lake laid out on all sides. Allow six to eight hours return from town, or cut the first climb by riding the gondola. Snow lies on the top into November.
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Glenorchy
At the head of Lake Wakatipu, forty five minutes along a lakeside road from Queenstown, a handful of buildings faces the Humboldt and Richardson mountains. Beech forest, braided rivers and the Dart valley begin here, and the trailheads for the Routeburn and Rees Dart tracks lie beyond. Its red boatshed is the photograph; the drive along the lake is the reason to come.
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Kawarau Bridge
Commercial bungy jumping began at this restored road bridge over the Kawarau Gorge in 1988, and jumps still run off the deck into the gorge above green water. A viewing platform and a café let onlookers watch without booking. Twenty minutes from town on the Cromwell road, it pairs easily with a Gibbston winery stop.
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Lake Wakatipu
Shaped like a lightning bolt and nearly eighty kilometres long, the lake sets the geography of the whole district, with the town on one bay and the mountains falling straight into cold water. The coal fired steamer TSS Earnslaw crosses to a high country station on the far shore. Swimming is possible in February, though the water stays cold all year.
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Milford Sound
Sheer rock walls, waterfalls and Mitre Peak make Fiordland's best known inlet worth the long day it demands from Queenstown: about four hours on the road each way, plus a cruise on the water. Coaches leave before dawn and many travellers sleep part of the drive. Rain is frequent and improves the waterfalls.
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Shotover River
Jetboats run the narrow canyons of this gold rush river at speed, spinning between schist walls that leave little clearance on either side. Rafting and canyon swings work the same water further upstream. Trips go year round and the gorge is cold even in summer, so the supplied jackets earn their place.
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Skyline Queenstown
A gondola climbs Bob's Peak from the edge of town to a terrace above the lake, where the view takes in the Remarkables and Cecil Peak. Luge tracks, a restaurant and mountain bike trails share the top station. Evening slots for dinner and the stargazing tour sell out first, and the queue at the base is shortest early.
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Other
The Remarkables
A wall of schist peaks rises along the eastern shore of Lake Wakatipu, catching the last light over the town most evenings. Its ski field is reached by a steep access road of switchbacks with no barriers, and chains are often required in winter; a shuttle runs from town. In summer the road opens to walkers heading for the alpine tarns.