Top Things to do in Queenstown
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The 10 Best Nature & Parks in Queenstown, South Island
Staggering beauty and heart-pumping thrills await in the resort town of Queenstown, which is also known for its Hobbits—much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in the area. Outdoor enthusiasts flock to Queenstown for the kayaking, bungee jumping, jetboating, white-water rafting, hiking and skiing. More mild-mannered adventurers can take a quiet cruise through nearby Milford Sound, part of the Fjordland National Park World Heritage area, or sample South Island pinot noir from one of the region's 75 wineries.
Restaurants in Queenstown
1. Lake Wakatipu
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,061 reviews
Reviewed By 194fayh - Christchurch, New Zealand
When visiting Queenstown a "Must see & Do" is the trip on the TSS Earnslaw boat - built in 1912 a great old ship that takes you up to Walter Peak - again a beautiful old Homestead/Farm wonderful hosts - great gift shop and a sing song on the journey with Lovely Eleanor on the piano playing some great old favourite songs which all the passengers join in on the singng. wonderful adventure and a chance to meet people from around the Globe. cant wait to do it again.
2. Time Tripper Queenstown
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 49 reviews
Looking for something to do in Queenstown for the family? Hold on to your seats, we’re taking you back to the beginning on a journey through time and legend! Head down under the Main Town Pier and travel back to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth, learn about how Lake Wakatipu was carved out by a giant glacier and experience the adventure activities you can do in Queenstown, all from the comfort of your seat. Time Tripper is a state-of-the-art animated show that takes you on a journey through time and legend, where you experience 90 million years in under 30 minutes. The show is approximately 12 minutes long, with 10-15 minutes of underwater viewing available after the show, where you can see the diving ducks, slinky eels and rainbow & brown trout.
Reviewed By sesjj - Nelson, New Zealand
This is a very cool experience, especially for the price. You get a quick journey back in time and a snapshot of how NZ and Queenstown looked as far back as 80-90 million years ago by watching a semi-surround movie. Then the screens roll up and you are confronted with huge eels and trout and the odd diving duck. You can go right up and stand beside them.
3. Mt Crichton Loop Track
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 113 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By Navigate310631
A lovely walk done in 2- 3 hours .like other reviews it is best done clockwise .Best place to stop fort lunch is by the only seat with fantastic views .
4. Ben Lomond Track
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 693 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip.
Reviewed By lottie27 - Balmain, Australia
As a 30-year old, reasonably fit female who had hiked Ben Lomond seven years previous, I actually found this hike to be reasonably ok for the most part. I had in fact hiked Roy’s Peak, Wanaka the day previous so wasn’t sure how my legs would feel doing two quite big hikes consecutively. As per the other reviews, there are two options, either start at the bottom of the Skyline Gondola (on Beacon St) and take the Tiki Trail up, or pay $38 (or something) and take about 45mins - 1hour (each way) off your hiking time and get the Gondola. For the challenge, I chose the first option and commenced my hike at 7.30am at the bottom of the Tiki Trail. The Tiki Trial is actually quite tough, constantly uphill and over some pretty rough terrain. I grabbed a good stick to use as a hiking pole in the forest and I think this certainly helped me overall. By 8.10am I was at the Skyline Gondola where the views are actually pretty fantastic in their own right. A quick 5 minute toilet stop here and I left the top of the Gondola to commence the hike at about 8.20am. The Ben Lomond track is well signposted from here (much better than when I first did this hike seen years ago) and it says 1.5 hours to the saddle and 2.5 hours to the summit. The hike from the Gondola to the saddle I found to be quite ok... yes it’s constantly uphill but not THAT steep and I in fact made it to the saddle in just under an hour from leaving the top of the Gondola - arriving at 9.15am. The saddle is where the easy hiking sure ends - the hike from the saddle to the summit was particularly strenuous. Having hiked Roy’s Peak the day before, my quads were burning. From the saddle to the summit, it is very much scrambling (on your hands as knees at times) up a rocky mountain face. Even on a dry day like I had I found it quite unsteady underfoot at times. That said, I made it to the summit from the saddle in about 40 minutes. The decent was quite tough on the knees but not as bad as Roy’s Peak and it was nice to be able to take in the views. I got back to the Skyline Gondola by 11.10am (1hr 10mins after leaving the summit), stopped for a cold drink and made it to the bottom of the Tiki Trail just after 12pm - 4.5 hours after commencing. I did walk quite fast and took very few breaks but it just goes to show that it doesn’t need to be a 6/8 hour hike if you’re reasonably fit. The crowds are much smaller than the Roy’s Peak track, even on a beautiful summers day like I had which I found made this hike more appealing. The walk itself is also more varied (having the Tiki Trail forest, the steady climb to the saddle and then the steep scramble to the summit) which made it a little more interesting than the zig zag of Roy’s Peak. My only comment would be that I didn’t find the views (from the saddle or summit) as amazing as the ones from Roy’s Peak, but overall a challenging, enjoyable hike. I didn’t have proper hiking boots and found my Nike trainers did the job ok, just be wary of twisted ankles on the climb to the summit. I found a long stick to be really helpful on the hike to the saddle, although had to lose it to the summit so I had both hands free to grab hold of things around me. Take lots of water, snacks, clothing and suncream as the weather can be very changeable.
5. Browns Ski Shop
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 198 reviews
Riding is our passion. It drives us. First tracks. The perfect run. For all of us at Browns Ski Shop it’s a spiritual feeling. Everything we do is driven by our love of riding – to search out the best from around the world so that we can offer you the best to share in our passion. We know that renting ski and snowboard gear is not necessarily your favourite part of a winter holiday. But for us this is where the FUN begins. We try & make the rental process as easy as possible. Everything we do is driven by our love of skiing & riding & we want to help you get the same BUZZ, whether it's your first time on snow or whether you're a Masters Racer. We want to help you have the BEST winter holiday EVER.
Reviewed By Axle_Twix - Upper Hutt, New Zealand
3 pairs of boots and 2 kids snow suits cost $70 for the days hire. Was well worth it as it kept the boys warm which made for a nicer snow/mountain visit. Great patient staff who bent over backwards to help.
6. Moonlight Track
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 5 reviews
Reviewed By DougieQT - Queenstown, New Zealand
Lovey walk, point to point so you will have to have someone drop you off at one end and arrange collection at the other! One idea would be to be dropped of at Moke Lake and then when you arrive in Arthurs point you can catch a bus to town. Has some beautiful views a long the trail. Feels quite isolated in parts. Not many steep parts to navigate. Some parts of the year you will encounter Cows on the trail which can be a bit daunting!
7. Southern Lakes Heliski
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 6 reviews
Since 1985 Southern Lakes Heliski is your premium heliski and heliboard provider in the Wanaka, Queenstown Lakes region of New Zealand. With access to terrain to 17 different mountain ranges and over 800 runs you get to ski or snowboard the best untracked powder with their highly experienced guides, certified under the NZMGA training program.
8. Jardine Park
9. Station 2 Station Cycle Trail
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 4 reviews
Reviewed By RupertAlgyAndBill - Canberra, Australia
We completed the station-to-station bike ride from Mt Nicholas to Walter Peak. Four adults – two fit (young adults), two (parents) less so. After picking up bicycles, we were given a rudimentary briefing on the bicycle. Assumed knowledge that you know how the gears work. The bike came with a pump and an emergency tyre repair kit. Really? They also gave us a mobile number to call in case of emergency or breakdown. The bikes are simple touring bikes, easy to ride, and all have a cross bar. Ladies in skirts and Scotsmen in kilts note. ;-) The bike sizes were meaningless to us. We ordered one Large and three Medium bikes. We were lucky that we could swap one of the medium bikes for a small bike (actually an extra small), from another returning tour, for my wife who, at around 1.55m tall, was not comfortable on the medium bike. Swapping bikes is not always an option. We were fortunate. As part of the briefing we were told that we had 90 minutes to ride the 14km. We would then have an hour and 30 minutes for lunch and wandering around Walter Peak stations before we were due to return on the TSS Earnslaw. We were scheduled to leave at 11am but were delayed ~15 minutes due to the tardiness of a group. The member of crew with whom I spoke said that it would not affect our trip. What he meant was that the travel time over was unchanged but the amount of time that we had to do what we needed to do was reduced. I thought it was a poor decision allowing a small group to delay so many who were on board. Parking the car was blamed when the blame should have been directed at the poor time management of the group. Parking in Queenstown is limited and expensive. There is a perfectly adequate bus service that gets you around for $2 per person (with a locally available bus card). We travelled over on the Spirit of Queenstown with a short detour into Bob’s Cove where the captain provided some interesting commentary on the history of the early European settlement. The views a cross lake Wakatipu are stunning as are the views of the approaching Mt Nicholas station. Other reviewers have commented that Mt Nicholas is prettier than Walter Peak. I agree. Our late arrival meant that we were advised to ride the short cut rather tackling the longer 14km route. We were also advised to get riding. We had paid for the full trip and wanted to enjoy the ride but had no time to explore Mt Nicholas. The highly structured nature of the ride, sandwiched between the arrival and departure times, means that the ride is effectively a time trial. If you want to stop and smell the flowers you can do so but you will likely miss the BBQ lunch – more on that later. A longer ride option would be better and might be possible if you rent bikes from another source – we had to get our bikes back. We were given a small bottle of water each for the journey, which fitted into the bike’s bottle holder. These were woefully inadequate for the journey on a warm day. Bring your own water in a backpack. The initial ride was up a steep hill, the steepest part of the entire ride. We made it half of the way then chose to push the rest as we could stop and look across the lake. One good piece of advice from the initial briefing was to look back over your shoulder. A lot of the good views are to be found facing the other way. Once up the top of the rise we headed left across a cattle grid. There were many of these on the journey. Best to get off your bike and walk across them rather than risk riding across. There was only one gate closed and chained, which we left as we found it. We shared the ride with another group but they rode ahead to the chained gate, so we were effectively riding by ourselves for the entire journey. The riding was relatively easy with a few up hills and down dales which were made easier with a little bit of effort in order to get up the other side. A few times we hopped off and pushed the bikes too. There were mile markers along the way and we were looking at our watches to check on our own time keeping. We encountered only two farm vehicles during the entire 90 minutes and we pulled over to allow them to pass. The ride follows the only gravel farm road through some stunning countryside and it was a balance between wanting to go slow to enjoy the moment and to keep riding to keep pace with the itinerary. I did feel that I was facing the road more than I would have liked and, with the effort needed to ride the distance in the 90 minutes, there was not a lot of time to just stop and smell the flowers. A fitter group would have no doubt managed it (they were the other family riding the same route as us whom we passed at the close gate). The ride was absolutely stunning but we were a little sore at the end. Having not ridden for years. The reason for the time trial riding is the sublime BBQ on offer at the end of the ride. The BBQ is a high quality all you can eat buffet with BBQ roasted chicken, lamb, pork (with cracking) and beef. The Pork was my favourite. There’s a mix of vegetables and salads, an amazing dessert tray with small portions of sticky date pudding, cakes, ice cream and sweets. One young lad was heard to shout, “this is paradise” possibly to his mother’s embarrassment, but we laughed. It was pretty special. The journey back on the TSS Earnslaw was therapeutic. We got seats against the boiler room and made use of the warmth to ease our aching bones and muscles. The boiler room doors above are open and it’s fascinating to watch the coalman feeding the boiler with coal. If you are considering the bike ride … do it. It’s stunning. If you are not confident of making the distance within the allotted time you should consider renting an e-bike from another company and taking that in lieu of the one Southern Discoveries provide. Speak with them first about this option and try and get a refund on their bike hire. Great day out. Exercise, scenery, food, therapy and history. A bit of everything.
10. Nockie's Palette and Stoneridge Cellar Door
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 6 reviews
Nockie’s Palette - where art meets wine Nockie’s Palette Wines was created with a vision to combine Michael Nock’s love of wine with his passion for art. Nockie’s Palette believes it is the artist or artisan who contributes the most value in the production of something truly great. Thus, we seek out winemakers that are considered among the world’s best in a range of different grape varieties. Just as the artist has a palette of paints and colours, Nockie’s Palette offers a palette of handcrafted wines showcasing unique hues, textures, flavours and terroir. Nockie’s Palette wines exhibit the best terroirs in the Australiasian region, from award-winning Central Otago Pinot Noir to Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay and Barossa Valley Shiraz. Besides wine tasting, Nockie’s Palette offers inspirational activities such as wine and art From May to September 2021, we open from 11am to 4:30 pm every Fri to Mon. Every Tue to Thurs, we open by appointment only with at least 24hrs notice in advance.
