offwegooo.com
Travel guide
Queenstown
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: December to March for summer, July to August for skiing
offwegooo.comPrint it, fold it, take it with you
Welcome
Queenstown, in a few days
Sixteen thousand people squeezed between Lake Wakatipu and the jagged ridge of the Remarkables, in the town where commercial bungy jumping began in 1988. Everything starts here: jet boats in the Shotover gorges, Gibbston pinot noir, and four ski areas within an hour.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Kawarau Bridge bungy · about 1 hWhere A.J. Hackett opened the world's first commercial bungy jump in 1988, from an 1880 suspension bridge 43 metres above the Kawarau.
- Afternoon · Gibbston Valley vineyards · about 1 h 30A narrow valley twenty minutes from Queenstown, planted with pinot noir on gravel terraces, among the southernmost wine regions in the world.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Novotel Queenstown Lakeside€160 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Arrowtown and the gold rush · about 1 h 30A timber and stone village founded after gold was found in the Arrow River in 1862, with some sixty period buildings along Buckingham Street.
- Afternoon · Shotover River jet boat · about 1 hUp to 85 km/h through narrow schist gorges in very shallow water, with full 360-degree spins signalled by the driver's raised finger.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Mercure Queenstown Resort€150 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Climbing Ben Lomond free · a full dayThe 1,748-metre peak above town; allow six hours return from the centre, or four from the top of the gondola at Bob's Peak.
- Afternoon · Skyline Gondola and luge · about 2 hOne of the steepest gondola lifts in the southern hemisphere, climbing 450 metres to Bob's Peak for a view over the lake and the Remarkables.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Ramada Queenstown Central€140 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · TSS Earnslaw and Walter Peak · 2 to 3 hA coal-fired 1912 steamer, still stoked by hand, crossing the lake to Walter Peak high-country farm for sheep shearing and sheepdog demonstrations.
- Afternoon · Glenorchy and the lake road free · half a dayForty-six kilometres of lakeside road with a string of viewpoints to Glenorchy, beyond which lies Paradise, a Lord of the Rings filming location.
🛏️ Where to sleep · DoubleTree by Hilton Queenstown€170 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Hangi: a Maori meal steamed for hours in a pit of hot stones.
- New Zealand lamb, which the rest of the world buys by the container.
- Fish and chips eaten out of paper at the edge of the ocean.
- Pavlova: meringue, cream and fruit, claimed by Australia as well.
- Marlborough wine, and the sauvignon blanc that made the region.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Driving is on the left, and the winding roads take longer than the map says.
- Mountain weather turns fast: carry layers even in midsummer.
- Book DOC huts, ferries and camper vans well ahead.
- Biosecurity is taken seriously: clean your boots and gear before you fly.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyNew Zealand dollar (NZD)
BudgetAbout €165 a day, mid-range
Best seasonDecember to March for summer, July to August for skiing
PlugI · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingOptional, not expected
Emergency111
EntryAn NZeTA bought online before departure, with a passport: 90 days for EU, US and Canadian visitors, six months for UK ones, and nothing required of Australians.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well outside the tourist trail.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/queenstown
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.