On the southern end of the South Island of New Zealand lies Queenstown, a picturesque resort town situated on Lake Wakatipu. It offers spectacular views of the surrounding alps and is known for having a large amount of adventure sport options such as bungee jumping and jet-boating as well as for skiing. If adventure sports are not your thing, the region also has a handful of vineyards making wine tasting a wonderful option too!

Our New Zealand trip was 2 weeks, 3 days of which were spent in Queenstown. It was my favorite spot of all the places we went, and one that I highly recommend! If you are planning on making the trek to New Zealand - do not miss Queenstown :)

HOW TO GET TO QUEENSTOWN

To get to Queenstown you will likely want to do one of two options. If you are in New Zealand on a road trip, as many are, you can simply drive in. If not, there’s an airport that is located just 15 minutes from downtown and is very convenient.

HOW TO GET AROUND IN QUEENSTOWN

Getting around Queenstown is very easy. It is a small town and easily walkable. They also have a public bus system which can get you to the outlying areas of town as well. If you plan on doing local activities (you should), most if not all offer transportation from town as part of the activity.

We had our own vehicle while there because we were on a two week road trip, and actually found it to be more harmful than helpful. The only time we used it while in Queenstown was to drive to some wineries. However, there are wine tour options where they handle transportation for you so this is certainly not necessary.

Long story short - skip the car.

WHAT TO DO IN QUEENSTOWN

TRY JET-BOATING

What's jet boating? Basically you are in a boat that is going around 50 mph and spinning in circles extremely close to the canyon walls. It's a lot of fun! We did ours through Skippers Canyon Jet and they were great. They offer a scenic tour option, which we did, that takes you on insanely tiny canyon roads (see above) and makes the drive itself extremely fun as well.

TAKE THE GONDOLA TO THE TOP OF QUEENSTOWN AND LUGE

Skyline offers a gondola ride to the top of Queenstown and the view alone is worth the trek! But, to make things even sweeter, you can also luge down the mountain. What is luging? It's basically Mario Kart in real life and with better views. You must do this!

DAY TRIP TO MILFORD SOUND

OTHER THINGS TO DO:

Walk around Queenstown
Bungee jump
Wine tasting
Hike Queenstown Hill for a spectacular view!
Parasailing

WHERE TO EAT IN QUEENSTOWN

The food in Queenstown is delicious and we found some amazing spots thanks to recommendations from friends! I am always on the hunt for fresh, healthy spots while traveling and this was thankfully not tough to find in Queenstown.