Queenstown, New Zealand, sits on the shores of the South Island’s Lake Wakatipu, set against the dramatic Southern Alps. Renowned for adventure sports, it’s also a base for exploring the region’s vineyards and historic mining towns. It’s rumoured that gold prospectors – captivated by the majestic beauty of the surrounding mountains and rivers – gave this now cosmopolitan town its name.
Experience one of the many walking and hiking trails, sightseeing tours or indulge yourself with spa treatments, boutique shopping and excellent food and wine. There are many options to explore the Central Otago landscape from Queenstown. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan you’ll recognise many Middle‑earth™ locations. Nearby Arrowtown’s gold-mining history is alive and vibrant; visit the Lakes District Museum or go gold panning. At the northern tip of Lake Wakatipu is rural Glenorchy and Paradise Valley. From here it’s a short drive into the Mt Aspiring National Park and the start of some of New Zealand’s great walks.
Fondly known as the ‘Valley of the Vines’, the Gibbston area of Queenstown is one of the most scenic wine growing areas in New Zealand. Vineyards are sandwiched between rugged mountains and the rocky Kawarau River gorge. This high altitude area is subject to cold winters, hot dry summers and a huge night-to-day temperature range. These challenging conditions have led to consistently superb wines, worldwide recognition and an avalanche of international awards. More than 70% of the grapes grown here are pinot noir. Other varieties include chardonnay, pinot gris, riesling and sauvignon blanc.
Famous for it’s adventure activities with skiing from winter right through to spring, bungy jumping, sky diving, canyon swinging, jet boating, horse trekking and river rafting Queenstown is an alpine playground. It is also a great place to explore by bike, providing everything from easy scenic tracks to backcountry trails, road rides to heli-biking and the Southern Hemisphere’s only gondola accessed downhill mountain biking.