Queenstown, New Zealand: at a glance
Queenstown is a stunning town surrounded by mountains on Lake Wakatipu on New Zealand’s South Island. the city attracts holiday-goers from all over the world year-round with its long summer days on the lake and at nearby wineries and in the winter with its beautiful snow-covered mountains perfect for skiing. it’s also known for its wide range of adventurous activities such as bungy-jumping, jet boating, skydiving, white water rafting, and more. you can easily spend a week or more here, but taking a quick trip to queenstown is also worthwhile!
planning the trip to queenstown
My sister, Carly, and her husband, Griffin, were visiting us in Auckland and they knew they wanted to see some of the South Island as well while they were in New Zealand, and I planned to tag along with them. We knew we would only have a few days to spend on the South Island, so After our initial research, the two options we were deciding between were Queenstown and Christchurch.
we ultimately chose Queenstown after reading about its plethora of activities, gorgeous views, and great weather. I am definitely still planning on visiting christchurch at some point during our six months in NZ, but Queenstown seemed like the better option for the activities we were looking for. considering the itinerary for the rest of Carly and Griffin’s trip to New Zealand and then Australia, we decided we could spend three nights in Queenstown.
the trip
logistics
we ended up flying into Queenstown on a Tuesday evening and leaving Friday night. for accommodations, We stayed in an airbnb airbnb a few minutes walk from the city center. it was an awesome location, and the views were unmatched. the apartment can easily fit 5 people comfortably.
view from our airbnb
daily itinerary
day 1:
- 5pm: Arrived at Queenstown airport and taxied to our airbnb.
- 7pm: drinks at Margo’s. The restaurant itself is very cute and well decorated, and also has great Google reviews. I’d potentially go back here for dinner next time i’m in town.
- 8pm: dinner at Botswana Butchery. our taxi driver recommended this restaurant, and i’m so glad we listened to him. the food was amazing and i’d recommend any of the items we had – between the three of us, we had the sweet potato soup, slaw salad, filet, lamb rack, wagyu braised carrots, and parmesan and truffle potato gratin. they also had a great wine list with many pinot noir options from the central otago region (the wine region that Queenstown is in). if you come here, i recommend asking for a table outside if the weather is nice – we had an awesome view of the sunset (which is at around 9:30 in the summer!).
- 10pm: we tried to get ice cream elsewhere, but lines were pretty long and some places were closed… so naturally we ended up just getting mcdonald’s mcflurries.
Day 2:
- 10am: breakfast at Vudu cafe and larder. a nice cafe on the water – food and coffee were both very good, and the view of the lake was great. they offer a “build-your-own” breakfast option (among several other options!) which allows for mixing and matching of whatever you’d like.
- 11am: shopped around town. the city center offers several local boutiques and bigger stores as well!
- 1pm: wine tour. Queenstown is located in New Zealand’s Central Otago wine region (known for its pinot noir!), so we obviously had to take advantage of it. we booked an incredible tour through viator, which allowed us to visit three wineries in the span of ~4 hours. the tour we did alternates which wineries they take groups to, but we visited Kinross, Gibbston Valley, and Mt. Rosa. We loved each of them and how different they were from each other; Kinross hosts five wineries on their property, so we tried wines from each of them, Gibbston Valley is the home of New Zealand’s largest wine cave and Mt. Rosa was a smaller winery with beautiful views. if you’re interested in booking the same tour we did, you can find it linked here.
- 8pm: Dinner at Finz. this primarily seafood restaurant is located in steamer wharf, a waterfront conglomeration of restaurants and bars. I’m not a big seafood person, but still really liked this place (they had amazing short ribs).
- 10pm: ice cream at Mrs. Ferg. one of the four ferg-establishments in Queenstown and it did not disappoint. the kiwi sorbet was *chef’s kiss*.
Day 3:
- 9am: breakfast at fergbaker. continuing on my mission to visit the ferg-establishments, i ordered a cheesy bacon scone (unreal) and a flat white (average) for breakfast from fergbaker.
- 9:30am: Queenstown Gardens Trail. while Carly and griffin golfed at nearby Millbrook resort (which they highly recommend), I walked through the Queenstown Gardens. this was maybe the most picturesque walk I have ever done. the water on lake wakatipu is super clear and the mountains are stunning.
- 2pm: lunch at fergburger. back at yet another ferg-establishment, this being the original and most popular. fergburger is a Queenstown staple and the line seems to always be somewhat ridiculous. we waited around 20 minutes (not nearly as bad as the hour+ wait we saw the night before) and I ordered the Fergburger with cheese and fries. While the burger was very good, I would not wait more than 30 minutes for it. however, the fries were amazing and the aioli dipping sauce is a must.
- 3pm: gondola and luge. the gondola ride to the top of a mountain allows you to see all of queenstown and the surrounding areas. from the top, we did the luge, which is essentially part go kart and part toboggan – each person sits in their own luge cart to drive down a 1600 meter track on the side of the mountain. it’s a must-do activity!
- 7pm: drinks at Momentos. this lakeside tapas restaurant had great drinks.
- 9pm: Dinner and sunset at public kitchen and bar. We had a table outside on the lake which was perfect for watching the sunset.
- 10:30pm: drinks at the sundeck rooftop bar. This bar had an awesome atmosphere and dj!
Day 4:
- 10am: breakfast at odd saint. This was the best breakfast spot we went to in Queenstown. The coffee was great and the food was 10/10. definitely recommend the granola bowl!
- 11am: hung out at the beach / shopped around. We had time to kill before our 1pm jet boat ride, so we spent some time walking around and hanging out on the beach. there was a mini market setup on the waterfront which was nice!
- 1pm: kjet jet boat ride. jet boats are a big thing in Queenstown, and for good reason. these boats are specifically designed to travel on very shallow water, which allows for riding around on Queenstown’s shallow river beds and through narrow corridors. this was so much fun and i highly recommend doing it. fair warning – you will likely get soaked, so just prepare for that. if you’re interested in booking the kjet boat ride, you can book the same one as we did here.
- 2:30pm: lunch at saigon kingdom. we grabbed lunch at this vietnamese restaurant before heading to the airport for our flight. it was good if you like pho!
conclusion
and that was it! whether you have 3 days or a week, queenstown really is an amazing holiday spot. there is so much to do, the food and drink options were plentiful, and the town is gorgeous. if you’re traveling to new zealand, i would definitely try to incorporate a trip to Queenstown in your itinerary.
next time…
while we managed to fit as much as possible into our short trip to queenstown, there are a few additional things I’d like to do the next time I am there as well:
- paragliding
- hydro attack
- skiing
- milford sound
- helicopter tour
nice to knows
- Restaurant reservations: try to book ahead where possible, especially in busier seasons (summer/winter)
- activity booking: activities such as the wine tour should be booked well in advance; we had no issues booking the gondola, luge, and jet boat while we were already in Queenstown
- packing: bring a jacket / shawl, even in the summer months! evenings can be chilly.
contact me
feel free to reach out with any questions about my trip to queenstown!
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