Queenstown is one of New Zealand’s most beautiful regions. It is surrounded by jagged mountains, snow-capped during the winter months. Lake Wakatipu is a focal point to this stunning area. The Maoris inhabited the area before the European and Chinese settlers came during the gold rush in the 1860’s. While the region is still rich in gold today, Queenstown economy is driven by tourism. With excellent ski fields, recreational lakes for water sports, hiking and cycling tracks and a sophisticated wine and food scene it’s not hard to enjoy.
Queenstown
Whilst most visits to Queenstown involve some form of outdoor adventure, many visitors find it appropriate to simply just relax and drink in the 'once in a lifetime' scenery from one of the many lakeshore cafés. The town was named because "...it was fit for Queen Victoria" and, as night falls, get ready to experience a more recent aspect - the town's buzzing nightlife.
Queenstown is hands down the most popular tourist destination in New Zealand. And rightly so. This beautiful alpine resort town is set in the middle of the Southern Alps on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. It was first settled in 1860 by farmers and quickly turned into a boom town when gold was found a few years later.
The town has barely stopped booming since, although it’s the tourist industry that everyone comes for now. Nick named the ‘Adventure Capital of the World’, you can pretty much do anything that will get your adrenalin pumping here Queenstown. From hiking, skiing, bungy jumping, paragliding, rafting and so much more.
But it’s not all about adventure, the surrounding area is dotted with many fine vineyards, the 100 year old TSS Earnslaw plies the lake daily and of course, the world famous Milford Sound is not far away. Queenstown is just a small town, with a permanent population of 10,000 or so. The downtown area is quite compact however the large hotels and resorts stretch along the lake shore so depending on where you’ve chosen, you may need transport into town. We recommend getting a bus as parking is very hard to come by and the many bars and restaurants are rather tempting!
