No visit to New Zealand South Island is complete without visiting its most popular tourist destination: Queenstown. Those seeking adrenaline rush will instantly love Queenstown. Bungee jumping, jet boating, hang gliding, skydiving, you name it – they have it here. But for family travelers? Queenstown is even better!
When booking your activities check out New Zealand’s discount booking website Bookme.
Here are Letsgobeartravels’ Queenstown Best Things to do for Family Travel:
Skyline Gondola & Luge
Definitely your #1 must do! Buy ticket at the entry for gondola ride up and luge rides. First you get on a 450m gondola ride which take you all the way up to the top station. Skyline gondola is Southern hemisphere’s steepest cable car! For those afraid of heights (like Tara) – just concentrate on the views ..and.. don’t look down. Arriving at the top you will be rewarded with the most amazing views over Queenstown: the Remarkables, lake Wakatipu, everything.
Then you go up a wee bit further via the chair lifts to reach the famous luge. There are two tracks. One for newbies and the other for those a bit more confident. Riding a luge is easy. Kids as young as 6 can ride on their own. Little ones can ride tandem with a parent. Once is never enough! We got tickets for 3 rides (but should have taken the 6 rides!).
While up there, you will find the usual gift shop as well as a few dining options, from fancy a restaurant to café for quick bites.
Skyline Queenstown’s opening hours vary throughout the year. Check their website before planning your visit. Allow at least half a day here – you will enjoy this awesome place!
Kiwi Birdlife Park
Checkout over 20 native species of New Zealand’s wildlife. This park is located right across the road from Skyline gondola entrance.
Onsen hot pools
For (parents’) relaxing time, Queenstown onsen is a must do! Choose from one of their spa treatments or if you are short on time, do the one hour onsen soak experience. You can choose from their enclosed original onsen or the outdoor onsen private pools. All experiences comes with a complementary drink and snacks.
Children under 5 are not allowed to enter the onsen room – so we took turns taking care of our 1.5 year old. While our 6 year old enjoyed the whole hour and ended up being the most relaxed.
Wakatipu lake cruise
This 90-minute cruise along lake Wakatipu is a great way to watch sunset after a busy day exploring. Unfortunately it rained during the day of our cruise – but overall it was still enjoyable.
Eat yummy food!
Famous eateries like Fergburger, Fergbaker, The Cow and Patagonia Chocolates are all must try. For Fergburger – be prepared for long lines! Queenstown town centre is pretty compact so you can pretty much walk anywhere.
Consider getting take away food and eat by lake Wakatipu. There is even an epic kids’ playground by the lake.
Remarkables and Coronet peak ski resorts
Coming in winter? Both Remarkables and Coronet peak ski resort are not that far from town centre. If you’re not skiers (like us) you can still get a sightseeing pass which allows you to go on a chairlift all the way up to see great views. Take the resort bus which starts from downtown or drive yourself to these ski resorts for a full day of snow fun.
When planning your visit check out the weather forecast and their website to make sure the resorts are open.
And then there are the day trips you can do from Queenstown….
Milford Sound cruise
Definitely your (equal) #1 must do! Rated as one of the top experiences in New Zealand, going on the almost 2 hours fiord cruise here to see nature at its absolute best. Not only you get to see the amazing landscapes, but you will also see dolphins and seals along the way.
We chose a boutique family owned company, Cruise Milford. Smaller boats allows you to get much closer to the waterfalls. Also with smaller boats – dolphins can come much closer to say hello!
When you get to the public carpark area of Milford sound, take a quick walk along the foreshore towards the Milford Sound lodge. If you’re a fan of action movies, you may recognize this spot from Mission Impossible Fallout!
Milford Sound Road photo stops
And there are many! Don’t let the long drive from Queenstown discourage you. There are plenty of beautiful photo stops along the way which won’t make you feel tired driving. Our recommended stops:
- Eglinton valley
- Mirror lakes
- Lake Gunn nature walk
- And Homer tunnel lookout
To break the long drive from Queenstown, you may consider staying at Milford Sound lodge or (like we did) stay overnight at Milford Sound’s closest town: Te Anau
Te Anau glow worm cave tour
A favourite amongst our boys! To reach the worm cave, you will need to take a 30 minute boat ride from Te Anau. Once there, you will explore the cave (guided) on foot and by hopping on a small dinghy to see the glowing worms. Nothing like we’ve ever seen before! Apparently the hungrier they are, the brighter they will glow!
That Red House in Glenorchy
It takes a 50 minutes drive from Queenstown to reach this charming town. You will be rewarded with beautiful scenery – just like the ones that brought you to New Zealand in the first place. In the mornings lake Wakatipu and the Dart river water are so still, making perfect reflection of the mountain ranges.
Two spots worth stopping by on your way here are: Bob’s cove hike trail and Bennett’s Bluff lookout point.
Stop by Arrowtown
Just 20 minutes’ drive from Queenstown is this historic gold mining town. Walk along the Buckingham street historic street and take time to grab a bite. We had ours at the famous Arrowtown bakery.
On the way here, take a quick photo stop at lake Hayes.
For places we have visited, Checkout our website’s travel Destinations section. We buy of our travel essentials online via Ebay
