Cities in New Zealand – Queenstown to Arrowtown
Hiking . New Zealand . Outdoor Recreation . Travel . Worldwide Travel
Contents of this Post
Recommendations for Visiting Cities in New Zealand: Queenstown to Arrowtown
Cities in New Zealand – Queenstown to Arrowtown. If you’re driving from Queenstown toward the West Coast, be sure to check out Arrowtown; there are plenty of accommodations, from camping or renting a cabin at the local holiday park to private rentals, all just a short drive from the busy streets of Queenstown. For something closer to all the activity, we enjoyed the Mercure Queenstown Resort, which sits about 150 feet (46m) above the city near a quiet nature walk that winds down through a section of the Ben Lomond Scenic Reserve toward the Lake Esplanade on the West end of town.
Planning a trip soon? Use our links to get discounted tickets, hotels, and more! Our site is partly supported by affiliate partnerships; your purchases through our affiliate links help support our site and the development of even more great content!
Cities in New Zealand – Queenstown to Arrowtown.
Planning Our South Island New Zealand Road Trip
The last time we were in New Zealand, Michelle was 5 months pregnant with Nyah. Now, all these years later, we’re headed back to visit old friends, our favorite spots, and new places we’ve never had the chance to explore. Our plan is to drive the South Island from Queenstown up the West Coast, then North to Abel Tasman National Park for some backpacking along the coastal trail, camping overnight at Mutton Cove. From there we’ll continue to Picton and ride the inter-islander ferry to Wellington and then head South to Christchurch and Dunedin before finally returning inland to Queenstown for our last few days. We have just two weeks, and we’re trying to pack two years’ worth of exploration and discovery into our 1,500-mile, 14-day South Island itinerary with a 3-year-old and a 9-year-old.
Cities in New Zealand: Things to Do in Arrowtown
What is the first thing you would do after a 14-hour overnight flight and more than 24 hours of travel? After a little bit of terrible sleep, cramped airplane seats, and breathing recycled air in every plane, terminal, and tram, we decided to get out into nature and soak our feet in the Arrow River, a tributary of the Kawarau River that runs through Arrowtown, New Zealand.
Cities in New Zealand: Play in Arrowtown’s Arrow River
This time, we met up with our friends Paul and Michelle, avid climbers, mountain bikers, and world travelers we met at Abbey College. We got to meet their adorable baby girl and hear about their adventures living and working in Queenstown and Dunedin and building a life in one of the fastest growing tourist regions in all of New Zealand. We met them at a holiday park and walked through Arrowtown to the banks of the river, where the girls quickly kicked off their flip-flops and started flipping rocks over to look for bugs and other treasures.
We’ve lived in New Zealand twice before, the first time when Ben completed a master’s degree and Michelle took undergraduate classes at the University of Otago. The second time, when Ben started his Ph.D., we lived in graduate student housing at Abbey College, right off of the drunkest, loudest student quarters in all of Dunedin. Despite the raging street parties that started Thursday afternoons and lasted until Sunday, we met some amazing friends at Abbey from all over New Zealand, Australia, a number of European and Asian countries, the U.S. and Mexico and other Latin American countries.
After we cooled off by the river, we wandered over to The Fork and Tap, an historic pub and restaurant on Buckingham Street with great pizzas, burgers, and local beer. Talk about a great way to unwind and decompress from all the travel from Boise to San Francisco to Sydney and finally to Queenstown. The girls played in the outdoor play area while we sat in the afternoon sun on the corner benches and caught up with old friends. Traveling is always better with friends, especially with old friends who know all the best local spots.
Cities in New Zealand: Arrowtown Facts
Arrowtown is about 20 minutes from the busy, touristy streets of Queenstown, yet you’d never know it; the sleepy town has a few bustling restaurants and shops, but could be a hundred miles from the closest town, given the lack of traffic and obvious tourism. The town center is the main attraction, but take a few steps down behind the shops, and you’ll find the preserved remains of the Chinese settlement down by the Arrow River and plenty of spots to sit in the shade and enjoy a quiet afternoon along the meandering stream. Lucky for us, Arrowtown sits in the Central Otago wine region, known for its Pinot Noirs. We love visiting the local wineries around Arrowtown, like Gibbston Valley winery, where the aged wine barrels sit underground in a cave hewn out of the surrounding hillside. (If you’re into wine like we are, check out The California Wine Club’s international wine club for a global wine experience).
[…] Arrowtown […]
[…] Arrowtown […]
[…] Arrowtown […]