Solo travel · Queenstown · New Zealand
Solo travel in Queenstown
How to enjoy Queenstown at your own pace.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: André Richard Chalmers, CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
Queenstown is one of New Zealand's easiest solo destinations: hostels in the centre, group adventure tours and a sociable bar scene make it easy to meet people. Many solo travellers base themselves in Queenstown Town Centre.
Key facts
- Base
- Queenstown Town Centre
- Getting around
- Bus
- Emergency number
- 111 (police, fire and ambulance)
- Language
- English and Māori
Solo travel tips
- Stay in the town centre to walk to tour pick-ups and bars.
- Join group activities such as rafting, jetboating or skiing lessons to meet other travellers.
- Register your plans with someone and check DOC alerts before multi-day tramping trips.
- Carry layers and water on any hike; mountain weather changes fast.
- Book hostels well ahead for ski season and summer holidays.
Where to stay
$$$$ · Best for first-timers, nightlife, solo travellers and food lovers
Queenstown Town Centre
The town centre spreads a few blocks back from Queenstown Bay, with the gondola base, Steamer Wharf, the Earnslaw jetty and most adventure-tour pick-ups all within a ten-minute walk. Shotover Street and the Mall hold restaurants and bars that stay busy late. Rooms are expensive and can be small, but staying here removes the need for a car.
- Good
- Walk to restaurants, bars and tour pick-ups; Lake views from many hotels; Best nightlife
- Watch out
- Highest room rates; Noisy late at night on weekends; Parking is scarce
- Nearby
- Skyline Gondola, Steamer Wharf, Queenstown Gardens, TSS Earnslaw
Great on your own
Viewpoint · Queenstown Town Centre
Skyline Gondola and Luge
Buy a gondola-and-luge combination and ride at least three luge runs; the first one is a slower practice run.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- Views
- Kids
- Couples
- After dark
Experience · Lake Wakatipu
TSS Earnslaw cruise
Stand on the stern deck on the way out for the best views back to town and the Remarkables.
- Time needed
- 1.5–4 hours with a farm visit
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- History
- Kids
- Views
Experience · Gibbston
Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge bungy
Combine watching or jumping with lunch at a Gibbston winery a few minutes up the road.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Expensive
- Iconic
- Active
- Views
.jpg){kind=link}
Nature · Frankton
The Remarkables
Even without skiing, drive to the ski-area car park on a clear day for views back across the Wakatipu Basin.
- Time needed
- Half to full day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Active
- Views
- Nature
- Iconic
- Kids
Garden · Queenstown Town Centre
Queenstown Gardens
Walk the shoreline loop around the peninsula at sunset, then continue along the lakefront to Frankton on the Queenstown Trail.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Couples
- Views
Historic site · Arrowtown
Arrowtown and the Chinese Settlement
Visit in late April for the gold and red autumn trees, and borrow a gold pan to try your luck in the Arrow River.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Couples
- Photo spot
- Kids
Meeting people
- Gibbston wine trail — Tour, cycle or drive the Gibbston Valley's cellar doors along the Kawarau River, finishing with lunch at a winery restaurant.
- Walter Peak farm dinner — Cruise across Lake Wakatipu on the TSS Earnslaw for a barbecue or buffet dinner at a high-country sheep station.
- Shotover Street and the Mall — Pubs, backpacker bars and late-opening venues in the core of the town centre.
- Steamer Wharf and the lakefront — Waterfront bars for sunset drinks overlooking Queenstown Bay.
Sensible precautions
Queenstown is generally safe, and the main risks are outdoor ones: changeable alpine weather, icy roads in winter and the cold water of Lake Wakatipu. Use licensed operators for adventure activities and drive carefully on unfamiliar mountain roads.
- Emergency number
- 111 (police, fire and ambulance)
- Staying connected
- Mobile coverage is good in town but disappears along much of the Milford Road and in remote valleys.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Queenstown good for solo travellers?
Queenstown is one of New Zealand's easiest solo destinations: hostels in the centre, group adventure tours and a sociable bar scene make it easy to meet people.
+Where should solo travellers stay in Queenstown?
Queenstown Town Centre: Compact lakefront grid of tour shops, restaurants, bars and the Steamer Wharf.