The 17 Most Iconic Landmarks in Queenstown
17 landmarks with verified facts and stories
Coronet Peak Ski Field
Coronet Peak Rd, Coronet Peak, Queenstown, 9371, New Zealand
Coronet Peak is Queenstown's oldest ski field — opened in 1947 as New Zealand's first commercial ski field, and still regarded as one of the best in the country for its combination of reliable snow, well-groomed intermediate terrain, and the novelty of night skiing (Wednesday-Friday in the main season, with floodlit runs and an apres-ski atmosphere).
Fergburger
42 Shotover Street, Queenstown
Fergburger is Queenstown's most famous food business — an unpretentious burger counter on Shotover Street that opened in 2001 and has become a global tourism phenomenon, regularly topping 'best burger in the world' lists and drawing queues that can wrap around the block at peak times.
Glenorchy (Day Trip)
Glenorchy, New Zealand
Glenorchy is a tiny settlement (population 450) at the head of Lake Wakatipu — 45 kilometres from Queenstown via one of New Zealand's most scenic drives, a 45-minute road that hugs the lake shore with mountain views that have been used as filming locations for Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, X-Men Origins, and countless other productions.
Kawarau Bungy Bridge
Gibbston Hwy, Gibbston, Queenstown, 9371, New Zealand
The Kawarau Bridge is the birthplace of commercial bungy jumping — where AJ Hackett and Henry van Asch opened the world's first commercial bungy operation on 12 November 1988, charging NZ$75 for a 43-metre jump off a 1880s-era suspension bridge over the Kawarau River.
Lake Wakatipu
New Zealand
Lake Wakatipu is the 80-kilometre-long glacial lake that defines Queenstown's geography — a narrow, zigzag-shaped body of water (reaching 380 metres depth in places, making it one of the deepest lakes in the world) formed by glaciers that carved the valley between the Southern Alps about 15,000 years ago.
Lake Wakatipu Cruises (Non-Earnslaw)
Marine Pde, Queenstown, 9300, New Zealand
Beyond the TSS Earnslaw, several operators run scenic cruises on Lake Wakatipu using modern boats — the most popular being the RealNZ Jet Boat trips (combining jet-boat speed with scenic content), the Spirit of Queenstown Spray (a smaller fast catamaran doing 1.
Lord of the Rings Film Locations Tour
Glenorchy-Queenstown Rd, Closeburn, Queenstown, 9371, New Zealand
The Queenstown region was the most important filming location for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies — including Isengard (Glenorchy), Amon Hen (Mount Earnslaw), the River Anduin (the Kawarau River), Lothlórien forest (outside Glenorchy), and the Dimrill Dale mountains (the Remarkables).
Milford Sound (Day Trip)
39 Lucas Pl, Frankton, Queenstown, 9300, New Zealand
Milford Sound (Piopiotahi) is New Zealand's most iconic natural wonder — a 15-kilometre glacier-carved fiord in Fiordland National Park whose sheer cliffs rise 1,200 metres directly from the dark water, where waterfalls cascade hundreds of metres from clouds hanging between the peaks, and where the 1,692-metre Mitre Peak rises straight out of the sea.
Nevis Highwire Bungy
Gibbston, Queenstown, New Zealand
The Nevis Highwire Bungy is the biggest bungy jump in New Zealand and one of the highest in the world — a 134-metre leap from a suspended steel pod in the middle of the Nevis Valley, 40 kilometres south of Queenstown on 4WD-accessed private land.
Onsen Hot Pools
Arthurs Point Rd, Arthurs Point, Queenstown, 9371, New Zealand
Onsen Hot Pools are Queenstown's premium wellness experience — a series of private cedar-lined hot pools on a cliffside 5 kilometres from Queenstown overlooking the Shotover River canyon, where the front wall of each pool retracts to open directly onto the canyon view.
Paragliding from Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak Rd, Coronet Peak, Queenstown, 9371, New Zealand
Tandem paragliding from Coronet Peak is Queenstown's most visually spectacular adventure activity — a 15-25 minute gliding flight from the 1,650-metre summit of Coronet Peak (winter) or the nearby launch sites (summer) down to the Wakatipu basin, with the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu filling the entire panorama.
Shotover Canyon Swing
35 Shotover Street, Queenstown
The Shotover Canyon Swing is a 109-metre cliff jump followed by a 200-metre arcing swing through the Shotover River canyon — the world's highest cliff swing when it opened in 2005 and still one of the most intense rope-based adrenaline activities in the country.
Shotover Jet
Gorge Road, Arthur's Point
Shotover Jet is the world's most famous jet boat ride — a 25-minute high-speed run through the narrow, red-rock Shotover River canyon at Arthur's Point just outside Queenstown, pioneered in 1970 by the Maori-owned Ngāi Tahu Tourism.
Skyline Queenstown Gondola
Brecon Street, Queenstown
The Skyline Gondola is Queenstown's most essential experience — a steep cable-car ride up Bob's Peak to 450 metres above the lake, delivering the classic panoramic postcard view of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, the Remarkables mountain range, and Cecil and Walter Peak.
The Remarkables
Queenstown, New Zealand
The Remarkables are the dramatic jagged mountain range that frames the eastern side of Queenstown — a 22-kilometre ridge whose highest peak, Double Cone, reaches 2,324 metres and whose name was coined by European surveyor Alexander Garvie because the range is one of the few on Earth that runs exactly north-south.
TSS Earnslaw Steamship
Queenstown, New Zealand
The TSS Earnslaw is the oldest coal-fired passenger steamship still operating in the Southern Hemisphere — a 51-metre twin-screw steamer that has crossed Lake Wakatipu since 1912 and is known as 'The Lady of the Lake.
Vudu Cafe & Larder
16 Rees Street, Queenstown
Vudu Café & Larder is Queenstown's best-loved brunch café — a small, casual spot on Rees Street near the main harbour that has been serving the town's defining breakfast and lunch for over two decades, with consistent quality and atmosphere that has earned it recommendations in nearly every New Zealand travel guide.
Explore iconic in Queenstown
GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.