Queenstown Travel Guide

Queenstown, New Zealand — Travel Tips

Getting There By Air

Queenstown Airport (ZQN)
Tel: (03) 442 3505.
Website: www.queenstownairport.co.nz

Queenstown Airport is located 8km (5 miles) west of Queenstown.

Airport facilities: These include a tourist information desk, duty-free shopping, a café and bar, Internet and telephone access, luggage storage, currency exchange, a conference/meeting room and car rental from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Thrifty among others.

Transport to the city: The Super Shuttle (tel: (03) 442 3639 or 0800 748885/SHUTTLE; website: www.supershuttle.co.nz) provides a door to door shuttle service, and meets every flight that arrives at the airport. Kiwi Shuttle (tel: (03) 4422107) offers a similar service. A cheaper option is the Airport Bus, run by Connectabus (tel: (03) 441 4471; website: www.connectabus.com), which runs between the airport and downtown Queenstown during the day. Taxis are also available from outside the arrivals building. Try Alpine Taxis (tel: (03) 442 6666 or 0800 442 6666) or Queenstown Taxis (tel: (03) 442 7788 or 0800 788 294). Limousines are also available.

Getting There By Road

If you want to drive around New Zealand, you’ll be in good company – self-drive holidays are popular thanks to the country’s largely uncrowded roads, scenic routes and short distances between different destinations. Road conditions are excellent but in winter and spring, some roads on the South Island may be closed due to snow and ice. You need an International Driving Permit or a current driver’s license from your home country to drive in New Zealand and must be at least 21 years of age. Traffic drives on the left. The maximum speed limit is 100kph (62mph) on open roads but drivers are often slower due to the country’s hilly and mountainous terrain. The speed limit is 50kph (30mph) in urban areas.

Emergency breakdown services
AA New Zealand (tel: 0800 500 444; www.aa.co.nz).

Routes to the city
The main road through Queenstown is Highway 6, which runs from Invercargill on the south coast, through Queenstown, then north via Cromwell, the Haast Pass and the West Coast, right up to Nelson and Blenheim. Highway 89 is a more rugged alternative route north to Wanaka; it may however be impassable for certain vehicles in winter.

Driving times to the city
From Wanaka â€“ 2 hours; Milford Sound â€“ 5 hours; Franz Joseph â€“ 7 hours 40 minutes; Christchurch â€“ 7 hours 15 minutes.

Coach services
Intercity Coach Lines (tel: (09) 583 5780; www.intercitycoach.co.nz) run competitively priced services to Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch, Milford Sound and the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers via Wanaka. Buses depart from the Athol St bus terminal. Other locally based providers include Atomic Shuttles (tel: (03) 349 0697; www.atomictravel.co.nz) and Southern Link Coaches (tel: (03) 358 8355 or 0508 458 835; www.southernlinkcoaches.co.nz).

Getting There By Rail

There are no rail services to or from Queenstown.

Getting Around in Queenstown, New Zealand

Public Transport

Queenstown is small enough to explore on foot. The only public transport available is the bus service operated by Connectabus (tel: (03) 441 4471; www.connectabus.com). There are three bus lines, all of which start outside the O'Connell's Shopping Center, Camp Street. The Blue line goes to Fernhill, the Green and Red lines to the airport, while the Green line continues to Arrowtown. Tickets should be bought on the bus, and returns are available. There are also one/five day passes available allowing travel on the whole network.

Taxis

The main taxi providers in Queenstown are Alpine Taxi (tel: (03) 442 6666 or 0800 442 6666) and Queenstown Taxis (tel: (03) 442 7788).

Driving in the City

It doesn’t make much sense to drive around Queenstown, as the center is so compact. Parking is also severely limited.

Car Hire

Car rental companies in Queenstown include Apex (tel: 0800 939597 or (03) 442 8040; www.apexrentals.co.nz), Hertz (tel: (03) 442 4106; www.hertz.com), Network Car Rentals (tel: (03) 442 7055; www.networkcarrentals.co.nz), Omega Car Rentals (tel: (03) 442 5224 or 0800 525 210; www.omegarentals.com) and Queenstown Car Rentals (tel: 0800 505051 or (03) 442 9220; www.queenstowncarrentals.co.nz).