Discover the great outdoors

Queenstown is one of the last major stops in New Zealand’s South Island before the region gives way to vast tracts of wilderness.

One of the best ways to take in this natural beauty is with a day trip to Milford Sound – also called Piopiotahi – a fjord carved into the rugged coastline of Fiordland. Getting here is an adventure in itself; it involves driving along a narrow ribbon of highway through rich forest, past mirror-like lakes, and beneath soaring valley peaks. Once you arrive, you can glide across the fjord’s inky dark waters on a boat cruise.

A more accessible day trip is to Glenorchy, just 45 minutes from Queenstown. Glenorchy itself is little more than a village on Lake Wakatipu, but from here you can carry on to the start of the Routeburn Track, one of New Zealand’s ten Great Walks. While the entire trail takes days to complete, you can walk the first section to experience the blue waters and rich beech forests of Mount Aspiring National Park.

Want a more glamorous way to experience the dramatic landscapes around Glenorchy? Take a scenic flight in a helicopter up to Earnslaw Burn, where a hanging glacier and cascading waterfalls decorate the walls of Mount Earnslaw (Pikirakatahi).