The Southern Way is the name Tourism New Zealand has given to the network of routes linking the south of the South Island in a single explorable loop. From Oamaru and Dunedin on the east coast, to the Catlins and Stewart Island, through Murihiku Southland and on to Fiordland before the icing on the cake of Queenstown, Wānaka and Central Otago (or at least that’s how we would phrase it).
Most visitors drive it for a week to ten days, visiting Milford Sound, the Catlins Coast and the albatross colonies of the Otago Peninsula along the way. This is a truly remarkable route. Direct flights renewed between Dunedin and Australia have made the entire loop considerably easier to access. Depending on the weather, some visitors land in Dunedin and leave Queenstown completely completing “half” of the loop on a tour. Those with more time go “all around” or simply choose to linger longer along the way.
Naturally, I encourage you to invest your remaining time in the southern lakes, where a week is never enough, much less a day in some places. The section through Queenstown, Wānaka and Central Otago is the part of the Southern Way where slow travel makes the most sense. If the Southern Way is your gateway to the Southern Lakes, plan to stay a while…
Settlements separated by mountain ranges and single-lane highways create endless moments of wonder Queenstown and Wānaka are approximately an hour apart via the Crown Range, New Zealand’s highest sealed road, with Arrowtown approximately twenty minutes from Queenstown in between. Between the three, there’s skiing, lake access, walking in true wilderness, a photogenic gold rush town, and enough high-octane activities to keep people coming back for more.
You don’t have to choose between the two. Treating the two largest cities as interchangeable fails to understand what makes each of them worthwhile. The energy and infrastructure of Queenstown, as well as the pace of Wānaka and its proximity to Mount Aspiring National Park are different experiences, and multiple nights in each give you both rather than a blur.
Don’t have that much time? Try to find at least 3 nights for each.
Wine country has more depth than the cellar door tour suggests Most visitors stop at Gibbston, twenty minutes from Queenstown, home to Peregrine’s winged roofline and smaller operations like The Church along the Gorge Road. It’s a good introduction and the valley’s certification as a Dark Sky Park in 2024 makes an evening here worth as much as an afternoon. The Gibbston Tavern is a great excuse to hang out after the cellar doors close for the day.
While the wine story is perhaps strongest here – certainly from a tourism perspective – it goes deeper, and the person most associated with that story is Alan Brady. He founded Gibbston Valley Winery 40 years ago, brought in Grant Taylor as Valli’s first winemaker, then founded Mount Edward. When he attempted to retire in the mid-2000s, he ended up founding Wild Irishman, which he fought to keep small and focused on producing the world’s best Pinot Noir with fellow Northern Irishman Brian Shaw. They own just eight vineyards, taking their fruit from sites across the region, including on both sides of the river in Alexandra, Bannockburn and Gibbston. The wines draw a broad map and highlight the influences of Central Otago’s varied terroirs and sometimes simply the impact of altitude. To taste these wines, head to Kinross, back in Gibbston, which acts as the Wild Irishman’s cellar door.
Around Alexandra and Earnscleugh, in an orchard region with fewer cellar doors, wine tours and drivers reach producers many visitors never have access to. It’s the kind of detour that explains why people who have spent time here talk about Central Otago Pinot Noir the way others talk about Burgundy. If you’re hiking the Central Otago Rail Trail, stop at Ruru and Dunstan Road Wines for hands-on tastings with winery owners who generously (yet humbly) pass on their passion. And for those tackling the Lake Dunstan Trail, Carrick is your natural port of call and you’ll both be happy with the rest and grateful for what lies ahead!
Driving the roads of the Southern Islands is part of the experience The Crown Range Road between Queenstown and Wānaka rises to just over 1,100 meters and passes through the village of Cardrona on the way down. The alternative route, via Kawarau and Cromwell Gorge, follows Lake Dunstan through an area of orchards and vineyards with a completely different character.
From Wānaka, the road to the Matukituki Valley is an experience in its own right: you guide parallel to the valley floor, the Southern Alps draw closer and Mount Aspiring eventually comes into view at the head of the valley. All it takes is a picnic and a drive to feel like you’ve found something most people are missing. By all means look for a driver-led experience, but otherwise check that your car rental company is happy to let you cross the occasional low ford.
North of Wānaka, the road along Lake Hāwea to Makarora is again a different type of road, quieter and less busy. The mountains overlooking Lake Hāwea are among the most spectacular in the region, rising almost directly from the water, and the route continues towards the west coast through country that thins noticeably as you go. This is where the rivers become truly isolated: the helicopter fishing for wild brown and rainbow trout, in valleys with no roads, is some of the best in New Zealand. Whether a day trip from Wānaka or a base for a few nights, this corner of the region rewards exactly the kind of traveler who came first to the wilder edges of the Southern Way.
From Queenstown, the road to Glenorchy runs along the shores of Lake Wakatipu to a small village at the head of the lake, used as a backdrop for Middle Earth. From here, jet boats sail up the River Dart and horse treks head into the valleys. It is also the start of the Routeburn Track, one of the great hikes announced in New Zealand. It’s a spectacular forty-five minute lakeside drive from Queenstown, but you feel like you’ve traveled much further, especially away from civilization.
Everything you need to plan your trip in 2026 Scenic Flights Show You What Roads Can’t Do No matter how good the driving here, there is a layer of this landscape that only opens up from the air. Operators from Queenstown and Wānaka offer flights over Mt Aspiring, the Southern Alps and Fiordland glaciers, and to Mt Cook/Aoraki. Budget options or new helicopter pilots appreciate shorter trips with quick landing options and these are available on many routes. For travelers who have taken a road trip before or want to get a sense of the scale before heading out, a scenic flight at the start of a trip tends to change the way everything is experienced afterward. Scenic flights don’t just have to show you our place from the sky. Where there is no road does not mean there is nothing to do there, so for those who wish, the options for helicopter-only access activities are surprisingly wide.
The Gold Rush Left More Than Place Names Arrowtown, Clyde, Cromwell and Bendigo all date back to the Otago gold rush of the 1860s, and each carries that history differently. Just because you made one doesn’t necessarily give you the full picture of the industry’s impact on the region or how today’s colonies thrived on the hard work of those who came here in search of prosperity.
Arrowtown’s Buckingham Street, with its stone buildings and Chinese settlement on the outskirts of town, is the most visited and perhaps the most complete. In addition to the restoration and preservation of this small town, its rolling hills provide activity with abundant trails and a swath of fall colors in March and April, which serve quite a crowd looking for photo opportunities against a golden backdrop.
Clyde, further into Central Otago, has one of the most intact 19th century streetscapes in the country. You would think that cowboys would appear at any moment around the corner on horseback. This is a smaller village with a heritage trail made up of bronze plaques embedded in the pavement that guides you through shops and cafes and deeper into the town, past the remains of gold mining machinery. It’s also the head of the Otago Central Rail Trail and the top or tail of the Lake Dunstan Trail – cyclists abound!
The old town of Cromwell was partially submerged during the construction of Clyde Dam and the formation of Lake Dunstan. It has been carefully preserved on higher ground as the Cromwell Heritage Precinct. Stop for the lakeside views and the site of the Clutha and Kawarau rivers merging as much as the artisans, artists and storytellers who made this place once thrive.
Bendigo, above Lake Dunstan on the eastern shore, is now largely abandoned, its stone ruins being scattered across the dry hills and accessible only on foot from the road. But the Bendigo Loop is worth the drive or walk for a truly atmospheric stop for anyone following State Highway 8 towards Tarras and the Lindis Pass. Treat yourself to a drink or tasting flight at Cloudy Bay’s Central Otago winery if you do!
Why it’s worth coming back The reasons people come here in the first place, the mountains, the lakes, the wine, the feeling of having found a truly isolated place, are also the reasons they keep coming back. A first visit tends to cover Queenstown and the obvious stops along the way. A second or third visit occurs when the rhythm of Wānaka begins to make sense, when the Matukituki or route to Hāwea and Makarora is properly explored, when a wine journey extends to Alexandra. Perhaps the ruins of Bendigo or a river accessible by helicopter become the point of a later trip rather than an afterthought.
The Southern Way works as a loop that you do once or a route that you take piece by piece, because it truly deserves a slow journey. Our part works better as a place you come back to, each time moving a little further away from the main road than before.
Kate Stinchcombe-Gillies Kate Stinchcombe-Gillies is Marketing Director of Liberate New Zealand. Release NZ represents a portfolio of luxury holiday accommodation in Wānaka and Queenstown – their passion being to connect guests to everything that makes this part of the world so special. If you would like to be a guest blogger on A Luxury Travel Blog to profile your profile, please Contact us.
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