Arrowtown is a little gem of a town between Wanaka and Queenstown that I think you should explore. Whether you make a day-trip of it, or take a detour on your way, I’d highly recommend a visit.
Arrowtown is a historic gold-mining town, located on the banks of the Arrow river, 30 minutes from Queenstown. We took a detour on our way from Wanaka to Queenstown to see the town for ourselves. After all, the locals at Wanaka insisted that we visit Arrowtown to enjoy some peace and quiet before we heading to the Mecca of adventure-sports.
The Drive From Wanaka to Arrowtown
Arrowtown is a short detour on the road between Wanaka and Queenstown. We drove to it from Wanaka. The drive is 55 kms but it’s one meandering uphill drive. The view from the top of the hill is of a valley of vineyards. Also, the valley also serves as the flight path to Queenstown airport. So every once in a while, a plane will come in for a landing right in front of you.
Unfortunately, this was the coldest place that I had experienced in New Zealand, and after standing outside for 5 minutes my body was numb! I didn’t have the patience to wait for the next plane to take a photo.
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- The view from above the hill, between Wanaka and Queenstown
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- Somewhere down there is Queenstown and Arrowtown
Although the road downhill was even more winding and twisting, it was really short. Once on flat surface, we took that slight detour, and were on our way to Arrowtown.
Explore Arrowtown – Things To Do
The first thing that struck us about Arrowtown was its quaint nature. On one side there were hills with hues of green and brown, and a flowing river. On the other is a small town lined with pink and yellow trees with old quaint looking houses.
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- The colours of Arrowtown
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- The quaint local cinema
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- An abandoned hut next to the Arrow river
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- Buckingham Street, Arrowtown, New Zealand
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- Probably the nicest cafe we visited
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- I hate that I forgot what this was called!
Within the town, there is very little to do. That’s why we spent our time walking around the main street, which is practically 200 metres long. Everything in the town was adorably quaint, from the cinema, to the post office.
We stopped by the Postmaster’s Restaurant for lunch, and absolutely loved the food! After stuffing ourselves, we decided to take a short walk down to the Provision Cafe. Here the coffee and desserts, combined with the atmosphere made us feel so comfortable that we just didn’t want to leave.
Onward to Queenstown
We absolutely loved Arrowtown, and didn’t feel like leaving it for a large commercial city like Queenstown that evening. Arrowtown is a great place to find some peace and quiet right next to Queenstown.
If you want to learn more about Arrowtown and the activities it offers, check out the official New Zealand website or the Arrowtown website.
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