Things to Do in Wanaka

Things to do in Wanaka

1. That Wanaka Tree, early

Every one of the six videos featured it, and three of the four travellers walked out to it themselves. It’s a lone tree growing out of the water just off the lakefront, a 10 minute walk from the town centre along the shore.

Go early. Three sources said sunrise or first light for still water and fewer people. Even then, don’t expect it to yourself: CJ Explores found plenty of photographers early and watched tour buses arrive later, and Riss Adventures said there’s almost always someone there. CJ Explores also caught it on a low lake, with the tree standing in shallows rather than open water.

In spring Riss Adventures found lupins flowering nearby. The tree has been vandalised before, so keep off it and stay on the shore.

2. The lakefront walk

The tree is a stop on this walk, not the whole point. CJ Explores and Riss Adventures both walked the foreshore towards it and both called the walk itself a highlight. It’s flat and runs along the edge of the lake with the mountains across the water.

Keep going past the crowd at the tree and it gets quiet quickly. CJ Explores carried on to Eely Point, a reserve along the shore, and had it to themselves. In the other direction from town, Jillu Travel, a guide channel, suggests the Waterfall Creek and Edgewater stretch.

This is the best free thing in Wanaka and the one most day trips rush.

3. Mount Iron

This is the hill the day trippers actually climbed. Both Nick and Raychel and CJ Explores went up, and both said the same thing: not hard, but steadily uphill with almost no shade.

The summit is around 545 m and looks over the town, the lake and the Clutha River flats. It starts on the edge of town, so it fits into a morning or a late afternoon without a car journey. CJ Explores rated it a much easier option than Roys Peak for a similar kind of view.

Take water. Go early in summer; CJ Explores found the climbs already hot in late March.

4. Roys Peak, if you’re fit and up early

The big one. CJ Explores did the full climb and recorded it: about 16 km return, a long shadeless zig-zag up farmland to the photo lookout, then about 30 more minutes to the summit. There are toilets at the lookout. Jillu Travel puts the whole thing at 5 to 6 hours and says to carry at least 2 litres of water each.

Start between sunrise and mid morning, not in the afternoon heat. Expect a queue at the famous photo spot; CJ Explores had a short one, and Nick and Raychel, driving past, saw a crowded track and skipped it on their second visit.

If you want the view without the queue, see Diamond Lake below.

5. Lake Hawea and The Neck

Sanya Photography and Travel spent an afternoon driving up to Lake Hawea, the next lake along, and on to The Neck lookout, where the two lakes almost touch. Their captions put it at about 30 minutes each way from Wanaka.

It’s quieter than Wanaka and the road follows the lakeshore most of the way. If you have a car and a spare afternoon, it’s the easiest drive out of town.

The Hawea River trail also links the two lakes by bike; see number 11.

6. Cardrona and the Crown Range

This is the road over from Queenstown, and it’s worth stopping on rather than driving through. Sanya Photography stopped at the Crown Range summit lookout, the Cardrona Hotel and the Cardrona Bra Fence on the way in. Their whole drive from Queenstown, with an Arrowtown stop too, took nearly 2 hours.

The Cardrona Hotel is an old pub on the valley road, and the bra fence is exactly what it sounds like. Both are free.

If you’d rather someone else drove it, the Wanaka day trips from Queenstown stop at all three.

7. Puzzling World

Sanya Photography went in; Jillu Travel describes it as about 2 hours and a good pick for families or a rainy day. It’s an illusion and puzzle attraction on the edge of town, with a maze outside.

That’s the extent of the evidence: one brief first-hand visit and one guide channel. It’s still the answer most visitors give for Wanaka in the rain. Check opening hours before you go.

8. Mou Waho Island by water taxi

Mou Waho is one of the islands out in Lake Wanaka. Virtual Journeys with Michael Nees, a travel designer’s channel, recommends the trip, and Wanaka Water Taxi runs it twice a day from Wanaka Marina.

The listing gives about 2 hours on the island, with live commentary on the boat out. The walk up is 20 to 30 minutes uphill, steep in places by the listing’s own description, and anyone who’d rather not climb can stay near the landing. Boats take 16 people.

There’s no food included, so bring lunch for the island. This is the one Wanaka trip you can’t do without a boat.

9. The Matukituki Valley by jet boat and on foot

The Matukituki runs out of Mount Aspiring National Park west of town. Wanaka River Journeys, which Michael Nees names, runs a half day that combines a jet boat up the river with a guided walk past forest, waterfalls and glacier-fed streams. The listing gives about 4 hours with shuttle, wet weather gear and food included, and takes children from 4.

The same company runs a full day packrafting the river for confident swimmers. It’s on our Wanaka tours page.

Further up the valley is the Rob Roy Glacier track. Michael Nees mentions it, and found its access bridge closed when he filmed, so check its status with the Department of Conservation before planning around it.

10. Diamond Lake and Rocky Mountain

Jillu Travel and Michael Nees both suggest this as the quieter alternative to Roys Peak. It’s a shorter climb from a small lake up to a lookout over Lake Wanaka.

No traveller in our videos did it, so we can’t add first-hand detail. Two guide channels recommending the same walk as the answer to Roys Peak’s crowds is still worth passing on.

11. Bike the Hawea River trail

The trail follows the Hawea and Clutha rivers from Lake Hawea back to Wanaka through Albert Town. NZ Bike Trails’ shuttle trip gives you a bike or e-bike, a return shuttle and about 4 hours, from the Wanaka i-SITE on Ardmore Street. The ride itself is self-guided, with directions at the briefing. Reviewers put the ride at somewhere between 32 and 38 km.

It’s the gentlest way to cover a lot of country, and the e-bike option takes the hills out of it. You can also hire a bike and ride it yourself.

12. The via ferrata at Twin Falls

Wildwire Wanaka runs guided via ferrata climbs, fixed cables and ladders up the rock beside Twin Falls, about 20 minutes up the Mt Aspiring road. It’s the most reviewed tour in Wanaka on Viator, at nearly 500 reviews for the 4 hour Level 2 alone.

Level 1 takes 2 hours. You need both arms, moderate fitness and to be 12 or over. Helmets, harness and a packed lunch on the longer climb are included.

13. The Clutha River by jet boat

Go Jets runs about 1 hour 15 minutes on the Clutha River from the boat ramp at Albert Town, just past the one lane bridge on the road to Hawea. Nine people a boat, with commentary.

It’s the shortest of the water trips here and the easiest to fit around a walk. The operator needs at least four people to run it, and every booking needs at least two.

14. The lavender farm, in summer

Riss Adventures stopped at the Wanaka lavender farm and found it barely in bloom at the end of November. Her advice: it peaks from December to February. Outside those months, there’s less to see.

Plan it for high summer or leave it off the list.

15. A lakeside sauna

Nick and Raychel booked a session at a sauna on the lakeshore. It turned out to be shared with other guests rather than private, and they enjoyed it more than they expected. It’s a newer kind of Wanaka afternoon and a good one after Mount Iron.

If you want it to yourselves, ask when you book.

16. The Haast Pass waterfalls

Riss Adventures drove about an hour north on State Highway 6 towards the Haast Pass to see Fantail Falls and Thunder Creek Falls, both short walks from the road. The small group tour from Queenstown to Franz Josef stops at Thunder Creek Falls and the Blue Pools on the same road.

She also warned that the weather towards Mount Aspiring National Park changes quickly and often rains when Wanaka is clear. Take a jacket even on a fine morning.

Free things to do

Most of Wanaka costs nothing. Of the things the four travellers in our videos spent time on, more than half were free.

• That Wanaka Tree and the lakefront walk. Best at first light. Carry on to Eely Point for a quieter stretch of shore.
• Mount Iron. The short hill on the edge of town, with the whole basin below you. Uphill all the way, with little shade.
• Roys Peak. Free, and the hardest day out on this page. About 16 km return by CJ Explores’ count.
• Diamond Lake and Rocky Mountain. The quieter climb two guide channels recommend instead of Roys Peak.
• The Hawea drive and The Neck lookout. About 30 minutes each way, if you have a car.
• The Crown Range lookouts, the Cardrona Hotel and the bra fence, on the way in from Queenstown.
• The Haast Pass waterfalls. Fantail Falls and Thunder Creek Falls, an hour up State Highway 6, short walks from the road.
• Swimming off the lakefront in summer, if you can take the cold.

If you’re on a tight budget, the trade is time rather than money: the free things are walks and drives, and they reward a night in town more than a day trip. Accommodation is where Wanaka costs. CJ Explores found even a private room in a hostel dear outside peak season.

What you can’t do free is get out on the lake or into the Matukituki. That’s where the water taxi and the jet boats earn their place.

With kids

The best of Wanaka is flat and by the water, which suits children. The tours have firm age limits, though, so check them before promising anything.

Easy wins for any age

• The lakefront walk to That Wanaka Tree, with cafes back in town at the end.
• Puzzling World. Jillu Travel names it as the family pick, and it works in any weather.
• The Mou Waho water taxi. No minimum age on the listing, children’s fares, and anyone who doesn’t want the 20 to 30 minute climb can stay at the bottom of the island. Infants ride on laps.

Tours with age limits

Not for small legs

Roys Peak is a long, hot climb for adults; it’s a hard sell with young children. Mount Iron is the family-sized version, shorter and starting on the edge of town, though still steep in places and short on shade. Carry more water than you think.

On a rainy day

Rain in Wanaka is often local. Riss Adventures noticed that the valleys towards Mount Aspiring often get rain while Wanaka itself stays clear. Check the forecast for where you’re going, not just for town.

When it really is wet:

• Puzzling World is the standard answer. Jillu Travel recommends about 2 hours for it, and it’s mostly indoors.
• A lakeside sauna session, which Nick and Raychel booked on an autumn day. Being wet already doesn’t matter much.
• The Hawea drive still works under cloud, and the lake road is sealed. Views across to the mountains are the casualty.
• The Matukituki jet boat and walk includes wet weather gear, and the listing adds heated hand rails and footrests in cold weather. Ask the operator whether it’s running if the river is high.

Skip Roys Peak and the Mount Iron summit in low cloud. The point of both is the view, and there won’t be one.

Rain is the one time the shared day trip from Queenstown has an edge over driving yourself: you don’t have to drive the Crown Range in it. The tour runs in all weather, though, and it can’t be refunded, so it won’t wait for a better day.

Wanaka in winter

Winter turns Wanaka into a ski town. Jillu Travel gives the ski season as June to October, and names Treble Cone, up the same Mt Aspiring road as the via ferrata. Cardrona’s ski field is on the Crown Range road between Wanaka and Queenstown.

The honest gap: none of the travellers in our videos visited in snow, so we have no first-hand winter detail to pass on. What we can say from the listings:

• The Cardrona quad bikes are the one winter claim we have: the operator says its tracks reach snow in winter. That’s the operator’s own word.
• The shared day trip from Queenstown runs in all weather, but the Crown Range is the high road. Snow and ice can mean chains or a closure, and on those days the Cromwell road is the way round.
• The lakefront, the tree and Mount Iron are all still there. Short days mean starting walks earlier; Roys Peak in winter is a serious undertaking and not one we’d plan from a video.

The lavender farm and the swimming are summer things. Everything on the water depends on the operator running that day, so check before you drive out.

Getting around, when to go, how long to stay

Getting there from Queenstown

Two roads. The Crown Range is the short, high one through Cardrona; Sanya Photography took nearly 2 hours on it with four stops. The other goes round through Cromwell on State Highway 6, which Riss Adventures put at about 70 minutes without stopping.

Without a car, the shared day trip from Queenstown or a private driver are the options we list. Each has its own tour page with the full listing.

Getting around Wanaka

The town centre, the lakefront, the tree and the start of Mount Iron are all walkable. Everything else needs wheels: Roys Peak and Diamond Lake are up the Mt Aspiring road, Twin Falls is 20 minutes out, and the Clutha jet boat leaves from Albert Town. The Matukituki jet boat and packrafting days include a shuttle from the i-SITE; the via ferrata doesn’t.

Parking near the lake can be hard. Nick and Raychel said town was packed and parking a fight on their autumn visit, Michael Nees calls Wanaka less busy than Queenstown. Both can be true on different days.

When to go

How long to stay

Both travellers who stayed, CJ Explores and Riss Adventures, gave Wanaka more than a day: CJ about two days, Riss an overnight. That’s the right size. One night gets you the tree at dawn and either Mount Iron or a lake trip. Two nights adds Roys Peak or the Matukituki without rushing.

A day trip from Queenstown gets you the drive, the tree at midday and an hour in town. It’s a good day. It isn’t the same trip.

If you only have one day

This assumes you slept in Wanaka the night before. Coming from Queenstown for the day, start at the 11am line and walk to the tree after lunch.

6:30am. Walk the lakefront to That Wanaka Tree before the light comes up. Three of our sources gave the same advice.

7:30am. Keep walking along the shore towards Eely Point while it’s quiet, then back into town for breakfast.

9:00am. Climb Mount Iron before the heat. Both travellers who climbed it said it isn’t hard, but there’s no shade.

11:00am. Lunch in town, then pick one of these for the afternoon:

• The Mou Waho water taxi, if you want the lake. Pack a picnic for the island.
• The Matukituki jet boat and walk, if you want the national park. It runs about 4 hours, so take an early afternoon start.
• The drive to Lake Hawea and The Neck, if you have a car and want it free.

Evening. Back on the lakefront. In summer the light lasts late.

What this leaves out: Roys Peak, which wants a full morning to itself, and the Crown Range, which you’ll see on the way in or out. If Roys Peak is the reason you came, swap it for Mount Iron and do it from first light, with the tree on the way back.

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