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by
Shaylyn Livingston
1 year ago
Working for a travel company, I have the privilege of traveling all over the world. While I’ve been lucky to visit some spots that are nothing shy of epic, Queenstown takes the cake for being one of the only places whose beauty has quite literally brought me to tears.
The arrival. If you can, book a flight coming from Auckland to Queenstown in the morning or early afternoon. Watching the combination of snow, rolling green hills, water, and gigantic mountain peaks unfold before your eyes? It doesn’t get much better than that.
Upon landing in Queenstown, check into The Rees Hotel. Where do I even start with this place?! First, be sure to get a room with a balcony overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Once you're in your room, some of the luxuries include bathrooms with heated floors, spacious rooms, and a PILLOW MENU for goodness’ sake – I had a duck-down pillow on one side of me and a lavender pillow on the other. Safe to say, I was in pillow heaven.
Not to mention the breakfast at this place is on another level. My advice? Get an extra helping of the mushrooms. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you’re there, and I promise they taste like everything right about a mushroom. Also, I normally pass on hotel restaurants, but this place pitches a perfect game for dinner too.
When you finally get around to actually leaving The Rees, (which is quite the challenge when the lobby has a full bar menu and floor-to-ceiling windows) take a walk along Lake Wakatipu and into town. It takes around 30-45 minutes but is completely worth it, plus it's a good way to ward off jet lag.
If you arrive on the weekend, be sure to check out the waterside vendors selling their artwork. The Kiwis are friendly, so I suggest getting to know a local.
For lunch, I recommend a burger from Fergburger. This is one of those places with a long line, but because it's actually all it’s cracked up to be. The burgers are awesome, but the onion rings? Just as good as the mushrooms from The Rees.
While you’re digesting and in total burger bliss, might as well head up to Skyline Queenstown. I sometimes find gondolas a bit gimmicky, but this one was fabulous – I'll let my pics from the views at the top speak for themselves. Like, I wish Queenstown was an actual person so we could be friends. This place is just that cool.
Now that you’ve heard about my love affair with breakfast and lunch, let’s move on to dinner. White + Wongs has a few locations, which is normally a red flag for me, BUT this place is FLIPPING fantastic! Hey, maybe even go with some of your new friends that you rode up the gondola with – there's nothing that bonds people more than a little Asian fusion and a good cocktail.
Whether you do all of this, some of this, or none of this, make it your own journey. Queenstown is one of those destinations that grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go. I say 24 hours will do the trick, but if you can, spend as long as possible in this magical place.
I work in the Educational Travel industry. I love traveling to obscure places where there are incredible cities filled with history. Hiking, skiing, biking, yoga - all my true loves!
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