The Ultimate Guide To Living & Working In Queenstown, As A Backpacker

Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world is no doubt on your bucket list. If you have done any research at all into New Zealand & haven’t been living under a rock.

We spent 4 months living in Queenstown on a Working Holiday Visa, during the 2021 ski season. & firmly believe it is the best place to start your New Zealand adventure. The flight alone into Queenstown is a spectacle in itself. It should probably be advertised as a scenic flight, rather than commercial. It’s on this flight you will get your first glimpse of the best of this countries South Island. & fall in love with it, all before you’ve even hit the tarmac.

In this guide we are going to talk you through everything you need to know as a backpacker arriving in Queenstown for the first time. As well as, how to make the most of your time in this idyllic town.

When is the best time to visit?

The greatest thing about this little mountain town is that it is perfect for visiting all year round. There are activities for all types of weather & the town is such a contrast throughout the seasons.

For instance, if you’re visiting in the cooler months (June-October), this is the ski season so you’ll likely head to the slopes. Whereas, during the warmer months (Nov-May) there are endless opportunities to head into the mountains hiking & mountain biking. This isn’t all that’s available in Queenstown though & many activities are available all year round, but we will get into that later.

The answer is, there is no real perfect time to visit, it totally depends on what you like doing & your preferences. However, we may be biased when we say that experiencing Queenstown during the winter months was the best decision we ever made. Waking up to those snow capped mountains every day was priceless!

Where should I stay?

Queenstown is very geared up for backpackers, as it is inundated with travellers every single year. So naturally you will find a lot of hostels. There is a lot for such a small town & of varying cost. Before we recommend any to you. If you are planning to stay in Queenstown for a longer period of time, most hostels will offer long term stays at a discounted rate. However, during the ski season you need to get in pretty early & book your space. Hostel rooms are limited during this time due to its popularity.

We spent roughly 2.5 weeks living in Nomads Hostel it cost around NZD$25 per person, per night in a mixed 8-12 bed dorm. & if we remember correctly, there was a weekly discount added to that. This hostel is one of the bigger ones. & they were pretty much the only place in town that had availability within our budget when we arrived, terribly unprepared.

It wasn’t the best hostel we have stayed in, but as hostels go it wasn’t awful & we’ve stayed in many around the world. Great things about the hostel were the location was incomparable, located right on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. It couldn’t be more central to everything you will need during your stay & for the price (one of the cheapest hostels in town), it was a winner. It also had a sauna which we didn’t end up using, but during ski season we could see the benefit of this.

Negatives about this hostel are that it is definitely more of a party hostel. We aren’t mad into our partying so this didn’t appeal to us. There were times we’d be woken up in the middle of the night, but again it’s to be expected in a hostel. Moreover, the kitchen & common area was pretty dirty. We are unsure if it is like this all the time, but during our entire stay we never saw a single member of staff clean the kitchen or fridges.

Fortunately, we didn’t end up staying in the hostel for a lengthy period of time as we became friends with another British couple who we met through Instagram. Who invited us to stay with them in their Airbnb. Which leads us to our next recommendation for finding where to stay in Queenstown.

Again, if you plan to stay for a few months it would be wise to look at flats to rent. Facebook marketplace & backpacker groups are the best place to find places to rent. If you have a group of you, you’ll likely find a nice looking place for a decent price.

Be aware that during ski season it is almost impossible to secure a flat. Unless you do your research well in advance or are savvy with your flat hunting skills. We visited a few apartments to rent & during the viewings, there was about 40 people queuing up to see the same place, every single time. Airbnb’s are a great solution to this problem though, as Queenstown is home to a bucket load of holiday rentals.

We ended up living as a group of 4 with sweeping views of the Remarkable mountain range from our bedroom windows. Beats a nasty hostel that’s for sure! The area we lived is called Frankton, it sits between the airport & town centre, which is super handy. The buses run right the way through Frankton on the main road & all of Queenstown’s supermarkets are located here.

HOT TIP: Often approaching Airbnb hosts last minute can work in your favour. A trick we have used in the past is sending a host a message requesting the Airbnb for our specified dates but at a lower price we would be willing to pay.

Some may not be able to offer a lower price than what is advertised, but others will see it as an opportunity to fill their property & take your money. Rather than having nothing at all. Although not fool proof, it’s worked in the past for us & we’ve managed to get half priced stays using this method.

How do I get around?

Queenstown is super easy to travel around. It is a small town & there are local buses that run all the way from the airport right into the town centre & surrounding neighbourhoods. On the bus you can purchase a Bee card for NZD$5 this will act as a top up card that you can tap on & tap off with to pay your bus fare.

We recommend getting this as soon as you get on the bus at the airport. You can only pay in cash for the card & the fares on a Bee card are significantly reduced to just paying in cash every journey. All Bee card journeys cost NZD$2.

There are taxis that run all around town, to & from the airport too. But these can be expensive. We recommend you download ‘DiDi’, which is a ride sharing app that acts in the same way as Uber, they often run deals on their platform & I don’t think we ever paid over NZD$10 for a single journey.

One of our favourite things about Queenstown is how accessible everything is by foot, & with breath taking mountain views in every direction. Why wouldn’t you choose to walk every now & then? The distance from the Airport in Frankton to the town centre is 7.5km. It is also relatively flat, so technically if you’re up for a walk & saving some pennies you could easily do it. The town centre is compact, situated on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Everything you need is here within walking distance, including eye watering views.

How do I find a job?

If you are coming to New Zealand on a Working Holiday Visa like we did, you’ll likely be looking for some work to keep you travelling. Good news is, you couldn’t have landed in a better place to find work & get the most out of your Working Holiday Visa. Even better news for those of you who have experience in Hospitality or Construction as these industries are booming in Queenstown.

Let’s talk about hospitality as that’s where our experience is. The absolute best way to secure a job in ‘hospo’ as the Kiwi’s call it. Is to print off around 20 copies of your CV/Resume (Queenstown Lakes Library has public access to printers, it is located on Gorge Road in town). Then walk around dropping them into venues displaying a “staff wanted” sign, or you like the look of.

We promise if you have any experience at all you will get a call back. Sometimes within a matter of days, maybe hours & be asked to attend a trial shift. Hospitality venues in Queenstown are always looking for new staff. Due to the backpacker community filling the majority of these roles, there are high numbers of vacancies as we tend to move on quickly.

We have worked in other areas of New Zealand, Australia & the UK in hospitality. But we can tell you that Queenstown is the place to be if you want to work in hospo & have a good time doing it! The hospitality crew culture is like no other. There is a real feeling of community here as the place is so small.

HOT TIP: If you work in hospitality you will receive ‘hospo’ discounts in other bars/restaurants around Queenstown. Some workplaces may even include ski passes in your employment or discounted passes during the season. It’s worth asking about this when you start at your job.

There are also agencies specific to backpackers finding work in New Zealand that can help you secure jobs. The Queenstown backpacker Facebook group is always helpful to be a part of to look out for job vacancies.

How do I open a bank account?

The boring stuff, you have a job but now you need to be paid somehow? Well, we can tell you that it’s best to start this process early. As soon as you arrive ideally, because securing an appointment at a bank can take weeks.

You’ll need to organise an appointment in branch at your chosen bank. We just walked into ANZ at the end of our road & organised our appointment there. Before your appointment make sure you have filled in your Tax File form, which you can do online or by mail. Make sure you have received your Tax File number, as you’ll need this to open your account.

Your bank account will be open on the day of your appointment & from there you can start getting paid! If you have secured a job before you could open a bank account, which is likely. Just tell your employer to hold off on payments & they can pay you once you receive your bank account & Tax File.

Whilst we’re on the topic of boring stuff, another important thing you will need is a phone SIM card. Again, you can walk into any mobile store & choose a plan, as you would anywhere. We recommend you use Spark as they have the best coverage throughout Queenstown & the rest of New Zealand.

What to do in Queenstown?

You’ve got yourself settled & now you’re ready to get into the fun stuff. This is a big question, there’s so much to do here that it’s almost impossible to answer fully. We’re going to talk mainly about snow sports. As during our time, it was the one activity we spent most of our time doing & moved here specifically for.

Skiing/Snowboarding

If you’re here during the ski season, the obvious choice in activities is to go skiing or snowboarding. You have a few choices when it comes to the slopes, these are: The Remarkables, Coronet Peak & Cardrona.

Both the Remarkables & Coronet Peak are easily accessible by catching the ski bus. It leaves regularly from outside the snow centre on Duke Street. This bus takes 20 minutes to reach Coronet Peak & 30 minutes to The Remarkables. You can purchase a bus pass from inside the snow centre.

Buses also depart Queenstown heading to Cardrona, which is a 40 minute drive, & we believe the bus pass is more expensive. During our time we only made it up to the Remarkables & Coronet Peak. We personally preferred the Remarkables as we found there to be more variety in the slopes & opportunity to go off-piste.

If you arrive in Queenstown with no snow gear, do not fear! There are plenty of shops to buy what you need. Mountain Warehouse always had the best deals on clothing whilst we were there. If you don’t plan on bringing or buying your own Ski’s/Snowboard. Then again the streets of Queenstown are littered with rental shops, where you can hire all your equipment for as little as NZD$30 per day.

HOT TIP: It’s likely you will want to hit the slopes for more than one day, once you’ve had a taste of it. Most rental shops will offer a multi day discount on their gear, if you plan to use it for more than one day. Moreover, some places will also offer a ‘hospo’ or Queenstown resident discount. Let them know you live & work here & they should be able to offer you a better deal.

You will need to purchase a ski pass to access the mountains, & it can be confusing to know which to pick. If you plan to spend the entire season in Queenstown & will spend most of your time on the powder. Then it would be wise to purchase a full season ski pass. They offer early bird discounts if you purchase these a couple months in advance. Then you have the ease of knowing you can enjoy the mountains whenever you please.

Because we arrived a month into the season, purchasing a season pass wasn’t an option for us. As we’d already missed out on 4 weeks of skiing & we wouldn’t be getting our money’s worth. We opted to purchase multiple 3 day passes when we wanted to ski. Which worked out much cheaper for us.

Queenstown hasn’t been crowned the adventure capital of the world for no reason. Something we wish we had the guts & bank balance to do, is Heli Skiing. If you aren’t familiar with the sport, you are flown to a remote area of the Southern Alps, via helicopter & they land you on top of a mountain. It is here that you essentially off-piste ski your entire way back down, sounds pretty epic right?

If you’re after a thrill, Queenstown is your place. Just walk up & down the high street where you’ll find many different tour operators, offering to give you the experience of a lifetime.

Day trips from Queenstown

The landscape surrounding Queenstown is pristine & beautiful. You’d be a fool not to get out & explore it. One of our favourite day trips in the area, is to the neighbouring town of Arrowtown. Famous for its Gold Panning in the Arrow River that runs right through it.

If you aren’t familiar with Gold Panning it is essentially hunting for gold with a large pan, used to sift out the gold from the rocks. Arrowtown was once at the centre of the 1860s Otago gold rush era & gold can still be found in the river today.

We definitely recommend giving it a go. You may not find your fortune, but it’s a good laugh & so much fun. Other things to do in Arrowtown include: strolling the high street & admiring the historic miners cottages, boutique shops & quaint cafe’s.

We enjoyed getting cosy in one of the local pubs, listening to live music & watching the world go by. There are also plenty of walking & cycling tracks around the town. Including a track from Queenstown. Another way to reach Arrowtown is by hopping on the bus, which will only cost you NZD$2.

Glenorchy is another popular day trip. There is no public transport on this route, so your own transport is required. However, you’ll be glad of your own car, as the 45 minute drive will have your jaw on the floor. As you stop every 5 minutes to admire the outstanding views.

Once you do reach Glenorchy, you’ll be greeted by a small settlement on the northern shores of Lake Wakatipu. Whilst there isn’t so much in the way of things to do here. The views are spectacular & you’ll want to visit the famous red boat house, down by the jetty. It’s a great photo opportunity.

A final day trip from Queenstown is a big one for your bucket list. It is of course taking a trip to Milford Sound. This fiord is New Zealand’s most famous & for good reason. It is truly remarkable & such a unique corner of the world.

The journey to Milford Sound is around 3 hours by road, so you can absolutely drive yourself. We opted to take an organised tour, for ease & to be able to sit back, relax & just enjoy the views in all their glory.

Once you reach the Sound, you can embark onto a tour boat that will take you through the waters of the Fiord. Along the way you’ll pass staggering peaks, magical waterfalls & learn a lot about the history, as well as geography of the area. If you’re lucky you might even spot dolphins like we did. Pack tissues, you may just cry!

The opportunities for adventures in Queenstown are endless. It would take us forever to list them all. But other popular activities include: hiking (we will write a full blog on nearby hikes), mountain biking, bungee jumping, skydiving, luge, paragliding, water sports, wine tasting & more. One thing is for sure, if you decide to move to Queenstown, you will never be bored!

We hope this guide has given you more to think about. But also offered you some help in the planning of your adventure to Queenstown. If there is anything you think we have missed or a question you’d like answered, drop a comment below. Or alternatively reach out to us via Instagram.

Check out our ‘How to start travelling full time with as little as £3,000’ blog post. For more guidance on jumping into full time travel.

Happy exploring 🙂