Wānaka with Kids

The Honest Take

If Queenstown is where you go for the big experiences, Wānaka is where you go to breathe. Same dramatic mountain backdrop, same glacial lake, a fraction of the tourist infrastructure. The town is small enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes and somehow has everything you need.

We had four nights and the pace was exactly right. Active days balanced with slow ones, and nobody needed to be anywhere on time.

What to Do

Hooker Valley Track

One of the best walks in New Zealand and completely doable for kids. The track runs 10km return through the Mt Cook National Park with three swing bridges, a glacial lake with icebergs at the end, and views of Aoraki Mt Cook the entire way. Our eight-year-old finished it. It took some negotiation on the return leg but she finished it, and she has mentioned this fact approximately forty times since we got home.

Start early to beat the crowds. Bring layers because it gets cold near the glacier regardless of what the weather is doing in town. The swing bridges are a highlight for kids and a white-knuckle moment for adults who were not expecting them to move that much.

Practical: free, no booking required. Allow three to four hours return. The car park fills up by mid-morning so aim for an 8am start.

Rob Roy Glacier Track

A step up from Hooker Valley in terms of effort and reward. The trailhead is a 1.25-hour drive from Wānaka into the Mt Aspiring National Park, which is itself worth the drive. The track is 10km return through beech forest with a river crossing on a swing bridge, ending at a hanging glacier and waterfall that drops off a cliff face directly in front of you.

Our kids were quiet when they saw it, which is the highest compliment available.

Do not attempt this track after rain or if rain is forecast. The road to the trailhead is gravel and washes out. Check the forecast the night before and make a different plan if it looks wet.

Practical: free, no booking required. Allow four hours return. Bring snacks, water, and more layers than you think you need.

Wānaka Puzzle World

An eccentric attraction that is harder to explain than it is to enjoy. There is a large tilted room that makes everyone walk like they are on a ship. There are optical illusion galleries. There are mazes. Our kids treated it as a competitive sport and refused to leave until they had completed everything.

It sounds like a rainy day backup plan and turned out to be a genuine highlight. Put it on the itinerary properly rather than saving it as a fallback.

Practical: around $20 USD per person. Book online. Allow two to three hours.

The Cinema

The Cinema Wānaka is a single-screen theatre in an old building in the center of town. It has an intermission with ice cream. It shows one film at a time. It is one of the best cinemas we have ever been to and we are including it as a legitimate activity recommendation without apology.

Use it on a rest day afternoon. Your kids will remember it.

Hook Wānaka Salmon Fishing

A small urban salmon fishing operation right in town. You fish for your own salmon from a pond, catch one, and they prepare it for dinner. Our middle one was in a state of complete happiness from arrival to departure. The fish is served smoked or as sashimi, which younger kids may approach with some skepticism, but the catching part is fun for everyone regardless of what happens at dinner.

Practical: around $150 NZD. Book at hookwanaka.nz in advance. Combine with a walk along the lake waterfront afterward.

The Lake

Walk along it. Throw stones in it. Sit next to it. The Wānaka lake walk is flat, easy, and takes you past the famous lone tree standing in the shallows that appears on approximately half of all New Zealand postcards. Kids will want to wade in. The water is cold. They will wade in anyway.

Where to Eat

Wānaka has good food for a small town. The waterfront has several solid options. Self-catering from the supermarket is easy and worthwhile for at least some meals, especially if you have an Airbnb with a kitchen, which you should.

Where to Stay

Airbnb over hotels for the same reasons as Queenstown. We stayed at Diamond on Tenby, a well-run property close to town that fit our family comfortably at around $385 USD per night. Central location matters here because the town is small and walkable and you will want to be in it in the evenings.

How Long to Spend

Four nights is right. Three works if you have to trim somewhere. Wānaka rewards a slower pace and an extra night gives you the flexibility to have one genuinely lazy day, which your family will need by this point in the trip.

Getting There

Wānaka is a three-hour drive from Queenstown. The road takes you past Lake Pukaki with the turquoise glacier water and Mt Cook behind it. Stop there. It is one of the most photographed views in New Zealand and the photographs do not lie.

If you are coming from Mt Cook village, Wānaka is a three-hour drive west. The road through the Haast Pass is spectacular and worth taking slowly if the weather is clear.