Queenstown Cultural Tours: Your Top 5 Picks Explored
If you are planning a trip to Queenstown, you’ll find there’s way more than extreme sports there; it’s just bursting with culture and history, too. To appreciate everything Queenstown has to offer, really considering a cultural tour would be just a terrific idea. After hunting around, I’ve pulled together what might be the top five Queenstown cultural tours, so you can see which one feels the best for you.
1. The Kiwi Haka: A Māori Cultural Performance
If you want to experience a powerful expression of Māori culture, you may have to see the Kiwi Haka. Hosted at the appropriately named Skyline Queenstown, this performance presents the story through song and dance. To make this cultural treat accessible, they include dinner deals as an add-on, so it fits just neatly in with your evening plans. Be aware, that experiencing it live feels totally different from what you may see online, in some respects.
This isn’t just a show; that is to say, it provides real insight into Māori traditions. The performers share the significance behind each move and chant, which helps anyone watching to understand the depth of their heritage. If learning while being entertained interests you, this performance offers a fulfilling and enriching experience. It gets good reviews because it’s a top thing to do at night around Queenstown.
2. Queenstown Heritage Trails: Self-Guided Historical Exploration
If you’re up for getting some fresh air and finding some hidden histories all at your own pace, very take a shot at the Queenstown Heritage Trails. The local council provides maps and guides to several self-guided routes. Therefore, this really is something you can start anytime, giving you lots of room for spontaneity.
The trails lead you through locations that tell the tale of Queenstown’s transformation from a Māori settlement through its exciting Gold Rush days. To see the original buildings and learn stories of early settlers, too it’s almost like stepping back in time. You’ll explore little streets and lanes. If you do your research and keep a close watch, you might discover bits about the spot you weren’t likely to see.
3. Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) Māori Tourism Experiences
Run by the Southern Institute of Technology, the Māori Tourism experiences here offer educational insights with a personal approach, and they’re actually pretty thoughtful. That SIT offers Māori tourism programs enhances the experience by incorporating aspects of tradition, and helping with visitor communication so everyone involved takes away something useful. It also helps students learning the practice get skilled up for guiding later on. I would point out that you may wish to contact them directly, in fact, because their tours may run differently at certain points in the year.
If you pick this, expect something that mixes both seeing with learning. In that case, they can explore the ways Māori values and history matter within tourism, too, it’s almost bringing old traditions up against the needs of hospitality in the South Island nowadays. A tour here might give some views you were not able to expect from others. So consider how that feels next to whatever else interests you when looking for excursions.
4. Arrowtown Chinese Settlement
Just a brief drive away from Queenstown in pretty Arrowtown, the Chinese Settlement serves to illustrate how international this spot really was going as far back as the gold mining times. While at first glance there just seems to be simple shelters and homes restored, there are stories held between those walls about some individuals.
Visitors have a great shot to get familiar with the day by day lives, fighting with language and discrimination when the first settlers came. Anyway walking through this carefully managed place, you understand the struggles these miners had experienced in hoping for prosperity; they may just provide more than whatever else interests you as much, potentially. In short, plan for your arrival beforehand by booking tickets. If that sounds like a fit, you would not regret the outing.
5. Glenorchy Museum
While maybe small, very the Glenorchy Museum is big with its historical memories that showcase what makes the spot outstanding. With attention aimed at the surrounding area as much as just Glenorchy proper, find lots about sheep farming along with lumber industries from its history through many displays.
A tour of this type can act like the quiet space away from Queenstown for one of your times down here, should it sound engaging when considering possible programs while on vacation yourself. So you may enjoy getting here particularly whether keen about knowing aspects local stories tell beyond main cities.