How far is it from Queenstown? Drive times and the bus beside every one
Fourteen places people drive to from Queenstown, with the road distance, the typical time, and what the trip looks like without a car: the Orbus route, the coach, or an honest 'no bus'.
Published 9 September 2026 · Last checked 24 September 2026 · Corrected 24 September 2026 · By Queenstown Pocket
In short: Everything inside the Whakatipu basin is under half an hour and a $2.50 Orbus ride: Frankton 15 minutes, the airport 15, Arrowtown 25. Glenorchy is 46 km (45 minutes to an hour, no bus), Wānaka an hour over the Crown Range, Te Anau 2 hours 30, Milford Sound four and a half hours each way, Dunedin 3 hours 35, Christchurch six. Coaches leave Athol Street daily for Wānaka, Cromwell, Te Anau, Dunedin and Christchurch.
Distance, drive time and the way without a car
| To | By car | Without a car |
|---|---|---|
| Frankton | 8 km · 15 minFrankton Road (SH6A) along the lake | 11 to 17 min · Orbus routes 1, 4 and 5 from the Stanley Street hub, $2.50 with a Bee Card |
| Queenstown Airport | 9 km · 15 minFrankton Road, then Sir Henry Wigley Drive | 16 to 21 min · Orbus Route 1, every 15 minutes or so, $2.50 with a Bee Card ($10 cash) |
| Arrowtown | 21 km · 25 minSH6 to Lake Hayes, then Arrowtown-Lake Hayes Road; or Malaghans Road | 21 to 23 min · Orbus Route 4 direct, or Route 1 then Route 2 via Frankton Hub, $2.50 with a Bee Card |
| Gibbston (the wineries) | 26 km · 25 minSH6 through the Kawarau Gorge, past the bungy bridge | No Orbus. Wine tours and bike-shuttle operators pick up in town; the Queenstown Trail reaches Gibbston by bike |
| Glenorchy | 46 km · 45 min to 1 hGlenorchy-Queenstown Road, sealed and winding, no fuel until Glenorchy | about 1 h · No public bus. Track-transport shuttles and day tours run from town, mostly in the Great Walks season |
| Kinloch | 72 km · 1 h 15Through Glenorchy, then unsealed around the head of the lake | No bus. The Routeburn shuttles pass the turn-off; Kinloch Lodge runs its own transfers |
| Kingston | 47 km · 40 minSH6 down the eastern shore of the lake (the Devil's Staircase) | InterCity and the Te Anau coaches pass through on request; no Orbus |
| Cromwell | 60 km · 50 minSH6 through the Kawarau Gorge | about 1 h · InterCity daily from Athol Street, and the Wānaka-bound SkyDrive on the Cromwell run |
| Wānaka | 67 km · 1 h (Crown Range) or 1 h 15 (117 km via Cromwell)Crown Range Road over the 1,076 m summit, chains when signed; SH6 via Cromwell is the wet-weather road | 1 h 15 to 1 h 45 · SkyDrive four times a day from Athol Street and the airport (about 1 h 15), InterCity daily (about 1 h 45) |
| Te Anau | 170 km · 2 h 30SH6 to Kingston and Lumsden, SH94 through Mossburn | 2 h 30 to 3 h · InterCity daily from Athol Street; Tracknet from Camp Street at 7:10am, 10:15am and 4:30pm, $68 adult |
| Invercargill | 186 km · 2 h 30SH6 through Kingston and Lumsden, SH6 to the coast | about 3 h 30 · Catch-A-Bus South, one a day from the Athol Street stop via SH6, $85 adult centre to centre; InterCity only via Dunedin |
| Dunedin | 282 km · 3 h 35SH6 to Cromwell, SH8 through Alexandra and Roxburgh, SH1 from Milton | 4 h 30 · InterCity daily from Athol Street to Moray Place, about 4 h 30 with breaks |
| Milford Sound | 288 km · 5 h each wayVia Te Anau and the Milford Road (SH94), the Homer Tunnel and avalanche closures in winter | 13 h round trip · No public bus. Coach and cruise day tours from town, about 13 hours door to door; fly-cruise-fly about 4 h 30 |
| Christchurch | 484 km · 6 hSH6 and SH8 over the Lindis Pass, Omarama and Tekapo, SH1 from Timaru | 8 h 40 · InterCity direct, 8:05am to 4:45pm from Athol Street, about 8 h 40; or via Dunedin |
Distances are road distances from the town centre; drive times are typical in dry daylight with no stops. Add 20 minutes on Frankton Road at 8am and 5pm in summer, and plan on longer for anything over the Crown Range or the Lindis in winter. Bus and coach times are the operators’ own.
Inside the basin: leave the car
Frankton, the airport, Kelvin Heights, Lake Hayes and Arrowtown are all Orbus territory: $2.50 with a Bee Card on every route, a bus every 15 minutes on Route 1, and a free transfer at Frankton Hub. Central parking is $7 an hour, so the bus wins from the first hour. The bus guide has the network and the route pages have every stop and timetable.
Beyond the basin: the coach stop is Athol Street
- InterCity leaves from the carpark on Athol Street for Wānaka, Cromwell, Te Anau, Dunedin, Christchurch and, via Dunedin, Invercargill. Check-in is at the stop, not an office.
- SkyDrive (Ritchies) runs Queenstown to Wānaka four times a day from Athol Street and the airport, over the Crown Range when it is open.
- Tracknet runs the Te Anau and Great Walks shuttles from Camp Street; Catch-A-Bus South runs one Queenstown to Invercargill service a day via SH6 from the Athol Street stop, $85 adult centre to centre.
- Glenorchy and Milford have no scheduled public bus. The Glenorchy and Milford guides compare the tours, the shuttles and the drive.
Winter changes the numbers
The Crown Range (1,076 m) and the Lindis Pass (971 m) post chain requirements and close in snow; the wet-weather road to Wānaka is SH6 through Cromwell. The Milford Road closes for avalanche control, sometimes for days. Police turn cars without chains around at the checkpoints, and the fine for ignoring a chain sign is up to $750 from 2026. The safety guide has the road rules; the seasons guide has the temperatures behind them.
Questions people ask
How far is Arrowtown from Queenstown?
21 km and about 25 minutes by car via Lake Hayes or Malaghans Road. Orbus Route 4 runs direct from Stanley Street by Arthurs Point in 21 to 23 minutes by the ORC timetable for $2.50 with a Bee Card, or take Route 1 to Frankton Hub and change to Route 2.
How far is Glenorchy from Queenstown?
46 km and 45 minutes to an hour on the sealed lakeside road. There is no public bus; track-transport shuttles and day tours run from town, mostly in the Great Walks season. Fuel up before you leave.
How far is Wānaka from Queenstown?
67 km and about an hour over the Crown Range Road, or 117 km and about 1 hour 15 minutes on State Highway 6 through Cromwell. SkyDrive runs four coaches a day, InterCity one, in 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 45.
How far is Milford Sound from Queenstown?
288 km and about four and a half hours each way via Te Anau, with no public bus. Coach-and-cruise day tours take about 13 hours door to door; a fly-cruise-fly day is about four and a half hours; driving yourself is a 600 km, 12 to 14 hour day.
How long is the drive from Queenstown to Christchurch?
484 km and about six hours in good conditions via the Lindis Pass, Omarama and Tekapo. InterCity's direct coach leaves Athol Street at 8:05am and arrives at 4:45pm, about 8 hours 40 minutes.
How long is the drive from Queenstown to Dunedin?
282 km and about 3 hours 35 minutes via Cromwell, Alexandra and Roxburgh. InterCity runs daily from Athol Street to Moray Place in about 4 hours 30 minutes with breaks.
Can I do these trips without a car?
Inside the basin, yes: Frankton, the airport and Arrowtown are all $2.50 Orbus rides. Beyond it, Wānaka, Te Anau, Cromwell, Dunedin, Invercargill and Christchurch have daily coaches from the Athol Street stop; Glenorchy and Milford need a tour or a shuttle; Gibbston and Kinloch need a bike, a tour or a car.
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Related guides
- Do you need a car in Queenstown?
Where the bus gets you, where it does not, and what a car, shuttle or tour costs instead.
- Queenstown to Glenorchy: road, stops and what works offline
46 km, one road, no Orbus. The stops, the costs, and the offline map you will want.
- Queenstown to Te Anau by bus or car
InterCity from Athol Street, the Tracknet track bus at $68, the drive via Kingston and Mossburn, and where each one stops.
- Queenstown to Wanaka: the two roads and the buses
Crown Range in an hour or Cromwell in 1 h 15, the SkyDrive and InterCity buses, and the winter chain rule.
Sources: Google Maps, road distances and typical driving times from Queenstown town centre, InterCity, Queenstown to Dunedin and Queenstown to Christchurch (durations, Athol Street stop) (opens in a new tab), Catch-A-Bus South, Queenstown to Invercargill (opens in a new tab), Otago Regional Council, Orbus Queenstown fares and routes (opens in a new tab) and Lake Wanaka Tourism, driving to Wānaka; Tracknet, Te Anau timetable, retrieved 9 September 2026. Fourteen destinations; 4 of them have no scheduled bus, and the table says so rather than inventing one. This independent guide is published by Tally Sphere Limited, a New Zealand company. Spotted a change? Report a problem with this page and the page address comes with your email.