Lakes & Vineyards
Central Otago cellars, alpine lakes and unhurried days. A private, tailored journey of 6-8 days in Queenstown & the South Island, Australia & New Zealand, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$12,500 per traveler.
- Culinary · Calm
- Ideal length: 6-8 days
- Best time: From December to March for summer and from June to August for snow, the best window for Queenstown & the South Island.
- Private guiding, access and transfers throughout
- From US$12,500 per traveler — a starting point, tailored to you
- Designed one-to-one by a Forest Travel advisor
- Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels
Central Otago cellars, alpine lakes and unhurried days. A private, tailored journey of 6-8 days in Queenstown & the South Island, Australia & New Zealand, designed end to end by a Forest Travel advisor — with Virtuoso privileges at the finest luxury hotels, from US$12,500 per traveler.
Two nations at the edge of the world offer coral gardens, ancient rainforest, glacial peaks and some of the most remote luxury on earth.
When to go
From December to March for summer and from June to August for snow is the best window for Queenstown & the South Island. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
The experiences
A sense of what this journey can hold — each one arranged privately and shaped to you:
- A private tasting in a Central Otago cellar known for its pinot noir.
- A lakeside lunch above the water, arranged for a single unhurried afternoon.
- A gentle guided walk along an alpine lake before the day warms.
- An evening of local produce and wine paired to your taste at the table.
A sense of the rhythm
This is the softer side of the South Island. Days open by the lakes and drift into the vineyards of Central Otago, where the wine is made in sight of the mountains. Lunches run long, cellars are unhurried, and the light lingers late into the evening.
How to do it well
The counsel our advisors give travelers planning this journey:
- Central Otago is close to the lakes; a private car makes tastings effortless.
- Autumn brings the vines into colour and the calmest days.
- Let us pair small cellars to your palate rather than the famous labels.
- A chauffeur means everyone at the table can enjoy the wine.
What only your advisor can open
The difference between a good trip and an unrepeatable one is access — and access is a relationship, not a booking. Every guide, room and moment is chosen and sequenced for you.
Who it's for
Travelers who value privacy, time and doing it once — beautifully — and who would rather have one trusted advisor orchestrate every detail than assemble it themselves.
Estimated investment
From US$12,500 per traveler, based on double occupancy — scaled to your dates, party size and level of privacy. A starting point, not a final quote; confirmed once your advisor tailors the itinerary.
Designed entirely around you
Nothing here is a package. A Forest Travel advisor shapes the whole journey and stays one message away before and throughout your trip.
Your Virtuoso privileges
As a Virtuoso member, Forest Travel includes benefits reserved for Virtuoso guests at the finest luxury hotels, at no added cost: a room upgrade on arrival when available, daily breakfast for two, a property credit toward dining or spa, and early check-in with late check-out when the hotel allows.
Continue exploring Queenstown & the South Island
Part of our Queenstown & the South Island travel guide. Related private journeys:
Begin the conversation
Tell a Forest Travel advisor how you like to travel and they will design Lakes & Vineyards around you — privately, every Virtuoso privilege included. Request your private consultation →
Questions, answered.
A lakeside base keeps Queenstown and the water at hand, with cellars a short drive away. A stay among the vines settles you into Central Otago itself, waking to the rows and the ranges. The lake offers variety; the vineyards, immersion.
No. Central Otago is close to the lakes, and a private car makes tastings effortless. Our advisors recommend a chauffeur, which means everyone at the table can enjoy the wine rather than one person staying sober to drive. The journey moves from mornings by the water into the vineyards, where the wine is made in sight of the mountains, without anyone having to watch the road.
Our advisors favour small cellars paired to your palate rather than the famous labels. The journey can include a private tasting in a Central Otago cellar known for its pinot noir, and an evening of local produce with wine paired to your taste at the table. Cellar visits are unhurried, so there is time to understand what you are drinking and where it comes from.
This is the softer side of the South Island. Days open by the lakes, perhaps with a gentle guided walk along an alpine lake before the day warms, then drift into the vineyards of Central Otago. Lunches run long, sometimes lakeside above the water, cellars are unhurried, and the light lingers late into the evening, often ending with local produce and wine paired to your taste.
We suggest 6-8 days. That allows the journey to keep its unhurried rhythm: mornings by the lakes, including a gentle guided walk along an alpine lake before the day warms, then afternoons in the vineyards of Central Otago with a private tasting in a cellar known for its pinot noir. There is room for a long lakeside lunch, an evening of local produce and paired wine, and a private car or chauffeur so tastings stay effortless. Your advisor tunes the length to your calendar and pace.
As a private, tailored journey it starts from roughly US$12,500 per traveler (double occupancy) and scales with your dates, party and level of privacy — a starting point, never a fixed package price. Your advisor confirms the figure once the itinerary is tailored.
October through April, when the Southern Hemisphere summer opens the vineyards and the alpine trails, and the light lingers late into the evening for long lunches and lakeside afternoons. Our advisors note that autumn brings the vines of Central Otago into colour and the calmest days, a fine moment for cellar tastings and walks along the alpine lakes. Your advisor times it to the light, the crowds and your own calendar.
Yes. On the Lakes & Vineyards journey in Queenstown and the South Island, a lakeside lunch above the water can be arranged privately for a single unhurried afternoon. It suits the rhythm of the trip: lunches run long, cellars are unhurried, and the light lingers late into the evening. With a private car or chauffeur, the afternoon can drift on into the vineyards of Central Otago without anyone needing to drive.
The walk on the Lakes & Vineyards journey is gentle, not strenuous. It is a guided walk along an alpine lake, arranged privately and timed before the day warms. It reflects the softer side of the South Island that this journey explores: days open by the lakes, then drift into the vineyards of Central Otago, where the wine is made in sight of the mountains.
In Central Otago, the Lakes & Vineyards journey can close with an evening of local produce and wine paired to your taste at the table, arranged privately. Our advisors prefer to pair small cellars to your palate rather than the famous labels, and a chauffeur means everyone at the table can enjoy the wine. It is a fitting end to days that begin by the lakes and linger in the vineyards.
Australia & New Zealand
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