Cromwell & Bannockburn: The Best Bits of Central Otago's Sunny Heart
Updated: Oct 11
Most people view Cromwell through a car window.
It's the town with the giant fruit sculpture on the roundabout, the last stop for petrol between Queenstown and Wanaka.
Slow down.
Cromwell and its neighbour Bannockburn, just five minutes across the bridge, pack gold-rush history, world-class Pinot Noir and some of the best summer fruit in the country into one sun-baked corner of Central Otago.
This is our guide to the best bits: what to see, where to sip, and how to slow down long enough to enjoy it.
Old Cromwell Town: the main street that refused to drown
Cromwell's best story is under the water. When the Clyde Dam was finished in 1992, the valley behind it flooded to form Lake Dunstan, and the original business district at the meeting of the Kawarau and Clutha rivers went to the bottom of the lake.
Locals weren't having it.
In 1985 a group of residents set out to save what they could, and eight buildings from the old commercial strip were rebuilt further up Melmore Terrace, above the new waterline (Cromwell Heritage Precinct).
Some were moved; others were rebuilt stone by stone and plank by plank.
Today the Heritage Precinct is a lakeside wander through gold-era buildings from 1860 to 1900, including the London House Stables, Captain Barry's cottage, the Cobb & Co Store and Jolly's Seed & Grain Store. Some are open museum-style; others house cafes, galleries and artisan shops. Entry is free.
Best bit: Go late afternoon, grab a coffee, and sit by the wharf as the light turns the schist gold. From here you can also cruise Lake Dunstan on a restored 1929 wooden motor launch. It is surreal on a calm day, you can see roads and buildings floating in the lake's depths.
Bannockburn: gold, then Pinot
Cross the Bannockburn Bridge and the landscape turns rugged and rocky, with vine rows stitched across the slopes. Bannockburn calls itself the "Heart of the Desert", and it's one of the driest corners of New Zealand. It's also one of its most celebrated wine addresses.
Walk the Bannockburn Sluicings
Start with the gold. From 1862 into the 1930s, miners used high-pressure water to blast whole hillsides away, leaving a surreal badlands of cliffs, tunnels, water races and tailings (Central Otago NZ). The DOC loop track starts from the car park on Felton Road, about 1.5 km from the bridge, and takes around 90 minutes to two hours.
The highlight is Stewart Town, a tiny ghost settlement with a restored 1870s stone cottage, the ruins of mud-brick homes and a big old dam. Fruit trees planted by miners still bear apricots and pears, and wild thyme perfumes the gully. There's almost no shade, so take water, a hat and decent shoes.
Then taste what grows here now
Bannockburn is the only Central Otago subregion that's also an official geographical indication in its own right. Its roughly 350 ha of vineyards are almost 80% Pinot Noir (Wine Companion). A few cellar doors worth planning around:
Winery | Why go |
Mt Difficulty | One of the region's earliest cellar doors, with a terrace restaurant and huge views over the Cromwell Basin. Book lunch. |
Carrick | Organic, wild-fermented wines and a restaurant overlooking the Kawarau River. |
Felton Road | Pinot from some of Central's oldest vines. Weekday visits by appointment only, about two hours with a vineyard walk. |
Akarua | Family-owned since 1996, with a cellar door inside a working winery. Bookings required. |
Te Kano, Terra Sancta | Two more favourites on the loop, easy to add by bike. |
Hours change with the seasons, so check each winery's website and book ahead, especially in summer.
Best bit: Skip the designated-driver debate and ride it. The Felton Road cycle trail links from the Lake Dunstan Trail at the Bannockburn Bridge, and Cromwell has plenty of e-bike hire (Central Otago NZ). Finish with a drink at the historic Bannockburn Hotel.
More best bits around Cromwell
Ride the Lake Dunstan Trail. Opened in 2021, this is now one of the South Island's must-do rides. The full route runs 55 km from Smiths Way, with a popular 41 km stretch from Cromwell to Clyde through Bannockburn vineyards, round Cornish Point and into the Cromwell Gorge (Bachcare).
The cantilevered boardwalks clinging to the gorge walls are the showstopper.
Hire an e-bike and book a shuttle back.
Eat your way through the Fruit Bowl of the South. Cromwell's giant fruit sculpture isn't just for selfies. In summer, roadside stalls like Jones Family Fruit Stall and Webb's Fruit on State Highway 6 sell cherries, apricots and peaches that ruin supermarket fruit forever. New Zealanders are spoilt as online shopping means Otago sunshine is packed in box for home delivery.
Go fast at Highlands. Highlands Motorsport Park offers supercar hot laps, go-karts, the National Motorsport Museum and an 18-hole mini golf course (Trail Hub). Our favourite quirk: Trail Journeys bike hire from Highlands includes a spin around the race circuit if you ride early in the morning (Trail Journeys).
Go under the lake. Clyde Dam Tours take you behind the scenes of the dam that made Lake Dunstan, and deep beneath the water line.
Get a view. For big-sky panoramas, try the Bruce Jackson Lookout or the climb up Mount Horn.
Where to eat and drink
Long winery lunch: Mt Difficulty's terrace restaurant is the classic, with a Pinot tasting flight and a platter looking out over the basin (Newstalk ZB). Carrick's restaurant is the scenic rival. Book both ahead.
Pub with serious wine: The Bannockburn Hotel pairs a historic building with a wine list of more than 230 bottles and a sharing-style menu.
Coffee and a wander: The cafes tucked into Old Cromwell Town's heritage buildings, right by the lake.
Picnic: Stone fruit from a roadside stall, a bottle from a cellar door and a spot on the Lake Dunstan shore. Hard to beat.
When to go and getting there
Summer (December to February) brings hot, dry days, cherry season and lake swims.
Autumn (March to May) is our favourite: golden poplars, vines turning yellow and cooler weather for the sluicings walk. Winter is crisp and quiet, with frosty mornings and snow on the ranges.
Cromwell is about 60 km from Queenstown. Allow roughly an hour, as traffic through the Kawarau Gorge can be slow
Wanaka is a similar drive the other way, which makes Cromwell a handy, better-value base for exploring both.
Bannockburn is a five-minute drive from town, or an easy lakeside ride from Old Cromwell Town to the Bannockburn Bridge.
Keep exploring Queenstown and Wānaka
Start here: 3 Days in Queenstown: Slow Travel Itinerary
Queenstown Savvy Swaps: The Smarter Way to Experience NZ’s Adventure Capital
Queenstown Half-Day Road Trips: Five Drives to Reset the Pace
Crown Range Road: Scenic Drive Between Queenstown and Wānaka
Wānaka Savvy Swaps: The Smarter Way to Experience New Zealand’s Lake Town
Where to stay
Browse places to stay in Cromwell on Booking.com.
This post includes affiliate links. If you book through them, Best Bits Travel may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Jay's Observation
Somewhere under Lake Dunstan is Cromwell's old main street. The town could have let it go. Instead, volunteers carried it uphill, stone by stone. That tells you everything about this place: it doesn't do half-measures, whether it's saving a building, blasting a hillside for gold, or growing a Pinot worth crossing the world for.
