The main road through Queenstown is Highway 6, which runs from Invercargill on the south coast, through Queenstown, then north via Cromwell, the Haast Pass and the West Coast, right up to Nelson and Blenheim. Highway 89 is a more rugged alternative route north to Wanaka; it may however be impassable for certain vehicles in winter.

Intercity Coach Lines (tel: (09) 623 1503; website: www.intercitycoach.co.nz) run competitively priced services to Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch, Milford Sound and the Fox and Franz Joseph Glaciers via Wanaka. Other locally based providers include Atomic Shuttles (tel: (03) 322 8883; website: www.atomictravel.co.nz) and Southern Link Coaches (tel: (03) 358 8355 or 0508 458 835; website: www.southernlinkcoaches.co.nz).