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The Best Things to Do in Queenstown, Tasmania
This tiny town is a stepping stone to adventure. We've created a guide to all the best things to do in Queenstown, Tasmania.
Not to be confused with New Zealand’s adventure capital, Tasmania’s Queenstown has a character all its own. Around 3.5 hours west of Hobart, this West Coast town is framed by rugged wilderness, dramatic mountain ranges and the strange, striking moonscape left by its mining past.
Start in the centre of town, then follow winding roads to lookouts, walking trails and river edges, with the chance to climb aboard a heritage steam train along the way. Here, history and raw natural beauty sit side by side, giving Queenstown a pull that feels unlike anywhere else in Tasmania.
Here are the best things to do in Queenstown, Tasmania for a weekend escape with edge.
Best Things to do in Queenstown: Eat & Drink
Empire Hotel
One of Queenstown’s most storied addresses, The Empire Hotel still sets the tone for a West Coast weekend. Built in 1901, it greets you with its National Trust-listed Tasmanian Blackwood staircase before opening into the sort of pub that suits a cold beer and a solid dinner by the fire. Come Friday night, the grill is calling, the room is buzzing, and the whole place feels like a proper introduction to Queenstown: historic, hearty and full of old Tasmanian character.
2 Orr Street, Queenstown
Tracks Cafe
Tracks Cafe, tucked inside Queenstown Station, is a very good place to pause before or after the West Coast Wilderness Railway. There is coffee, comfort food and a dining room that suits a cold-weather stop, with pancakes, big breakfasts, burgers and hearty meals by the fire all part of the appeal. Add a bottle of Tasmanian wine if you are staying a while, and do not skip the churros.
1 Driffield Street, Queenstown
Moonscape Wine Bar and Cafe
Moonscape Wine Bar and Cafe is the Queenstown stop for a midday reset and a very civilised evening drink. By day, it keeps things simple with good coffee and toasties worth pulling over for. Come back later and the mood shifts towards wine, craft beer and cocktails, with a compact menu of European-leaning small plates that suits a long pour and a slower finish to the day.
40-42 Orr Street, Queenstown
Mimso Kitchen
Mimso Kitchen is one of Queenstown’s quieter little wins, hidden inside the Gold Rush Inn and turning out dinners that feels especially welcome after a long West Coast day. Thai chef Mim leads the kitchen, and the Thai side of the menu is the move, with curries, satay, noodle bowls and roti bringing warmth, spice and plenty of comfort to the table.
Gold Rush Inn, 65 Batchelor Street, Queenstown
Best Things to do in Queenstown: Explore
Ride the West Coast Wilderness Railway
The West Coast Wilderness Railway is one of Queenstown’s most memorable experiences, pairing wild West Coast scenery with the stories that shaped this mining town. From Queenstown Station, you can board the Lynchford Express for a shorter heritage journey to the old gold town of Lynchford, where you can try your hand at gold panning, explore the Pioneer’s Room and wander past old mine shafts.
Or, if you want the full romance of it, take the longer Rinadeena, Rack & Rainforest trip and watch the steam train climb the extraordinary Abt rack railway through dense rainforest. A glass of Tasmanian sparkling in hand only improves matters.
Discover the Rivers of Western Tasmania
The Queen River is one of Queenstown’s most striking sights, its orange water a confronting legacy of the region’s mining history. It is not a place for a cheerful swim, but it is a powerful reminder of how deeply this landscape has been shaped by industry. For a more immersive day on the water, look to West Coast Kayaking, which operates tours around the West Coast’s rivers and waterways, offering a gentler way to experience the region’s wilderness from water level.
Spend a Day in the Town Centre
Queenstown’s centre may be compact, but it carries more intrigue than many towns twice its size. Start with The Galley Museum, housed inside the 1897 Imperial Hotel, where room after room traces the West Coast’s grit, grief and eccentricity through photographs, mining relics, theatre projectors, minerals and deeply personal mementos. It is less a quick museum stop than a slow unfurling of the town’s inner life.
From there, walk to The Gravel, Queenstown’s famously gravelled oval, which remains one of the strangest and most storied sporting grounds in the country. Then make time for the Paragon Theatre, the 1933 Art Deco picture palace that has lived several lives and now runs self-guided tours, films and live events right in the middle of town.
If you want to add one more stop, check what is on at The Paragon beyond the cinema itself. It is also the home base for RoamWild Tasmania, whose guided interpretive tours depart from the theatre and dig deeper into Queenstown’s mining, timber and hydro history. And if your trip lines up with it, The Unconformity has turned Queenstown into one of Tasmania’s most surprising arts destinations, with its next biennial festival set for 2027.
Take a Hike to the Lookouts
Queenstown’s hills may first strike you as stark and stripped back, but point the car in almost any direction and the landscape begins to change. Rainforest gathers again, waterfalls cut through rock, and the region starts to show its softer, greener side.
Take the Lyell Highway east to Horsetail Falls, a short walk that leads you to a seasonal 50-metre waterfall at the foot of Mount Owen, with mountain views that feel especially dramatic after rain. Not far from there, Iron Blow Lookout delivers one of the region’s most arresting sights: a vast former mine scarred into the earth, its layers of rock and mineral colour telling the story of Queenstown’s mining past in one extraordinary sweep.
Make time for The Confluence, too, where a short rainforest walk leads to one of Queenstown’s most arresting sights: the meeting of the orange-stained Queen River and the darker King River. It is a powerful reminder of the region’s mining past, but also of the wilderness that presses in around it, with mossy forest, Huon pine and riverbank stillness softening the scene.
And if you are drawn to places with a little ghostly pull, detour through Gormanston and Linda, where the remnants of old mining settlements still sit against the hills, half-claimed by weather and time.
Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park
No West Coast escape feels complete without a drive into Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, where the landscape shifts from Queenstown’s raw, mineral-streaked hills to rainforest, river valleys and deep green stillness. Follow the highway into the heart of the park, and you will find walks both brief and more ambitious, leading to mossy creeks, dramatic gorges, towering trees and the lovely veil of Nelson Falls.
Lake Burbury
Just east of Queenstown, Lake Burbury offers a gentler side of the West Coast, all still water, mountain silhouettes and a hush that makes you lower your voice without thinking. Regarded as one of Tasmania’s top wild trout fisheries, it draws anglers for brown and rainbow trout, but you do not need a rod to appreciate its charm. Pull over for a picnic, light the barbecue, watch the light move across the lake and let the wilderness do the rest.
Best Things to do in Queenstown: Accommodation
The Galahs Nest
The Galahs Nest makes an immediate impression. Housed inside a beautifully reworked 1940s hall, it sleeps six and balances old bones with just enough flourish, from copper pipe lighting to a glorious stone bath on the deck. Inside, there are two generous bedrooms, a full kitchen and an airy living space made for sprawling out. Outside, the firepit crackles beside the rivulet, while Queenstown’s wild, weather-beaten beauty sits just beyond.
The Greenhouse
This Queenstown cottage has a backstory worth dining out on. Once perched on the edge of Macquarie Harbour, it was moved piece by piece to its current address more than a century ago, and now lives a second life as one of the West Coast’s most enchanting stays. Inside, rich colour, raw timber and a wood fire dial up the romance, while the rainforest-view bathroom feels deliciously indulgent. Step outside and you are moments from pubs, galleries and shops, with mountains rising all around.
Zeehan Bush Camp – Glamping & Cabins
Just 30 minutes from Queenstown, this valley hideaway swaps drama for softness, with a creek running past, wetlands glowing green and rugged hills rising on every side. Wildlife is part of the pleasure, with pademelons, wombats and birds bringing the landscape to life. Stay in a self-contained cabin or lean into the romance of a glamping tent with its own firepit. Add barbecues, a camp lounge and room to properly switch off, and it is an easy West Coast win.
1 Hurst Street, Zeehan
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Has our guide to the best things to do in Queenstown Tasmania inspired you to explore more of our beautiful country? Our guides have you covered from Margaret River in WA to Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
