The Best Places to Drink in Queenstown

Meat cleavers double as door handles, which sets the tone before you've ordered a drink. This cocktail bar sits inside a lakefront steakhouse in Queenstown, dressed up in plush contemporary style despite looking like a colonial cottage from the outside. The lake views do a lot of the heavy lifting in summer, and the crowd skews toward people who've had a good day on the slopes and don't mind showing it.

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

A narrow beer bar tucked opposite Bardeaux on Queenstown's drinking circuit, Mini Bar runs a passport scheme where you drink your way around the world one bottle at a time, from over a hundred international options. Pop art in the Lichtenstein style covers the walls. There are cocktails on offer and a solid back-bar, but this is a beer place at heart, and the bartenders know it too.

1. Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide

Tucked above Minibar up a flight of stairs, this one-room cocktail bar has a vaulted ceiling and a sliver of a view over the corner below. It's a little rough around the edges, which is precisely its charm: bartenders drink here on their nights off, and by midnight the music has climbed accordingly. They chill the wine glasses before pouring cold whites, which tells you something about where their priorities sit.

1. Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide

Absinthe fountains, crystal decanters, and gold bartending equipment crowd the shelves of this cocktail bar, lit almost entirely by tea-lights. The menu sorts drinks by historical category, fizzes and daisies and the rest, each with a footnote on who invented it and where. The vibe is full-throated heritage emporium, which makes the thumping dance music either a charming contradiction or a minor existential crisis, depending on your mood.

1. Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide

1. Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide

1. Difford's Guide 3 stars · Difford's Guide

Upstairs from the Red Rock pub, this small whisky bar fits leather chesterfields, barrel tables, and glass cases of whisky paraphernalia into a room that feels like a gentleman's club someone actually uses. Your feet rest on an old piece of railway line at the bar, which sets the tone. The selection covers Scotch, Japanese, Canadian, and bourbon, thorough enough for a good evening, and there are other spirits tucked in old crates below for anyone who wandered in by accident.

1. Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide