TSS Earnslaw & Walter Peak from Queenstown
Steamship cruise, farm tour, gourmet BBQ or horse trek — what each experience actually includes, which boat you will be on, and what it costs per person.
Walter Peak High Country Farm sits across Lake Whakatipu from Queenstown, and the boat is the way in — every visit leaves from the RealNZ Visitor Centre at 88 Beach Street and takes about 45 minutes on the water each way. All five bookable experiences come from the same operator, so the choice is not between companies. It is between variants: how much time ashore, what you eat, whether animals are the point, and whether your crossing runs on the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw or the catamaran Spirit of Queenstown. This page puts them side by side.
Four ways to do Walter Peak
The listing names on booking sites all sound alike. These are the four main shapes a Walter Peak visit can take — pick yours, then compare the details. A fifth, smaller option, the Garden to Table experience, sits in the table below.
Steamship cruise only
The TSS Earnslaw for its own sake: a 1.5-hour return cruise with a working engine room to peer into — no shore stop at the farm.
Farm tour + cruise
The classic: cruise across, then sheepdog demo, shearing (weather permitting), animal feeding and afternoon tea at the high-country farm.
Gourmet BBQ + cruise
Cruise across and eat at the Colonel's Homestead — a barbecue bookable as lunch or dinner.
Horse trek + cruise
Cruise across, then 40–45 minutes in the saddle through the station — small groups, beginner-friendly, with firm rider limits.
Which Walter Peak experience fits you?
Three quick questions — we’ll point you at the right one.
All five experiences compared
Sorted by number of reviews. Tap a column header to re-sort.
| Photo | Experience | What's in it | Rating ↕ | Price ↕ | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gourmet BBQ + lake cruise | Cruise both ways, BBQ at the Colonel's Homestead — lunch or dinner · 3.5 h | ★ 4.8 (3,162) | NZ$ 175 per person | Book now → |
|
TSS Earnslaw cruise only | Return steamship cruise, engine room to view, onboard museum — no shore stop · 1.5 h | ★ 4.7 (1,405) | NZ$ 119 per person | Book now → |
|
Farm tour + lake cruise | Cruise both ways, sheepdog demo, shearing (weather permitting), feeding, afternoon tea · 3.5 h | ★ 4.8 (1,128) | NZ$ 139 per person | Book now → |
|
Horse trek + lake cruise | Cruise both ways, 40–45-min guided trek, max 6 riders per guide · 3.5 h | ★ 4.6 (305) | NZ$ 279 per person | Book now → |
|
Garden to Table experience | Cruise both ways, tree planting, garden lunch · 3.5 h | ★ 4.8 (16) | NZ$ 169 per person | Book now → |
All prices are live from GetYourGuide and include taxes and booking fees — the number here is the number at checkout. “What’s in it” summarises the product title — check the full inclusions on the product page.
Check which boat you are booking. Crossings run on the catamaran Spirit of Queenstown or on the TSS Earnslaw steamship — and from 18 May to 27 June 2026 the steamship is in annual maintenance, so the catamaran covers all departures. The farm programme is small-scale. Sheepdog demo, shearing when the weather allows, feeding the animals — a hit with children, while some adults without children find it thin. Match the meal to your plans. The afternoon tea on the farm tour is a light stop, not a meal, and the BBQ dinner departure sees little of the farm — families usually do better with lunch. The full trade-off: cruise, farm tour, BBQ or horse trek?
What travellers say
Real traveller reviews from GetYourGuide.
Walter Peak gourmet BBQ + lake cruise
★ 4.8 (3,162 reviews)
“went as a young family for a gourmet BBQ lunch. the food was exemplary. the cruise short enough to be enjoyable but not draining. being able to view the steam ship in operation is exciting for the kids. would highly recommend”
“The best bbq I’ve ever had in my life! Ha! The view on the cruise and the food was the best thing I’ve had in a while! Thankyou Walter Peak BBQ chefs! Immaculate service !”
“Very expensive for a boat trip and a buffet lunch with hundreds of other people. Then a short working dog display which was probably the highlight.”
The praise centres on the food and on the steamship crossing. The criticism describes the scale, not the cooking: this is a large operation, so the buffet can mean queues and a crowd, the schedule can feel brisk, and drinks on board cost extra. One more pattern worth planning around — on the late departures it gets dark soon after arrival, which leaves little time to see the grounds. If you want daylight and some of the farm with your meal, book a lunch departure.
Walter Peak farm tour + lake cruise
★ 4.8 (1,128 reviews)
“Fantastic experience! Excellent entertainment onboard the steam boat, knowledgeable guide and delicious afternoon tea.”
“All round Great farm tour, shearing/dog show and afternoon tea. Our kids had a great day out. The boat cruise over is an added bonus on an amazing old boat with great views around the lake.”
“The farm in itself is very nice and well kept. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The biggest issue is the clear money grab system. The group is way too big (40ish) to fully enjoy the animals (3 or 4 at a time). … you feel like a flock of sheep going from this to the tour to the show with no time to fully immerse into anything.”
The praise is consistent: the steamship crossing, engaging guides, the animals and the afternoon tea. The critical reviews raise four points — groups can be large (one reviewer puts the group at around forty), which leaves little time close to the animals; the afternoon can pass with little sense of when the next part starts; sheep shearing and parts of the show depend on the weather and are not guaranteed; and two reviewers from Australia and New Zealand who know farms question the value. If any of those would spoil the visit for you, weigh them before booking.
TSS Earnslaw steamship cruise (cruise only)
★ 4.7 (1,405 reviews)
“This ship is amazing and I’d reccommend it to anyone who’s visiting Queenstown. The scenery the fact you can see people stoking the coal engines it’s an awesome way to cruise the lake 10/10.”
“It was a lovely way to spend the morning. Since we just took the cruise round trip we thought it was expensive. Really seems to be used to get people to the other side for their adventures.”
“It was a nice enough ride on the lake/river but overall it was pretty boring. The people who worked it though were very personable and attentive.”
Reviewers who come for the ship itself — the engine room, the brass and timber, the lake views — rate the cruise highly. The criticism is about expectations: one reviewer found the ride “pretty boring”, and another, who took only the round trip, found it expensive and noted that the ship mainly seems to serve as the way across to Walter Peak — where the half-day combinations include the same crossing. Expect queues at boarding; one reviewer notes the crowd thins out once passengers spread around the ship.
Reviews collected from the tours' GetYourGuide pages. Shortened for length (marked with …), wording unchanged; names reduced to first name and country.
Every Walter Peak experience on one page
No sales calls, no callbacks, no login. Every Walter Peak experience is run by the same operator, and the booking platforms list them as five lookalike products. We lay out what actually separates the variants, with the same facts for each, so you can decide in one place. When you book through a link on this page, GetYourGuide pays us a small commission — it comes out of their margin, not out of your ticket price.
TSS Earnslaw & Walter Peak — FAQ
The questions people ask before, during and after they book.
Which Walter Peak experience is the best one?
It depends on what you want out of the trip. If the steamship itself is the draw, the cruise-only ticket gives you the TSS Earnslaw without the shore stop. If you want the farm — sheepdogs, shearing, feeding the animals — take the farm tour. If a meal at the lakeside homestead sounds like the day, book the gourmet BBQ, as lunch if you also want the farm side. And if you would rather see the station from the saddle, the horse trek adds a 40–45-minute guided ride. Our comparison page walks through the trade-offs one by one.
Can you visit Walter Peak without a tour?
No. Walter Peak High Country Farm sits across Lake Whakatipu with no public road access — the boat from Queenstown is the way in, and every visit starts at the RealNZ Visitor Centre at 88 Beach Street. Which experience you book decides what happens once you step ashore.
Will I actually be on the TSS Earnslaw steamship?
Not automatically — and this is the detail most worth checking. Crossings run on two boats: the catamaran Spirit of Queenstown and the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw. If riding the steamship is part of the appeal, pick a TSS Earnslaw departure deliberately at booking. And note the annual maintenance: from 18 May to 27 June 2026 the steamship is out of the water and all crossings run on the catamaran, while the farm and BBQ experiences continue as normal.
How long is the crossing to Walter Peak?
About 45 minutes each way. The half-day experiences — farm tour, BBQ, horse trek, Garden to Table — run about 3.5 hours in total including both crossings; the cruise-only ticket is a 1.5-hour return trip without going ashore.
Is the farm tour worth it for adults without children?
Sometimes — go in with the right expectations. The programme is built around close animal contact: a sheepdog demonstration, shearing when the weather allows, and feeding the animals. One family reviewer sums it up as a great day out for the kids; some adults without children describe the same programme as small-scale and petting-zoo-like. If that might be you, the BBQ or the cruise-only ticket may fit better. The afternoon tea on the farm tour is a light stop, not a meal.
Gourmet BBQ: should I book lunch or dinner?
Book lunch if you also want the farm side of Walter Peak — the evening departure is built around the meal and sees little of the farm and its animals, and on late departures it gets dark soon after arrival. The dinner slot suits travellers who want the cruise and the meal as an evening out.
What happens if the weather turns bad?
The experiences are weather-dependent. When conditions force changes, RealNZ rebooks or refunds — and individual programme parts adjust too: sheep shearing, for example, only runs when the weather allows. The binding policy for your departure is the one shown at checkout on the product page.
Do I need cash, and where do I park?
The boats are cashless — cards only on board. There is no parking at the wharf, so plan to walk from central Queenstown or be dropped off near the RealNZ Visitor Centre at 88 Beach Street.
Can I cancel my booking?
The farm tour, the horse trek and the Garden to Table experience offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. For the gourmet BBQ and the cruise-only ticket, the cancellation window shown at checkout on the GetYourGuide product page is the binding one — give it a quick look before you book.
Ready for a day on the lake?
Compare every TSS Earnslaw and Walter Peak experience side by side.
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