Same operator, same boat ride across Lake Whakatipu. The real difference is what happens on the water and ashore.
The short answer
Book the farm tour if you are travelling with children or want the classic first visit: sheepdog demonstration, sheep shearing when the weather allows, feeding the animals and afternoon tea, 3.5 hours including both crossings. The gourmet BBQ suits you if the meal is the day, at lunch if you also want daylight on the farm; the horse trek adds 40 to 45 minutes in the saddle for riders aged 7 and over. The cruise only takes 1.5 hours on the TSS Earnslaw without a shore stop, and for every variant you check at booking which boat your departure runs on.
Pick a day, or the first and last day you are in Queenstown. We check the booking calendar of every Walter Peak experience and show which ones still have places on a crossing.
In the next 7 days, 4 of 5 tours on this page still have places.
On the farm: Farm dog show
No shore stop
On the farm: Guided farm tour, animals, demonstrations
On the farm: Horse trek, 40–45 min
On the farm: Tree planting, kitchen garden
Every Walter Peak experience starts the same way: at the RealNZ Visitor Centre at 88 Beach Street in Queenstown, with a roughly 45-minute crossing of Lake Whakatipu. The boat is the most popular way to the farm, and one operator runs everything on the other side. So unlike most tour comparisons, this one is not about picking a company. It is about picking a variant.
These are bookable: the steamship cruise on its own, the farm tour, the gourmet BBQ (as lunch or dinner), the horse trek, and the small Garden to Table experience. They differ in how long you are ashore, what you eat, how much of the visit is animals, and what they cost per person (the cards below carry the current rates). One thing they share: which boat you cross on is a separate choice, and it trips up more travellers than anything else on this page.
One variant per priority, chosen on what its listing includes. The cards for all of them follow further down.
Cruise across on the boat you pick at booking, then a guided farm tour with sheep, alpacas, highland cattle and farm dogs, live farming demonstrations and morning or afternoon tea. 3.5 hours, listed as wheelchair-accessible.
A buffet of local meats from the wood-fired grill with salads, vegetables, bread, cheese and desserts at the Colonel’s Homestead, as lunch or dinner, plus a farm dog show with sheep herding. Drinks are extra. About two hours ashore.
40–45 minutes in the saddle through the high-country station, at most 6 riders per guide and fine for first-timers, then morning or afternoon tea with scones and muffins. Riders from age 7, at least 120 cm and at most 95 kg.
Just the TSS Earnslaw: a 90-minute return cruise with the captain’s commentary, the engine room where the stokers feed the coal fires, and a small museum on board. No shore stop; food and drinks are extra. The ship is in maintenance from 18 May to 27 June 2026.
Each card lists the time ashore, the duration and what is included. Open one for the full product details.
Cruise across and eat at the Colonel's Homestead, the lakeside farmhouse, as lunch or dinner.
The food-first variant: cruise across Lake Whakatipu to Walter Peak, then a gourmet barbecue prepared at the Colonel's Homestead, the lakeside farmhouse. It is bookable as a lunch or as a dinner departure.
Worth knowing before you choose the dinner slot: the listing includes a farm dog show with sheep herding in both slots, but in the evening the visit is built around the meal, and on late sailings it can get dark soon after arrival. Families who want daylight on the farm are usually happier with the lunch departure, or with the farm tour.
RealNZ Visitor Centre, 88 Beach Street, Queenstown. The boat to Walter Peak leaves from here.
Details as RealNZ publishes them on the GetYourGuide product page.
The vintage steamship for its own sake: a 1.5-hour return cruise with the engine room open to view and a small museum on board. No shore stop.
The steamship on its own: a 1.5-hour return cruise on Lake Whakatipu aboard the TSS Earnslaw, the vintage coal-fired steamer, without going ashore at Walter Peak. On board you can look into the working engine room and browse the small onboard museum.
A caveat from the reviews: one traveller who took only the round trip found it expensive. If you were planning to see the farm anyway, the farm tour and BBQ variants include the same crossing. The cruise-only ticket is for people who want the ship itself, not the destination. During the ship's annual maintenance (18 May to 27 June 2026) the steamship does not sail, so plan this trip outside that window if the steamship is the point.
RealNZ Visitor Centre, 88 Beach Street, Queenstown.
Details as RealNZ publishes them on the GetYourGuide product page.
The classic: sheepdog demonstration, sheep shearing (weather permitting), feeding the animals and afternoon tea, 3.5 hours including both crossings.
The classic combination: a cruise across Lake Whakatipu to Walter Peak High Country Farm, then a guided farm experience with a sheepdog demonstration, sheep shearing (weather permitting) and animal feeding, followed by afternoon tea before the boat back. The crossing takes about 45 minutes each way.
One thing to check at booking: the crossing runs either on the catamaran Spirit of Queenstown or on the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw. If riding the steamship is part of the appeal for you, pick the TSS Earnslaw option deliberately. Note that during the ship's annual maintenance (18 May to 27 June 2026) all crossings run on the Spirit of Queenstown.
RealNZ Visitor Centre, 88 Beach Street, Queenstown. The boat to Walter Peak leaves from here.
Details as RealNZ publishes them on the GetYourGuide product page.
Cruise across, then 40–45 minutes in the saddle through the high-country station. At most 6 riders per guide, fine for beginners, firm rider limits.
The active variant: cruise to Walter Peak, then a guided horse trek of 40 to 45 minutes through the high-country station, in small groups of at most 6 riders per guide. The trek is beginner-friendly, and no riding experience is needed.
The rider limits are firm: minimum age 7 years, minimum height 120 cm, maximum weight 95 kg. Check them for every rider in your group before booking.
RealNZ Visitor Centre, 88 Beach Street, Queenstown. The boat to Walter Peak leaves from here.
Details as RealNZ publishes them on the GetYourGuide product page.
The quiet, small-scale variant: plant a tree on the station and sit down to a lunch built around the homestead garden. Only a handful of reviews so far.
The quiet, small-scale variant: cruise to Walter Peak, plant a tree on the station grounds and sit down to a lunch built around the homestead garden. It has only a handful of reviews so far, which is worth knowing when you compare the ratings.
RealNZ Visitor Centre, 88 Beach Street, Queenstown. The boat to Walter Peak leaves from here.
Details as RealNZ publishes them on the GetYourGuide product page.
Read off each listing and set side by side. Where a listing is silent, the cell says so.
| Experience | On the farm | Food | Boat | Age | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Peak gourmet BBQ + lake cruise | Farm dog show | BBQ buffet, lunch or dinner | Spirit of Queenstown or TSS Earnslaw | All ages | 3.5 h |
| TSS Earnslaw steamship cruise (cruise only) | No shore stop | Not included | TSS Earnslaw | All ages | 1.5 h |
| Walter Peak farm tour + lake cruise | Guided farm tour, animals, demonstrations | Morning or afternoon tea | Spirit of Queenstown or TSS Earnslaw | Not stated | 3.5 h |
| Walter Peak horse trek + lake cruise | Horse trek, 40–45 min | Morning or afternoon tea | Spirit of Queenstown or TSS Earnslaw | From 7 | 3.5 h |
| Walter Peak Garden to Table experience | Tree planting, kitchen garden | Garden platters for lunch | TSS Earnslaw | All ages | 3.5 h |
From the GetYourGuide listings, checked in October 2026. The age for the cruise only and Garden to Table comes from the RealNZ pages, because the listings are silent there. The duration is the operator’s figure. From 18 May to 27 June 2026 the TSS Earnslaw is in annual maintenance, and the listings name the Spirit of Queenstown for that window.
| Cruise only | Farm tour | Gourmet BBQ | Horse trek | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 1.5 h return, no shore stop | 3.5 h incl. both crossings | 3.5 h incl. both crossings | 3.5 h, with 40–45 min in the saddle |
| Food | None included | Afternoon tea, a light stop rather than a meal | BBQ at the Colonel’s Homestead, as lunch or dinner | Morning or afternoon tea with scones and muffins |
| Animals | None, you stay on the ship | The most: sheepdog demo, shearing (weather permitting), feeding | Farm dog show with sheep herding, at lunch and dinner | The station from the saddle, rather than hands-on feeding |
| Family fit | Fine for all ages; 1.5 h can feel long for small children | The family pick, built around the animals children come for | Lunch works well for families; dinner is more of an adult evening | From age 7, minimum 120 cm, maximum 95 kg (firm limits) |
| Best for | Ship lovers, tight schedules | Families, first-time visitors | Food-first travellers, groups of adults | Active travellers who would rather ride than watch |
The current per-person rates are on the cards above and in the booking table below. One experience is missing from this matrix: the Garden to Table lunch (tree planting + garden lunch, 3.5 h). It is bookable and listed below, but with only a handful of reviews so far, we do not push it as a first pick.
Crossings run on two boats: the catamaran Spirit of Queenstown and the vintage steamship TSS Earnslaw. If riding the coal-fired steamer is part of why you are booking, choose a TSS Earnslaw departure deliberately, because the difference is easy to overlook in the checkout. And mark the maintenance window: from 18 May to 27 June 2026 the TSS Earnslaw is in its annual survey and every crossing runs on the catamaran. The farm tour, BBQ and horse trek continue as normal in that window; only the ship changes. Outside the window both boats operate, so the ship question matters year-round, not just in maintenance season.
The 1.5-hour return cruise is for people who want the TSS Earnslaw itself: the engine room is open to view, there is a small museum on board, and the crossing of Lake Whakatipu is the programme. You do not go ashore at Walter Peak. A note from the reviews: one traveller who took only the round trip found the ticket expensive. If you were curious about the farm anyway, the half-day variants include the same crossing. The cruise-only ticket earns its place when the ship is the point and your schedule is tight. The steamship does not sail during the 2026 maintenance window, so if it is why you are booking, avoid 18 May to 27 June.
The farm tour adds the shore programme: a sheepdog demonstration, sheep shearing when the weather allows, feeding the animals, and afternoon tea before the boat back. One reviewer travelling with children sums it up as a great day out for the kids, and close-up animal contact is exactly what the programme is built around. The same fact reads differently for some adults without children, who describe the visit as small-scale and petting-zoo-like. Both impressions are accurate; they are the same programme seen from different expectations. And plan your meals around it: the afternoon tea is a light refreshment stop, not a lunch substitute.
The BBQ variant swaps the farm programme's depth for a proper meal: a barbecue prepared at the Colonel's Homestead, the lakeside farmhouse, bookable as a lunch or a dinner departure. The choice that matters is the time slot. Both slots include a farm dog show with sheep herding, according to the listing. The lunch departure adds daylight for the gardens and the farmyard; the dinner departure is built around the meal, and one reviewer on a 5pm sailing found it dark soon after arrival, with little chance to explore. Families who want animals with their meal should book lunch; the dinner slot suits travellers treating it as an evening out on the lake.
The horse trek is the active variant: after the crossing you ride 40 to 45 minutes through the high-country station, in groups of at most 6 riders per guide. No riding experience is needed, as the trek is paced for beginners. The limits are firm, though: minimum age 7 years, minimum height 120 cm, maximum weight 95 kg, and they apply to every rider in the group. If you mainly want animals without the saddle time, the farm tour covers that.
The smallest option is the Garden to Table experience: cruise across, plant a tree on the station grounds, and sit down to a lunch built around the homestead garden. It has only a small number of reviews so far. Nothing in them suggests a problem, but the rating rests on a thin base, and we treat it accordingly: listed and bookable below, not pushed as a first pick.
Weather can reshape the day. The experiences are weather-dependent; when conditions force a cancellation, the operator rebooks or refunds, and individual programme parts (sheep shearing above all) only run when the weather allows. Every product page currently offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. Bring a card, because the boats are cashless. Parking near the wharf is limited, so walk from central Queenstown or get dropped off at 88 Beach Street.
Book the cruise only if the steamship is the point and your time is short, outside the May/June maintenance window. Book the farm tour if you are travelling with children or want the classic first visit. Book the gourmet BBQ if the meal is the day: as lunch if you also want the farm, as dinner if you want an evening on the lake. Book the horse trek if you would rather ride the station than tour it, and your group clears the rider limits. Whichever you pick: check which boat your departure runs on.
Sorted by number of reviews. Tap a column header to re-sort.
| Photo | Experience | What's in it | Rating ↕ | Price ↕ | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Gourmet BBQ + lake cruise | Cruise both ways, BBQ at the Colonel's Homestead, lunch or dinner · 3.5 h | ★ 4.8 (3,250) | NZ$ 175 per person | Book now |
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TSS Earnslaw cruise only | Return steamship cruise, engine room to view, onboard museum, no shore stop · 1.5 h | ★ 4.7 (1,450) | NZ$ 119 per person | Book now |
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Farm tour + lake cruise | Cruise both ways, sheepdog demo, shearing (weather permitting), feeding, afternoon tea · 3.5 h | ★ 4.8 (1,171) | NZ$ 139 per person | Book now |
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Horse trek + lake cruise | Cruise both ways, 40–45-min guided trek, max 6 riders per guide · 3.5 h | ★ 4.6 (323) | NZ$ 279 per person | Book now |
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Garden to Table experience | Cruise both ways, tree planting, garden lunch · 3.5 h | ★ 4.8 (16) | NZ$ 169 per person | Book now |
Walter Peak fares in this table come live from GetYourGuide and include taxes and booking fees. The amount at checkout also depends on the boat and the departure you pick. “What’s in it” is a short version of the listing title. The product page has the full list of inclusions for each Walter Peak variant.
Real traveller reviews from GetYourGuide.
★ 4.8 (3,250 reviews)
“Loved it, the boat ride was beautiful, food was incredible and the show was really insightful as well. Only thing doing the 5pm booking was it did get dark relatively quickly once we arrived at Walter peak station so after you ate you couldn’t really explore that much - if you wanted to view things on the way to / from Queenstown I’d suggest an earlier trip …”
“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 !”
“The food experience was well organised and managed. … the lunch experience was uncomfortable and more about herding cattle into food lines. I have never understood how the "buffet" experience can bring out the worst in some people.”
“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. Plan around one more pattern: 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.
★ 4.8 (1,171 reviews)
“The trip on the Ennislaw was a delight. On board singer/pianist a surprise and delightful. Josh took us round the farm, was informative, engaging and great at managing some of the slightly unrulier guests. … the whole excursion was well organised and yet never rushed.”
“Awesome experience! Shame the weather didn't cooperate so we didn't see the sheep get sheared, however, the whole experience was great and the food was delish.”
“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 animals were good. It really was not an exciting tour for an Aussie. … I think $200 to ride a boat for 15mins, see a couple of animals barely get to interact with them, eat a basic high tea and watch a sheep get sheared and a dog rounding up cattle is a bit rich maybe bringing the price point down a little bit.”
The five-star reviews praise 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.
★ 4.7 (1,450 reviews)
“We arrived at the dock and saw big queues, but once the boat got underway and people started moving about the boat didn’t seem so busy. Its a great boat which gives you a beautiful window into a bygone era of boat building quality, with beautiful wood and brass fittings. … From above you can even watch the man shovelling coal into the furnace. … The return journey had less people,.”
“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, and 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.
★ 4.6 (323 reviews)
“Vic and Francis were absolutely amazing guides. They were knowledgeable about EVERYTHING- the horses, farm area ! Summit the horse lived up to his name - he was one tall horse! The most stunning views and a once in a lifetime experience!”
“Lovely place, staff great, horses well cared for. A bit longer on the horses with an option to do more than walk might have been nice too. Overall, absolutely worth it.”
“It was okay. The earnslaw ride was neat and the views were lovely but the horse trek was incredibly short and underwhelming unfortunately - literally just a walk up the hill, a few pictures on the horse and then walking back. I wouldn’t say the cost was worth the experience sadly.”
The guides and the horses carry the praise: patient, calm and well suited to beginners. The criticism raises two points. First, the time in the saddle is short: 40 to 45 minutes at walking pace only, which one reviewer calls underwhelming while others simply wish it were longer. Second, the weather practice: when rain stopped the trek, one guest reports being moved onto the farm experience rather than refunded. If the riding is the only reason you are booking, weigh that trade before you book.
★ 4.8 (16 reviews)
“Fantastic experience, loved every aspect of this activity. … We had a small group of 10, as most chose the farm option. So pleased we chose Garden experience. Fruit out of season so we each picked Tomato to taste and edible flower. We Then to superb afternoon tea, all made on site with mostly local produce. Breads, cheeses, olives, veggie dish, tasty condiments, etc and dessert bites. … Guide had pre-dug hole for us.”
“The food was amazing and it was lovely to be able to plant a tree in this beautiful area. The boat is also really cool, you can go down and watch the workers make the engine run!”
There is no critical text review to show here, because at the time of collection this listing had none. That is worth reading correctly: the review base is very thin (a handful of reviews, the oldest from late 2023), so the rating rests on very few voices. One reviewer adds two practical details: the group had only ten people, and the fruit was out of season.
Quotes from the GetYourGuide pages of the Walter Peak products. Long reviews are shortened (marked with …), the wording is unchanged, and names are cut to first name and country.
Both include the return cruise from Queenstown and time ashore at Walter Peak. The farm tour is built around the animal programme (sheepdog demonstration, shearing when the weather allows, feeding), with afternoon tea as a light stop. The BBQ tour is built around the meal at the Colonel's Homestead, bookable as lunch or dinner, with a farm dog show instead of the full farm programme. On late dinner sailings it can get dark soon after arrival.
The farm tour, in most cases: feeding the animals and the sheepdog demonstration are exactly what children respond to, and it runs in daylight. The BBQ lunch departure is a good alternative when a proper meal matters. The horse trek only works for children of at least 7 years and 120 cm; the dinner BBQ is more of an adult evening.
No. Crossings run on the catamaran Spirit of Queenstown or on the TSS Earnslaw, so pick the departure deliberately if the steamship matters to you. From 18 May to 27 June 2026 the steamship is in annual maintenance and every crossing runs on the catamaran; the farm-side experiences continue as normal in that window.
It depends on what you want from it. You get 1.5 hours on Lake Whakatipu aboard a working vintage steamship, with the engine room open to view and no shore stop. Reviewers who love ships rate it highly; one reviewer who took only the round trip found it expensive. If you were planning to see the farm anyway, the half-day variants include the same crossing.
Minimum age 7 years, minimum height 120 cm, maximum weight 95 kg. The limits are firm and apply to every rider. Groups are small, at most 6 riders per guide, and no riding experience is needed. The ride itself is 40 to 45 minutes of the 3.5-hour trip.
A small, quiet variant: cruise across, plant a tree on the station grounds and have a lunch built around the homestead garden, about 3.5 hours in total. It has only a handful of reviews so far, which is why we list it without pushing it as a first pick.
The operator does not describe that option. The crossings from the RealNZ Visitor Centre at 88 Beach Street in Queenstown are sold as part of the experiences on this page, and the one you book determines what happens ashore. Besides the boat, RealNZ only names a gravel backroad from Te Anau, about four hours by car.
