Otago

Otago accommodation runs from alpine lakes to a wildlife-rich coastline, with holiday homes and baches around Queenstown, Wānaka, Dunedin and Oamaru. The inland half and the coastal half feel like different countries, an afternoon’s drive apart.

Poplars along the Clutha turn gold in autumn and roadside fruit stalls take over by midsummer. The Otago Central Rail Trail rolls through the same country, an easy few days by bike between old mining towns, with cribs and cottages in the villages along the way.

On the coast, Dunedin pairs student energy with albatross and penguin colonies on the Otago Peninsula, while Oamaru keeps a whitestone Victorian precinct that feels like nowhere else in the country.