Frankton

Frankton sits where the Frankton Arm meets the rest of Lake Wakatipu, about eight kilometres east of central Queenstown. Its Māori name is Te Kirikiri. Nobody comes to Queenstown for Frankton, but almost everybody passes through it: the airport is here, and so are the supermarkets, the trade suppliers and most of the retail that is not aimed at visitors.

If you are staying a week or self-catering, this is where you shop — Five Mile and Remarkables Park have the big stores, and prices are better than in the town centre. The Queenstown Events Centre is here too, with the pools, courts and fields.

The Frankton Arm

The arm is the long finger of the lake pointing back toward town, sheltered enough that it goes glassy when the main lake is rough. The Frankton Track runs along it between Frankton and Queenstown — flat, sealed in parts, and about as easy a lakeside walk or ride as you will find here.

Major infrastructure work has the track on a detour through 2026, following the footpath alongside Frankton Road instead. It is a less pleasant walk than the shoreline but it does connect. Queenstown Trails publishes the current arrangement.

Getting around

Queenstown Airport is at Frankton, five minutes from the motels along Frankton Road and about fifteen from the town centre. Orbus runs frequent buses between Frankton and Queenstown, and the Orbus page has the detail. The Frankton roundabouts back up badly at peak times, and the airport route is the worst of it — leave more time than the map suggests.

Nearby

Lake Johnson is just north, Lake Hayes ten minutes east, and The Remarkables access road turns off the highway past Remarkables Park.