Hot Chocolate in Queenstown: Where to Get a Proper One
Four places that do a proper hot chocolate in Queenstown, three of them within a few minutes' walk of each other, and one worth the drive.
A hot chocolate is a small thing that becomes a large thing at about four degrees. Off the hill, after a lakeside walk, or halfway through a cold afternoon when nobody can agree what to do next, it is the most reliable fix in town. Need wheels for it? Evolve Rentals brings the car to where you are staying in Queenstown.
Four places in Queenstown do a proper one. Three of them sit within a few minutes' walk of each other in the middle of town, which makes a comparison very easy to justify, and the fourth is out at Frankton and worth the short drive.
Where is the best hot chocolate in Queenstown?
For the drink itself, Lindt on the corner of Camp and Ballarat Streets. For a chocolatier that actually makes its own, Patagonia on Rees Street. For something closer to a dessert than a drink, the Cookie Time Cookie Bar on Camp Street. And for the best view with it, the Boat Shed out at Frankton.
The first three are a two minute walk apart, so you can genuinely try all of them in an afternoon. We are not going to pretend that is a sensible thing to do. We are simply pointing out that it is possible.
Lindt, corner of Camp and Ballarat
The newest of the four and the one most people walk straight past, because they assume it is a shop selling boxes rather than somewhere you can sit down with a drink.
It is Lindt's first store in the South Island, and alongside the bars it does hot and chilled chocolate drinks, its own Crema Gelata ice cream, and a Lindor pick and mix where you fill a bag with whichever truffles you want. It carries the largest range of Lindor in the country. If you have children with you, the pick and mix is either a lovely idea or a serious tactical error, and you will know which within about ninety seconds.
Cookie Time Cookie Bar, Camp Street
A minute further down Camp Street at number 18, in The Mall. The Cookie Bar is the least subtle option and it knows exactly what it is. The hot chocolate arrives under whipped cream, marshmallows and chocolate chunks, and it is closer to a pudding than a drink.
This is the one for after skiing, when the day has already been earned and nobody is counting. It is not the one for eleven in the morning before a long drive, whatever the children tell you.
Patagonia Chocolates, Rees Street
On Rees Street at the corner of The Mall, and the one the locals name first. Patagonia has been making its chocolate by hand in Queenstown for years, and the difference between a hot chocolate made by people who make chocolate and one made from a tin is not subtle.
They are better known for the ice cream, which took multiple golds and silvers at the 2026 New Zealand Ice Cream and Gelato Awards along with the Sustainability Champion Trophy. Ordering ice cream in July is a legitimate choice and we will not be taking questions on it.
There are four of them: Rees Street, Ramshaw Lane in Arrowtown, one on the lakefront in Wanaka, and one in the main terminal at Queenstown Airport. The Arrowtown one matters more than it sounds, because it turns the drive out there into a round trip with a reason at the end.
The Boat Shed, out at Frankton
About ten minutes from the town centre, on Frankton Road by the marina. The Boat Shed Cafe and Bistro sits right on the water looking back across Lake Wakatipu, and in winter that view does most of the work.
It is the only one of the four you would drive to rather than walk to, and it is the one to build a morning around. Park up, take a table by the window, and let somebody else worry about what happens next. The scones have a reputation and they have earned it.
Which one suits which kind of day?
- Straight off the mountain, cold and pleased with yourself: the Cookie Bar.
- A slow morning with a view and nowhere to be: the Boat Shed.
- You actually care what the chocolate tastes like: Patagonia.
- Killing forty minutes in town in the rain with children: Lindt, for the pick and mix.
And Fergbaker at 40 Shotover Street does one too, which matters more than it sounds. It is open from six in the morning until two the next, so it is the only one on this list that is any use to you at one in the morning. Nobody has ever regretted a hot chocolate at that hour. Some have regretted what they ordered with it.
Take it with you and drive
The best thing about any of these is what happens after you have got one. A takeaway cup, a warm car and half an hour of daylight is one of the better ways to spend a winter afternoon here, and it costs nothing beyond the drink.
Kelvin Heights is fifteen minutes and gives you the view back at the town with The Remarkables behind it. Arrowtown is twenty, and there is a second Patagonia waiting when you get there, which is either good planning or a problem depending on your outlook. Our guides to scenic winter drives from Queenstown and to a day in Arrowtown both work well with a cup in the holder.
And if chocolate is not your thing at all, our takeaway coffee spots with a view covers the same idea with more caffeine and less sugar.
Getting the car sorted
We bring the car to you. Nobody else in Queenstown does that. Tell us where you are staying, one of our team meets you there and runs you through it, and you set off from your own door rather than from a rental counter.
Three of the four places above are walkable if you are staying in town, so this is not a post that pretends you need a car to buy a drink. It is the Boat Shed, Kelvin Heights and Arrowtown where it starts to matter, and we have written the honest version of that, including when the answer is that you do not.
Winter is our busiest stretch and the fleet is finite, so if your dates are set it pays to sort the car before you arrive. Book a car with Evolve Rentals.
FAQs
Where is the best hot chocolate in Queenstown?
Patagonia Chocolates on Rees Street if you want one made by a chocolatier, Lindt on the corner of Camp and Ballarat for the widest range of chocolate drinks, the Cookie Time Cookie Bar at 18 Camp Street for the most indulgent version, and the Boat Shed at Frankton for the best view with it.
Is there a Lindt shop in Queenstown?
Yes, on the corner of Camp and Ballarat Streets in the town centre. It is Lindt's first store in the South Island and it does hot and chilled chocolate drinks, Crema Gelata ice cream and a Lindor pick and mix, as well as the bars.
How many Patagonia Chocolates are there?
Four. Rees Street in Queenstown at the corner of The Mall, Ramshaw Lane in Arrowtown, the lakefront in Wanaka, and the main terminal at Queenstown Airport.
Does Fergbaker do hot chocolate?
Yes. Fergbaker at 40 Shotover Street does one, and it is open from six in the morning until two the next, which makes it the late option once everywhere else in town has shut.
Do you need a car to get to these?
Not for three of them. Lindt, the Cookie Bar and Patagonia are all within a few minutes' walk of each other in the town centre. The Boat Shed is about ten minutes out at Frankton, and the drives worth doing afterwards, Kelvin Heights at fifteen minutes and Arrowtown at twenty, do need one.