Alexandra, Central Otago’s largest town and the administrative centre, is situated at the confluence of the Clutha and Manuherikia Rivers.  Alexandra was the site of several early settlements arising from the gold rush of the 1850s, but was not given the name Alexandra until 1863.  Alexandra is now a thriving agricultural servicing centre, stopping place for visitors and a prime accommodation centre for the summerfruit picking season.

Clyde, just 10 minutes up the Clutha River, and the site of the massive Clyde hydroelectric dam, is a particularly well preserved town dating back to the gold mining days.  It is a popular holiday place and has several first-rate restaurants.

Cromwell is half an hour’s drive from Alexandra at the northern end of the Cromwell Gorge.  Cromwell used to be at the junction of the Clutha and Kawarau Rivers but now sits on Lake Dunstan.  Cromwell is also a rapidly growing commercial centre and holiday destination.

Roxburgh is a half hour’s drive south from Alexandra, downstream on the Clutha River.  Roxburgh is the main servicing centre for the Teviot Valley which is situated at the southern end of the Central Otago district.  It is a popular stopping place for visitors because it is about half way between Dunedin and Queenstown.

Ranfurly is the main centre for the Maniototo which is at the northern end of the Central Otago district.  Ranfurly was originally a railway-servicing town but is now an agricultural servicing centre and growing tourism destination.  Ranfurly is the venue for the annual rural art deco weekend held in February each year. Ranfurly is also close to two other famous old gold mining towns, Naseby and St Bathans, which are now significant heritage centres and holiday destinations.

Omakau (population 140) is on state highway 85, between Alexandra and Ranfurly, 27km from Alexandra.  The town is the product of the Central Otago railway which reached the district in 1904. It is a service centre for the farming industry in the Manuherikia Valley, with a general store, hotel, garage, police station, sports domain, golf course and camping ground.  The railway line, closed in the 1980s, is now part of the Central Otago Rail Trail which is popular with walkers and cyclists.

Ophir is 2km from Omakau, across the Manuherikia River by either a modern bridge or the 1880 bridge a kilometre downstream from Omakau.  The village (pop 40) was named Blacks when gold was discovered there in 1863, drawing 1000 miners, but renamed Ophir in 1866 after the unknown biblical country (1 Kings 9:28: "...and they went to Ophir and brought from there gold."). Some of the original 19th century buildings remain in the main street.

Naseby (pop 125) is 92km from Alexandra, at the foot of the Mt Ida Range and on the edge of Naseby forest.  It was a gold rush town in the 1860s with a courthouse, several churches, primary school and several large hotels. Mining had finished by about the 1920s and it became a service centre (now met by Ranfurly, 13km to the south.) for the Maniototo area. Naseby is renowned for gold mining relics, heritage buildings and is a popular spot for mountain biking and curling - the latter enhanced recently by a new indoor international ice rink.