Christchurch is a city that had to start again. The earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 flattened much of the centre, and what has grown back is a fascinating mix: Gothic stone buildings carefully pieced back together, sharp new architecture, street art on blank walls, and a river lined with willows running calmly through it all. It feels young, open and quietly proud of itself.
It is also the front door to the South Island. Within a couple of hours you can be watching whales, soaking in hot springs, wandering a French harbour village or looking at snow-covered Alps across a turquoise lake. Spend two days in the city, then get out into Canterbury.
Don't miss
The new city centre
Flat, compact and easy to walk, with the rebuild itself as the main attraction.
Cardboard Cathedral
Landmark
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 When the earthquake wrecked the city's stone cathedral, the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed a temporary replacement out of giant cardboard tubes, timber and shipping containers. More than a decade on, it is still standing and has become a symbol of the city's refusal to give up.
Step inside. The tubes soar to a sharp peak, light floods through a wall of coloured glass triangles, and the whole space feels both makeshift and oddly moving.
Christchurch Tram
Activity
Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 Beautifully restored heritage trams, all polished wood and brass, trundle round a loop of the central city, passing Cathedral Square, the Avon, the Arts Centre and New Regent Street. Drivers give a running commentary, and you can hop off and on as you like.
It is unashamedly a tourist ride, and a very good way to get your bearings on a first morning or rest your legs on a last afternoon.
New Regent Street
Neighbourhood
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 A single pedestrian street of 1930s shopfronts in the Spanish Mission style, painted in ice-cream shades of pink, yellow, blue and green, with the tram rattling straight down the middle. It survived the earthquakes and is now packed with small cafés, bars and gift shops.
Pretty as a film set and best in the early evening, when the tables fill up and the lights come on.
Riverside Market
Market
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 An indoor food market beside the Avon that has quickly become the stomach of the new city. Under one roof you'll find bakers, butchers, cheesemongers, coffee roasters and dozens of counters selling everything from dumplings to fresh Canterbury produce, with bars and restaurants upstairs.
Come at lunchtime, pick something from three different stalls and take it out to the terraces by the river.
Gardens and the river
They don't call it the Garden City for nothing.
Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Nature
Founded in the 1860s and tucked into a loop of the Avon, these are some of the loveliest public gardens in the southern hemisphere: huge old trees from around the world, a rose garden, glasshouses of tropical and desert plants, and long lawns running down to the water.
They sit inside Hagley Park, a vast green space of playing fields and woodland that borders the city centre. Spring blossom and autumn colour are both spectacular.
Punting on the Avon
Activity
Photo: Robert Cutts, CC BY-SA 2.0 Christchurch has always played up its English streak, and nothing is more English than being poled down a shallow river in a flat-bottomed boat by someone in a straw boater and braces. Punts leave from the old green-and-white boat sheds and glide through the Botanic Gardens or the city centre.
It is gentle, slightly silly and completely relaxing. Ducks escort you most of the way.
Museums and galleries
Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre
Landmark
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 A whole city block of Gothic Revival stone buildings, all pointed arches, cloisters and quadrangles, which began life as the university. It was badly damaged in the earthquakes and has been restored stone by stone in one of the biggest heritage projects of its kind.
Today it holds galleries, craft studios, a cinema, cafés and shops. Look for the rooms where the physicist Ernest Rutherford, who studied here, did his early experiments.
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
Museum
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 Behind a rippling wall of glass, the city's public gallery holds a strong collection of New Zealand art alongside changing contemporary shows. It served as the emergency headquarters after the 2011 earthquake, and on the outside wall a neon work spells out a line the whole city adopted: everything is going to be alright.
Quake City
Museum
A small, absorbing museum that explains what happened to Christchurch in 2010 and 2011 and how the city responded. There are objects salvaged from damaged landmarks, clear explanations of the science, and filmed interviews with people who lived through it.
It is sobering but not gloomy, and it makes sense of everything else you see in the centre. Go early in your stay.
International Antarctic Centre
Museum
Christchurch is one of the world's main gateways to Antarctica, and several national programmes fly south from a base beside the airport. This visitor centre next door gives you a taste of what awaits them: a room that recreates a polar storm, complete with wind and plunging temperatures, and bumpy rides in an all-terrain Hägglund vehicle.
It is aimed squarely at families and makes a handy stop before or after a flight.
Hills and coast
Christchurch Gondola
Landmark
Photo: Anon Mouse, CC BY 2.0 The Port Hills, the rim of an ancient volcano, rise abruptly on the southern edge of the city, and a cable car lifts you to the top in a few minutes. The view takes in everything: the flat grid of Christchurch, the long curve of Pegasus Bay, the deep blue inlet of Lyttelton Harbour and, on a clear day, the snowy wall of the Southern Alps.
Walking tracks lead off along the crest if you want to stretch your legs.
Tip: Pick a clear day and bring a windproof layer. It is always cooler and breezier on top.
Sumner
Beach
The city's seaside suburb lies at the foot of the Port Hills, with a wide sandy beach, a promenade and a village street of fish-and-chip shops, ice-cream parlours and cafés. A big hollow rock on the sand, Cave Rock, is the landmark everyone climbs.
Surfers head round the headland to Taylors Mistake, and a cliff-top path links the two. A classic afternoon out for locals.
Day trips
Canterbury packs an extraordinary amount into a few hours of driving.
Akaroa and Banks Peninsula
Day trip
South-east of the city, two drowned volcanoes form a peninsula of steep green hills and long, sheltered harbours. Akaroa, on the largest of them, was settled by the French in 1840 and still has its rues, its tricolours and a row of pretty wooden cottages along the waterfront.
Boat trips go out to look for Hector's dolphins, a small, rare species that lives only in New Zealand. The drive there, over the crater rim, is half the pleasure.
Tip: The road is winding. Allow around an hour and a half each way and take the summit route one way for the views.
Kaikōura
Day trip
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 Up the coast to the north, mountains drop almost straight into the Pacific and a deep ocean trench runs close to shore, bringing sperm whales within reach of land all year. Whale-watching boats and small planes go out from the town, and fur seals loaf on the rocks of the peninsula.
The name means a meal of crayfish in Māori, and roadside stalls sell just that. A long day from Christchurch, so stay the night if you can.
Hanmer Springs
Day trip
An alpine village in the hills north of the city, built around natural hot springs. The thermal pools complex in the middle of town has open-air rock pools of varying heat, with forested mountains all around, and it is at its best on a frosty evening with steam rising into the dark.
Walking and mountain-biking trails start from the village for anyone who needs to earn their soak.
Lake Tekapo
Day trip
Photo: Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0 About three hours inland, in the high Mackenzie Basin, lies a lake of an almost unbelievable milky turquoise, coloured by fine rock dust ground down by glaciers. A tiny stone church, the Church of the Good Shepherd, stands on the shore with the Southern Alps behind it.
The night skies here are protected as part of an international dark sky reserve, and stargazing tours run after dark. Better as an overnight stop than a day trip.
The TranzAlpine
Day trip
Photo: Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 3.0 One of the great railway journeys of the world starts at Christchurch station. The train crosses the Canterbury Plains, climbs through river gorges and over viaducts into the Southern Alps at Arthur's Pass, then drops through beech forest to Greymouth on the wild West Coast.
You can ride there and back in a day, or get off at Arthur's Pass for a mountain walk.
Where to stay in Christchurch
Not sure which area suits you? Read our guide: Where to stay in Christchurch →
★★★★
Adina Heritage Christchurch
Christchurch
Spa · Pool · 26 rooms
See prices and rooms →
★★★★
The Chateau On The Park, a DoubleTree by Hilton
Christchurch
Pool · Parking
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★★★★★
The George Christchurch
Christchurch
Parking
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★★★★
Airport Gateway Motor Lodge
Christchurch
72 rooms · Family-friendly · Parking
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★★★★
Amross Court Motor Lodge
Christchurch
14 rooms · Parking
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★★★★★
Sudima Kaikoura
Kaikoura
Beach 30 m · Parking
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★★★★
Annabelle Court Motel
Christchurch
Spa · 18 rooms · Parking
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★★★★★
Settlers Motel
Hanmer Springs
Spa · 14 rooms · Parking
See prices and rooms →
Getting around
The central city is flat and small enough to cover on foot or by bicycle, with the tram for fun. Buses run to the Gondola, Sumner and the airport. For Akaroa, Kaikōura, Hanmer Springs and Lake Tekapo you will want a hire car, though coach tours go to all of them.
When to go
Summer, from December to February, is warm and dry and the best time for the coast. Spring fills the parks with blossom and autumn turns them gold. Winters are cold and crisp, with snow on the mountains and ski fields within reach.
Questions about visiting Christchurch
- What is Christchurch best known for?
- Its gardens and the Avon River, its English heritage, and the way it has rebuilt itself after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, with landmarks such as the Cardboard Cathedral. It is also the main gateway to the South Island.
- Is Christchurch worth visiting?
- Yes. The rebuilt centre is lively and interesting, the Botanic Gardens are beautiful, and few cities have so many outstanding day trips, from Akaroa to Kaikōura and the Southern Alps.
- What is there to do in Christchurch with kids?
- The International Antarctic Centre, the tram, punting on the Avon, the Gondola and the playgrounds and lawns of Hagley Park all suit families, with the beach at Sumner for a sunny day.
- How many days do you need in Christchurch?
- Two days is enough for the city itself. Add two or three more for day trips or overnight stays in Akaroa, Kaikōura, Hanmer Springs or Lake Tekapo.
- Do you need a car in Christchurch?
- Not for the central city, which is easy on foot. A car is the simplest way to reach Banks Peninsula, Kaikōura, Hanmer Springs and Lake Tekapo.
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