The Botanic Gardens, punting, the Port Hills, Lyttelton and the rebuild story. A working guide’s complete list of things to do in Christchurch, organised by interest and by time available.
Christchurch rewards knowing where to look. It is flat, walkable at the centre, with hills to the south and the sea to the east, and still visibly rebuilding after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Much of the best of it is not signposted.
This is the list we give guests who ask what to do with a day, two days or a spare afternoon in Ōtautahi Christchurch, organised by interest and by time available.
The gardens, the park and the river
Start with the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Planted from 1863 and wrapped inside a loop of the Ōtākaro Avon River, they hold a heritage rose garden, a fernery, a conservatory range and some of the largest exotic trees in the country. They sit within Hagley Park, around 165 hectares set aside when the city was laid out and never built on.
On the river, punting from the Antigua Boat Sheds is the one experience nearly every visitor enjoys more than they expected to. The sheds date from 1882 and the punts move at the pace of a slow walk, the correct pace for willows. Our Christchurch garden tour goes further, into private gardens most visitors never see, at NZ$655 per person.
The rebuild story, told properly
The earthquake sequence changed the city permanently, and understanding it makes everything else legible. Quake City, run by Canterbury Museum, is the best hour you can spend on it: real objects, real footage and first-hand accounts rather than display boards.
From there, walk to Cathedral Square, where reinstatement work on Christ Church Cathedral is under way, then on to the Transitional Cathedral on Hereford Street, designed by Shigeru Ban and built in 2013 from cardboard tubes. Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū is a few minutes further, and worth an hour. Canterbury Museum on Rolleston Avenue is part way through a long redevelopment, so check where its collection is showing.
Getting above the city: the Port Hills
The Port Hills are the eroded volcanic ridge between the city and Lyttelton Harbour, and they are where Christchurch stops being flat. The gondola climbs to the summit of Mount Cavendish, where the view takes in the Canterbury Plains, the Southern Alps on a clear day, Lyttelton Harbour Whakaraupō and the curve of Pegasus Bay.
For walkers, the Godley Head loop at the harbour entrance combines coastal cliffs with a Second World War coastal defence battery, tunnels and gun emplacements included. Our Port Hills guided walk and city tour pairs a guided walk up there with the city below, at NZ$815 per person.
The coast: Sumner, New Brighton and Lyttelton
Christchurch has more coastline than most visitors realise. Sumner, twenty minutes from the centre, has the cafes and Cave Rock and feels like a separate seaside village. New Brighton has the long pier and He Puna Taimoana, hot saltwater pools on the sand, a good use of a cold afternoon.
Over the hill, Lyttelton is the working port and the more characterful half of the city's personality: steep streets, good coffee, live music, and a Saturday farmers market on London Street. The road tunnel opened in 1964, but the older route over Dyers Pass is prettier, and the way we usually go.
Markets, small streets and the edges of the city
- Riverside Market, a covered produce and food hall on the river, best at lunchtime and genuinely used by locals.
- New Regent Street, one block of pastel Spanish Mission shopfronts from 1932, with the heritage tram running through it.
- The heritage tram loop, transport and introduction at once, covering the central landmarks in a circuit.
- Willowbank Wildlife Reserve and Orana Wildlife Park, near the airport, Orana the larger open-range park.
- The International Antarctic Centre, better than its name suggests, given the city's history as a departure point for Antarctic expeditions.
An afternoon spare? Go over the hill
Christchurch's real advantage is what sits within ninety minutes of it. Akaroa, on a drowned volcanic crater ninety minutes over the Port Hills, is a French and British settlement dating from 1840 and one of the best places in the country to see Hector's dolphins, the world's smallest marine dolphin. Waipara, forty-five minutes north, grows pinot noir and some of New Zealand's finest riesling on limestone. Arthur's Pass and the limestone outcrops of Kura Tāwhiti Castle Hill are two hours west.
If you have one day and want it sequenced properly, our one day in Christchurch itinerary does exactly that, and the best day trips from Christchurch ranks what lies beyond.
How to choose, by time available
- Half a day: Botanic Gardens, punting, the tram loop and Quake City. Our Christchurch half day city tour covers this at NZ$480 per person.
- One full day: add the gondola or a Port Hills walk, then Sumner or Lyttelton.
- Two days: day one in the city, day two in Akaroa or Waipara.
- An afternoon only: Hagley Park, the Art Gallery and Riverside Market, all within walking distance.
All of this can be done independently. What a guide adds is sequence and the story behind it: what stood where the car park is now, and which of these to leave for a wet afternoon. Our guided days in and around the city sit on the Christchurch city tours hub.
Common questions
What are the best things to do in Christchurch in one day?
The Botanic Gardens, punting on the Ōtākaro Avon, the heritage tram loop and Quake City make a coherent day in the centre. With a vehicle or a guide, add the Port Hills gondola late in the afternoon for the view back across the plains.
How many days do you need in Christchurch?
Two days covers the city comfortably. Three or four lets you add Akaroa, Waipara or Arthur's Pass at a relaxed pace, which is where Canterbury really opens up.
What is there to do in Christchurch when it rains?
Quake City, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Riverside Market, the International Antarctic Centre and the pools at New Brighton all work well in poor weather. The tram is covered too, and a guided day reorders itself around the showers.
Is Christchurch walkable?
The central city is very walkable and almost entirely flat, and most of the main landmarks sit within a twenty minute walk of Cathedral Square. The coast, the Port Hills and Lyttelton need a vehicle.
If you would rather have the pace to yourselves, Christchurch luxury tours sets out the private options. Otherwise, tell us what you want from the day and we will build it around that.
