Scenic Travel Services From Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island and has the second largest urban area in New Zealand. Dubbed the Garden City - Christchurch, is the gateway to the Canterbury region and Mt Hutt ski and snowboarding field and enjoys the reputation of being the most English of New Zealand's cities, thanks to its many gracious parks and buildings and the tree-lined Avon River.

At the centre of the city is Cathedral Square, surrounding the Anglican cathedral, Christ Church. The area around this square and within the "four avenues" of Christchurch (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue is considered the central business district of the city.

Cathedral Square is a popular destination and hosts attractions such as the speakers' corner made famous by the Wizard of New Zealand, the international Buskers Festival and lots more.

The central city includes the pedestrianised Cashel Street as Christchurch's urban mall and the unique Re Start container mall.

The Cultural Precinct provides a backdrop to a vibrant scene of ever-changing arts, cultural, and heritage attractions within an area of less than one square kilometre. Punting on the river is a favourite pastime during summer, with punts for hire at the old Antigua boatshed in the central city. The city has a lively café and cultural scene and is home to the country's largest community arts centre.

The city's many festivals include the Summer Times Festival, which incorporates the Festival of Romance and the International Buskers Festival, the Christchurch Winter Festival in August and Showtime Canterbury in November.

Beyond Christchurch is the beautiful French influenced town of Akaroa located on Banks Peninsula or the historical port town of Lyttleton which can be reach either by the Lyttleton tunnel or over the scenic port Hills.

There are no suburban or regional passenger train or rail services within the Christchurch urban region or from Christchurch to Dunedin, Christchurch to Nelson, Christchurch to Invercargill, Christchurch to Aoraki/Mt Cook national park, Christchurch to Tekapo/Lake Tekapo, Christchurch to Te Anau, Christchurch to Wanaka or Christchurch to Queenstown.

Christchurch is the southern terminal for the Coastal Pacific train service that operates between Christchurch, Kaikoura, Blenheim and Picton and the eastern terminal for the TranzAlpine train service that operates between Christchurch, Arthurs Pass and Greymouth.

There are combined train and bus/coach scenic travel options from Christchurch to Franz Josef and Christchurch to Queenstown.

Christchurch is the southern terminal for inter-regional and long distance bus and coach services from Christchurch to other South Island destinations.

You can a scenic train and bus travel pass from Christchurch, that allows you to travel by scenic train and bus, coach and scenic coach travel services, to the Fox or Franz Josef glaciers, Geymouth, Aoraki/Mt Cook national park, Milford Sound and Queenstown or Auckland,  at you own pace, at any time in any direction. You can choose your own route, stop when you like, and travel as many times as you wish within the validity of this flexible pass - hop on and off where and when you wish.

From Christchurch, you can explore the beautiful South Island, by choosing from a range of suggested independent bus touring travel packages ranging from 3 to 7 days in duration.