Organized Tours

Christchurch sightseeing can combine the central city’s gardens, heritage buildings and cultural attractions with trips towards the Port Hills and Lyttelton Harbour. Operators offer different routes rather than a universal half-day itinerary. The heritage Christchurch Tram is one current city-centre option, offering hop-on, hop-off travel on restored trams.

Hot-air ballooning over the Canterbury Plains offers views towards the Southern Alps and surrounding rural landscapes. Tourism New Zealand’s operator directory lists Ballooning Canterbury near Hororata as a current provider, with Christchurch transfers available. Flights depend on weather; departure arrangements and the fare belong to the chosen operator and date.

Tram ride offers a very exciting tour of Christchurch, especially the city center. The open tram lets tourists observe natural environment and get a feeling of the Garden City. If you are with family and want to explore the city at your own pace, the hop on hop off tour is the best you can get. The tram pass lasts up to 48 hours on a stretch so you can hop off and take your time around an attraction, eat and freshen up before continuing the tour that would take you around the Cathedral Square, Arts Center, Botanical Gardens, Avon River and Cathedral Junction. The tram ride starts from 9am and the tour as a whole is for about 25minutes and costs $13 for a two day tram pass.

A very famous sightseeing tour, the Big Five takes you round the city in one day and covers major areas that are to be visited at least once. The tour starts with an engaging visit to the Antarctic Center, an exciting view of native kiwis and their habitat in the Willow Wildlife Park, an adventurous ride of the tram to see the city center and its busy life, a panoramic view of the gardens of the city on a Gondola and finally a two hour harbor cruise to see surrounding lands. The tour departs at 9am in the morning and lasts for about 7 hours and costs $ 166 per person.

A gradual progression from the city center highlights like the Cathedral Square, Victoria Street, Arts Center and Botanical Gardens to the northern parks and plains of Christchurch is the highlight of this exploration trip of the city. The tour takes you around the Hagley Park and Mona Vale homestead to a superb view of the beaches and the city from the Port hills. This well rounded tour will bring you back to the city from the eastern side so no corner of the city is unturned for tourists.

This tour covers both, the best entertainment of the city and the educational aspect as well. A half day trip to the Kiwi resorts of the Willowbank wild life reserve and the Antarctic Center gives tourists a chance to enjoy the notorious snowmobile ride and get an up close of the Kiwi world as well. Tour starts at 3pm for a cost of $145 and lasts 5 and a half hour.

Being the garden city of New Zealand, Christchurch has one eighth of its land dedicated to parks and landscapes. To explore these landscapes hop on a half day tour of two public and two private parks of the city for 3 hours and enjoy a day with nature. The tour includes descriptions of the flowers and shrubs in the park and their historic significance. Tour starts at 9am and costs $80.

Spend one of your mornings on an air conditioned coach en route to the historical Christchurch attractions. This three hour tour gives you an exciting tour early morning with loads of opportunities to take pictures of the monuments and make your trip memorable. The main stops include those in the city center.

Canterbury Shuttles 2010 Limited Phone: 0800 021 682 Address: 61 Truman Road, PO Box 5563, Papanui.