New Zealand's garden city, rebuilt in public. The 2011 earthquake is still visible and so is the architecture that answered it, between the parks, the punts and the murals.
Free things to do
© Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
Free
Riverside Market graze
The rebuilt city's living room — coffee, bao, butcheries and a rooftop bar.
Free
Container-city street art crawl
The rebuild made walls into galleries — start at the SALT district.
Free
Botanic Gardens & Hagley Park
Thirty hectares inside a loop of the Avon, free and open every day.
Where to stay
from $32
Around The World Backpackers
Dorm bed · per night · Four-bed dorms, double, & twin rooms.
from $59
Jailhouse Accommodation Christchurch
Private room · per night
from $35
Urbanz Christchurch
Dorm bed · per night
from $101
LyLo Christchurch Airport
Private room · per night
Trips that take it in
Australia & NZ · 13 days · 3 nights in Christchurch
The South Island Run
Christchurch → Wanaka → Queenstown
$746
plus flights · Dec 2026 dates