Christchurch Hotel Reviews
Christchurch is a city to walk around in. The Arts and Craft Center downtown is an excellent place to buy something special. We enjoyed whale watching and the Trans Alpine although the scenery at home (Alaska) I must say is just as beautiful. Nevertheless, we found the railroad trip worthwhile especially since you don''t have to drive.
A beautiful city with lots of lovely eating places, eg Dux du Lux nearly opposite the YMCA, and a wonderful market on the Sunday. The Arts Centre is ''something else'' and, of course, the Wizard is not to be missed! The tram is so handy from the YMCA to the city centre and is very cheap at $12.50 for 2 days. Can''t wait to come back!!
Do try the Twisted Hop micro brewery & pub if you like English beer!
The hotel is next door to the Antarctic Center. It is a good place to go. There is a bus stop in front of the hotel that you can go to downtown Christchurch. There is great shopping and food and tourist attractions. At the firehall, there is a Sept 11 memorial and they have some of the steel beams from the World Trade Center in a sculpture. Downtown is a good place to spend several hours. Buy a "day pass" when you get on the bus for $7 and you will be able to return to the Sudima whenever you want that day. I mistakenly bought a one way for $5.
Loved the coffee at the Yellow Rocket in Cathedral Square, and the organic Japanese food at Aiki in Colombo Street. Punting on the Avon was very nice, and the kids loved the ducks in the river gardens. The Aquarium and Kiwi House were an unexpected surprise and enjoyed by everyone, young and old.
Recommend the Little India as a very good indian restaurant and Topkapi does wonderful Kebabs, both in dowtown Christchurch where you are spoilt for choice with restaurants.
This was my second stay in Christchurch so I spent most of the time for a side trip to Dunedin. Joined local tours to see the Castle and widelifes and it definitely worth the money hiring the guides instead of going on your own. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and professional. Visited the Cadbury Chocolate Factory as well and like the ambience a lot.
Downtown Christchurch ranks among the most interesting of New Zealand areas. It is very English (more English than England as they say), clean, friendly, and with good food and reasonable prices. If you stay at the Y, then foot travel is all you need.
We walked round Christchurch for the most part, taking the bus to go to the gondola. Enjoyed visiting the Cathedral for "evensong" one night. Had an excellent buffet dinner at "The Cabbage Tree".
TransAlpine Express from Christchurch to Greymouth was wonderful, also a day''s trip by small bus to the glaciers, except it cost $180 per person and we had to buy our own lunch. If we''d known the road to the glaciers wasn''t covered with snow, we''d have hired a car cheaper and driven ourselves. We hired a car from ABC(A Better Car) Rentals, 31 Moorhouse Ave, Christchurch for only $35 per day for a Toyota Tercel which managed the trip to Dunedin and return with no problems. They picked us up from the Hotel to take us to get the car and drove us back when we returned the car 6 days later.<BR> <BR> The Antarctic Centre right next to Christchurch airport is a definite place to see - the section where you experience the cold Antarctic winds only opened a month ago. We were speaking to a lady who was going to the real Antarctic for the 4th time and she said the centre is a very good replica of what it''s really like, so you can''t get a better recommendation than that!
There is a great coffee house up the road a few metres that was brilliant for late night lattes and cakes, we also had a main meal there and it was brilliant also for $NZ15. We did the ride on the gondola/chair lift to the mountain peak, was foggy and no real views that day, make sure you go on a clear day! We also found a flyer in the YMCA for horse riding tours. We booked on their 24hr hotline and they picked up and dropped off for $NZ50 each, consisting of a 1hr ride and brief lesson, we had never ridden horses before and found it to be excellent for the beginner. We visited Christchuch in August and found it to be cold and you need a good jacket and thermal underwear. Around the gift stores as you will notice there are huge differences in prices from store to store, we held out buying clip on kiwis and found them for $10.80 at a smaller store compared to $22 at larger stores.
Beautiful, low-key city to begin a tour of south island; don''t miss new Christchurch Art Gallery--stunning architecture, friendly staff, and a fine, varied collection; the Arts Centre nearby combines working studios of craftspeople and artists along with shops, cafes, and restaurants amid the rambling stone towers and courtyards of the (relocated) U of Canterbury(1874); had a thumping good sandwich platter(huge portions) at The Bog on Cashel St, along with delish pumpkin soup & some trad fiddle pickin--a great comfy pub!
Dux de Lux was a very good restaurant and the Coffee house was excellent for breakfast and snacks, I recommend the pancakes!!
New World shopping centre in town has a cold St Pierre''s sushi counter. The trip on the number 28 bus out to the Gondilar is a good day out.
Very central location for strolling around Christchurch.
Unfortunately only had an overnight stay, but did go for a morning walk around Cathedral square.
Queenstown and Milford sound are great! Don''t spend to much time in Christchurch! To much to see in the south!
Christchurch is fantastic! They are extremely tourist-oriented. Lots of credit go to the Information centre. We can book almost anything, everything under the sun/moon! It is just so convenient for free and easy tour. <BR><BR> The weather is cool and I like it a lot. Except the weather wasn''t suitable for us to take the hot-air balloon. Imagine our flight was cancelled three times!! How disappointed we were but at the same time we were glad the operator put SAFETY as the very first priority to us! Thanks for that!
Spend maybe a day or two in Christchurch, then head over to Queenstown. It''s a short 45-minute flight. Queenstown is more beautiful with many more things to do, especially for the adventurous.
Recommend tour to Antarctic Centre and Willowbank. Gondola ride and evening meal a must for sights over the city. Everyone we met in Christchurch was friendly and helpful, especially the ''characters'' on the city trams.