Cruise Port Guide · 113 cruises visit Christchurch →
The bucket-list things to do — and the private, expert-led way to do each.
Here’s the bucket list for your day ashore: the most extraordinary thing to do at each stop, and the private, small-group, or expert-led way to make it yours — your own pace, real access, none of the crowd.
Tear through the braided Waimakariri River in a jet boat, then explore the dramatic Southern Alps high country by 4WD. A pulse-pounding fusion of New Zealand's wildest landscapes — this is the adventure Christchurch was made for.
Slip into the crystal waters of Akaroa Harbour to swim alongside Hector's dolphins — the world's smallest and rarest. Set inside a stunning extinct volcanic crater on Banks Peninsula, this is one of the most extraordinary wildlife encounters on Earth.
Christchurch is the world's gateway to Antarctica, and the International Antarctic Centre plunges you deep into the frozen continent's drama — from a real Antarctic storm chamber to a Hagglund all-terrain vehicle ride. Extraordinarily immersive and unlike anything else in the Southern Hemisphere.
Drift silently along the willow-draped Avon River in a traditional punt, guided by a boater in Edwardian whites. This is Christchurch at its most elegant — a living postcard of heritage, garden, and the city's remarkable post-earthquake renewal.
Ride the Christchurch Gondola to the rim of an ancient volcanic crater for a 360° panorama stretching from the Canterbury Plains and the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean. One of New Zealand's great viewpoints, made accessible in extraordinary style.
Quake City is the world's most powerful museum dedicated to a modern urban earthquake — a raw, moving, and brilliantly curated account of the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes that reshaped a city. Essential context for understanding everything you see in Christchurch.
⚓ Your bucket-list concierge
Tell us your sailing and we'll send the bucket list for every port — the most extraordinary thing to do at each, and the private, expert-led way to make it yours.
No spam. The honest plan, even when it says skip the ship’s tour.