Christchurch - Christchurch visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Christchurch' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Canterbury.

Christchurch, also known as the 'Garden City' lies almost half way down the South Island on New Zealand in the Canterbury region, east of the Canterbury Plains. It is the largest city on South Island and the international gateway to the southern regions. Christchurch was first setteld by the Maori peoples in about 1250 by three successive tribes, first by the Waitah, then the Ngati Mamoe and finally by the Ngāi Tahu. Control changed hands through warfare, and the Ngāi Tahu remained in control until the arrival of the Europeans.

The first Europeans arrived in the 1840's and their numbers were soon added to by the arrival of 792 'Canterbury Pilgrims' aboard four ships in 1850, when the town was named Christchurch after Christ Church College in Oxford, England. By 1856 the town was rapidly developing and officially designated a city by Royal Charter, the first in New Zealand. Many of the Gothic buildings within Christchurch originate from around this time.

Sights and Attractions

• Botanical Gardens
• Hagley Park
• Mona Vale
• Riccarton House and Bush
• Canterbury Museum
• Ferrymead Heritage Park
• Orana Wildlife Park
• Willowbank Wildlife Reserve
• Air Force Museum
• Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House
• International Antarctic Centre
• Christ Church (the Anglican cathedral), built between 1864 and 1910.
• The Roman Catholic Cathedral, consecrated in 1905, considered the finest renaissance-style building in Australasia.
• Christchurch Art Gallery which opened in 2003
• The Christchurch Arts Centre, formerly Canterbury College
• The Provincial Council Chambers, 1857–1865.
• The Timeball Station in Lyttelton.
• The New Brighton pier.
• Heathcote (Christchurch) Gondola
• Punting on the river Avon
• Nga Hau E Wha Marae
• The Summit Road along the top of the Port Hills and Godley Head Road
• Mt Pleasant Trig offers 360° views from Lyttelton Harbour back over the hills to the southern alps and the city, and out over Pegasus Bay.
• Walkways including Victoria Park, the Bridle Path and Whitewash Head, a bird sanctuary.

• Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
• Christchurch, Dorset, England
• Lanzhou, Gansu, China
• Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan
• Seattle, Washington, United States of America
• Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Wuhan, Hubei, China