CBD Christchurch
CBD Christchurch
3.5
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
934 within 3 miles
Attractions
195 within 6 miles
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
3.5
65 reviews
Excellent
17
Very good
19
Average
18
Poor
3
Terrible
8
Alan
61 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
Typical CBD area but you need a car to get around. Many churches and you can still see a building affected by the earthquake but many have been restored. A small city of 300,000 residents so do not expect tall skyscrapers but plenty of parks.
Written 23 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
David L
San Francisco, CA575 contributions
Dec 2019
The central business district of Christchurch remains a work in progress after the 2011 earthquake. Entire blocks remain empty after damaged structures were razed. However, work is underway on several commercial projects and a new convention center. The historic Christchurch Cathedral is labeled a collapse hazard yet its shell stands with large portions missing or badly damaged. It is worthwhile to visit the CBD to understand the impact of a major earthquake and the difficulty to rebuild afterwards.
There is a memorial one should stop to see, called 185 empty white chairs, one each for those who perished. Ship containers are used as braces at some structures to prevent them from collapsing.
Christchurch has a goal to attract 30,000 people to live and work in its CBD. New townhouse developments are now for sale or close to completion. Entire city blocks await development.
Beyond the destruction, the CBD also has a good selection of retailers, restaurants, bars and cultural attractions to draw visitors. There is also a large botanic gardens worth seeing. It's important to support these establishments for the economic stimulus they provide.
There is a memorial one should stop to see, called 185 empty white chairs, one each for those who perished. Ship containers are used as braces at some structures to prevent them from collapsing.
Christchurch has a goal to attract 30,000 people to live and work in its CBD. New townhouse developments are now for sale or close to completion. Entire city blocks await development.
Beyond the destruction, the CBD also has a good selection of retailers, restaurants, bars and cultural attractions to draw visitors. There is also a large botanic gardens worth seeing. It's important to support these establishments for the economic stimulus they provide.
Written 1 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michael-4551
Caloundra, Australia5,528 contributions
May 2018 • Friends
Visited on Tuesday 22nd May. We spent a few hours wondering around checking out the city area. Some areas were unaffected by the earthquake, others totally destroyed but replaced by new buildings. It was very quiet except for people working in town and the tourists.
Written 10 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rbbrno
Brno, Czech Republic9,469 contributions
Feb 2014 • Solo
When I bought a flight ticket to Christchurch I was looking forward to see a nice city.
I got a shock when I saw it in reality. I have never seen such ruined city. Its more
than 2 years after the earthquake. Nevertheless it looks like the earthquake would occur yesterday. Road / path closures, abandoned buildings, various holes everywhere, closed shops, demolished cathedral...
I have never seen such city and I hope I will never see another city like this.
I recommend to all: visit beautiful towns like Queenstown, Dunedin... than this trash.
I got a shock when I saw it in reality. I have never seen such ruined city. Its more
than 2 years after the earthquake. Nevertheless it looks like the earthquake would occur yesterday. Road / path closures, abandoned buildings, various holes everywhere, closed shops, demolished cathedral...
I have never seen such city and I hope I will never see another city like this.
I recommend to all: visit beautiful towns like Queenstown, Dunedin... than this trash.
Written 22 February 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PeterPolak
Adelaide, Australia46 contributions
Oct 2014 • Couples
Don't waste your time - fill up petrol and keep going
There is nothing to see and visit in Christchurch
And everything expensive
There is nothing to see and visit in Christchurch
And everything expensive
Written 31 October 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thomas’s
Melbourne, Australia410 contributions
Mar 2018
Christchurch is a city of great interest, particularly post the earthquake. You don’t have to have an interest in the quake itself, but true urban renewal projects going on make the CBD a great place to visit. The street art, the re-creation of Parks and public spaces and new
tasteful buildings to look at. We thoroughly enjoyed our few days looking around, eating out and taking a morbid curiosity in the quake.
Do it.
tasteful buildings to look at. We thoroughly enjoyed our few days looking around, eating out and taking a morbid curiosity in the quake.
Do it.
Written 12 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Qing Q
Singapore, Singapore672 contributions
Jan 2015 • Couples
This is the busiest place in Christchurch, and walking around the CBD is very quiet and surreal. Take a look at the beauty of street art and contribute to the city by purchasing the local products, and hopefully, they can be able to regenerate and rebuild their beautiful city and their home.
Written 2 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rose-evelyn
Vancouver, Canada9 contributions
Aug 2014 • Friends
I can't believe all the negative reviews here! Things like earthquakes take an immense amount of time to recover from, especially when the devastation is so wide. Sure, there are many things that are messy or inconvenient to deal with such as traffic detours but among the broken city there are many, many gems. This is a unique opportunity to see what life is like in a city that is recovering, and one of the best things about it is all the "revolutionary" once-in-a-lifetime type experiences such as the Cardboard Cathedral and C1 Cafe. The bad comes with the good and how you see it will definitely be determined by the way you choose to approach it.
Written 19 September 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
malcolmdmills
Christchurch, New Zealand10 contributions
Oct 2019
There is a feeling that your car is seen as an unwanted nuisance in the CBD only tolerated for the revenue it can be stripped of.If you do make it in you are always on edge keeping an eye on your remaining time at parking building or sidewalk and looking out for small electric scooters driven at high speed that come out of nowhere on both road and path .For the locals there is an increasing feeling of alienation as well known stalwarts are renamed in new trendy ways ,our central library has been renamed "Turanga" would be one of a raft of the unused and un remembered by most locals and is a complete mystery to any tourist
Written 23 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hongkongboy55
Richmond, Canada614 contributions
Dec 2017 • Friends
The CBD was quiet and many areas are still pending recovery. Walked around slightly before lunch hour n left. Glad to hear locals are still optimistic about rebuilding the city. But as a tourist, nothing can be done except feeling sad.
Written 28 December 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No questions have been asked about this experience
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing