Family Days Out in Christchurch, New Zealand

We’ve stated elsewhere that you can have a great family day out for only a few dollars in New Zealand, so we thought we would list a few of our favourite family days out Christchurch.

For more Christchurch outings and events, try bethere.co.nz. If you're looking for events and days out in other parts of New Zealand try the comprehensive New Zealand Event Finder website.

If you are looking for more child friendly things to do around New Zealand, try Dayout.co.nz, which has a good family section,  Kidzgo.co.nz which has heaps of family-friendly activities listed, or our personal favourite www.kidsfriendlytravel.com , which covers travel and other child and family-related topics.

If we have missed any of your favourite Christchuch family days out, please let us know!

• Beaches
• Parks and Playgrounds
• Trains
• Swimming Pools
• The Tram and Gondola
• Festivals
• The Court Theatre

Christchurch Beaches

There are beautiful beaches all along the coast of Christchurch. Sumner is lovely, with good coffee as well as ice creams, and a pleasant playground and park at the end of the bay with a paddling pool. We’re closer to the uncrowded beaches to the North of Christchurch though, and that is where you will find us on still summer mornings.

Spencerville would have to be our favourite spot. It has a lovely beach and a fantastic playground with a massive climbing frame, flying foxes, tennis courts, and a clever sandpit digger and pump arrangement – truly something for everyone! There are free gas BBQs and even a small wildlife park across the road from the campground. The water quality is generally excellent.

On windy days, the sheltered bays around Lyttelton can be beautiful. We love the pirate ship play area and long slide at Corsair Bay, but there is no ice cream shop! It is a great place to go with your fish and chips from around the corner in Lyttelton.

As with all New Zealand beaches, the action of the surf can cause a previously safe location to develop dangerous rips and holes, so always swim between the flags, keep children in arm’s reach and learn what to do if you get caught in a rip.

Christchurch Parks

Christchurch has hundreds of parks, from the inner-city acres of Hagley Park to the wee reserves you’ll find all over the place. Most of them have a well maintained playground, some of which are particularly amazing, and some even have paddling pools open in the summer months.

The playground in the Botanic Gardens is very popular with our kids – you guessed it, there is an ice cream shop! There is also a massive paddling pool and a big play area, with separate areas for toddlers and older children. There are sometimes model yachts or speed boats operating on nearby Victoria Lake, which our boys find fascinating.

There are even some parks around Christchurch with bike tracks built in, from the mini roads at the Westburn Reserve in Burnside to the ramps and bumps of the BMX tracks. We often take the kids and their bikes up to the mini BMX track in Craighead Reserve off Northcote Road in Papanui. Teenagers tend to take it over later in the day, but in the mornings it is mainly occupied by smaller kids on bikes and trikes.

We are looking forward to exploring some of the mountain biking tracks around Christchurch when the kids get older – maybe the ones on the flat anyway…

Christchurch Trains

If you have a small (or large) train enthusiast in your family they will be very well catered for in Christchurch – and, for that matter, throughout New Zealand – we’re yet to travel to anywhere that does not have some form of miniature or heritage rail attraction!

Miniature trains run at Steam Scene on McLeans Island (on the way to Orana Park) and in the Halswell Domain, generally on the first and third Sundays of every month. There is also a full-sized steam train that sometimes operates at Steam Scene, but usually only during the winter due to fire restrictions. Last time we went rides were only a dollar each.

For more full-sized trains try Ferrymead Heritage Park on the way to Sumner, or a little further afield at the Weka Pass Railway in Waipara. Again they generally steam up on the weekends, with special open days and weekend events throughout the year. The Ferrymead railway isn’t long but is attached to a fascinating historic village, with fully furnished homes and businesses to wander through, and there are also trams trundling through. And the wineries in the Waipara provide plenty of non-rail entertainment in that region!

Christchurch Swimming Pools

There are a few summer-only outdoor pools in Christchurch, and some schools with a pool rent keys out over the summer holidays.

Check here for a list of all of the council-run swimming pools in Christchurch.

The Summertimes program run by the Christchurch City Council is always great fun, with a huge range of activities and performances running between December and March each year. A number of the events have a real family focus, like the Teddy Bears Picnic.

We also enjoy the World Buskers Festival every year in January – there are always fantastic shows for the kids, and it is well worth organising a babysitter for the evening performances.

Another council-supported Christchurch institution is Kidsfest in the winter school holidays between terms two and three. There are literally hundreds of sports, crafts, shows, workshops and experiences to try. There are some activities for pre-schoolers and teenagers, but it is mainly aimed at primary and intermediate school children. Brochures are available from schools and libraries about a month before the event, and pre-registration is strongly recommended.