What To Expect

What‘s Included

Reviews

• A Fascinating and Fun Day Exploring Christchurch

  Vanessa C,,Dec 14, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  We had a fantastic day exploring Christchurch with Scotty as our guide. He was incredibly knowledgeable about both the Lyttelton and Christchurch areas and clearly passionate about sharing the region’s history and stories. His commentary added so much depth to the experience, especially as we saw firsthand the lasting impact of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Sites like the Christchurch Cathedral and the vast stretches of empty land in the Red Zone were powerful reminders of the city’s resilience and ongoing recovery. One of the highlights of the day was our peaceful walk through Mona Vale Garden Park. It was a beautiful, serene spot to stretch our legs and enjoy the gardens and the Avon River. We finished at the Rose Garden, where we spent time smelling and photographing the stunning blooms. We then headed to Riverside Market, where we were given plenty of time to explore on our own. It’s a vibrant, bustling place full of great food and local flavour. We enjoyed wandering through the stalls before settling down with a delicious pie and coffee for lunch. Our final stop was a two‑hour visit to the International Antarctic Centre, which was an absolute standout. The Hagglund ride was thrilling — very bumpy and at times quite jolting — but such a fun way to get a feel for the rugged terrain faced in Antarctic conditions. It’s not for everyone, but with seat belts and grab straps, we felt secure and loved every minute. Inside the centre, we enjoyed meeting the rescue penguins, patting the gentle huskies, experiencing the polar storm room, and watching the immersive 4D cinema. Overall, it was a well‑paced, engaging, and memorable day. Scotty’s enthusiasm and expertise made the experience even more special. Highly recommended.

• Boring

  Ann B,,Dec 8, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  1.00

  We had very little time off the bus and seemed to go round and round the city seeing nothing of interest only the gardens

• Christchurch Sightseeing with Antarcti Center

  805sandid,,Dec 6, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We booked the Christchurch Sightseeing with Antarctic Centre tour through TripAdvisor (operated by Leisure Tours) while on our honeymoon cruise from Sydney to New Zealand, and it was absolutely fantastic. The entire experience was great fun, very informative, and excellent value for money, far cheaper than similar tours offered elsewhere. Our driver, Scotty, was outstanding. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and made the whole day enjoyable from start to finish. His commentary, humour, and local insights truly added something special to the tour. We honestly can’t recommend him highly enough. Overall, this tour exceeded our expectations and was a real highlight of our trip. Highly recommended!

• A christchurch city tour with a driver ( who wanna be a tour guide).

  Rubin B,,Dec 5, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  4.00

  It was a schedule changed due to the weather. I think we were grouped with others with originally different tours. Thus was Christchurch city tour and we did not have a tour guide just a driver ( who wanna be a tour guide). Because instructions were not clear, we lost 3 persons and wasted a good 15-20 minutes.

• Christchurch

  Ernest H,,Nov 24, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  Due to weather, our ship had to leave port early so there wasn’t adequate time for the full tour. Our tour guide was excellent and modified our tour to meet the time allotted. Scotty was very knowledgeable and shared the backstory of the Christchurch earthquake and the rebuilding and redesign of the downtown core.

• Excellent service and ability to adapt tours to cruise ship changes.

  E8443KNjoyceh,,Nov 18, 2025

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Unfortunately on the morning of our shore excursion in Lyttelton the ships captain announced that due to expected high winds our time in port was halved. We followed Leisure tours clear instructions to our meeting place where we discovered they were aware of the situation and were therefore providing us with a half day tour of Christchurch. Our early departure made the Antarctic centre impossible. Scotty our driver guide made the tour informative, interesting and fun. As guaranteed we were back at the ship in good time for our all aboard time. Before we had even boarded the ship leisure tours had refunded our Artic centre ticket price. Thank you leisure tours for being so efficient and saving what might have been a disappointing day.

• Christchurch

  Cathleen G,,Nov 18, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  Scotty was a fantastic guide. He was knowledgeable about Christchurch, especially with facts about the earthquake. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour!

• Amazing Tour

  vic2rn,,Nov 9, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  This was an excellent tour and Scotty was an excellent tour guide. The Antarctica experience was amazing and now I want to visit.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Fun time at the Christchurch Antarctic Center

  Meryl H,,Oct 13, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  5.00

  The Antarctic Center was a unique and fun experience! We went for my husbands birthday and he had a blast! Would definitely recommend!

• Great places, not a great guide

  Margo W,,Apr 14, 2025

  - Review from Viator

  3.00

  The Antarctica Center was amazing! We had been to Antarctica the year before and the “freeze” room was very accurate. The guide is what brought it down to a 3. She spent every opportunity to talk about the trauma of the 2011 earthquake, including how many people died and she detailed the death of a baby because a TV fell on him. Seriously, this is a vacation. A very brief discussion of the earthquake in generalities would have been more than enough. She said her home had minimal damage so it was is if she was living vicariously through the suffering of others. Of course, the occasional digs at her ex-husband didn’t help! This would have been a 5 star trip with a better guide.

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