New Zealand Road Trip: Christchurch to Queenstown

If you are looking for the perfect New Zealand road trip, the drive between Christchurch and Queenstown is breathtaking journey that winds through stunning landscapes that showcase New Zealand’s beautiful nature.

Traveling from Christchurch to Queenstown, you’ll pass by picturesque lakes, gorges, the Southern Alps, and so much more. Along the way there are so plenty of opportunities to stop, explore, and grab a bite to eat.

I created this post to outline our New Zealand road trip between Christchurch and Queenstown to include our recommended stops, places to eat, and share tips that we learned along the way.

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Table of Contents

Christchurch

We started our vacation in New Zealand in Christchurch. We spent Christmas in Christchurch and unfortunately mostly everything was closed, so I don’t have a lot of personal experience in Christchurch.

I spent a day in Christchurch and although it was a ghost town around Christmas time I still really enjoyed the city. I walked over the Bridge of Remembrance and along the Avon River.

I stayed at the BreakFree on Cashel Hotel and found it to be a nice hotel for the budget, breakfast was great and the rooms were unique, not to mention the location was right in the heart of Christchurch.

Queenstown

Known as the “Adventure Capital of New Zealand,” Queenstown is a must visit place on the South Island.

Queenstown is a great destination in New Zealand for those looking for adventurous and thrilling activities such as bungee jumping or sky-diving.

Queenstown is also a great town to visit to kick back and relax. It lies right on Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by beautiful scenery.

When we visited Queenstown, we took a day tour to Milford Sound, drove one of New Zealand’s most scenic drives to Glenorchy, and ate at Fergburger, New Zealand’s best burger.

If you are looking for a cheap place to stay in Queenstown, we stayed at the Haka Lodge Queenstown. The rooms were clean, there were shared bathrooms, but it was within walking distance to downtown Queenstown and the customer service was great!

Christchurch to Queenstown Distance

The most direct route for driving from Christchurch to Queenstown is around 480 km (298 miles) and takes about 6 hours via State Highway 1 and 8.

If you are flying between Christchurch and Queenstown, it is only about an hour flight. But this post is about driving, so I won’t get into flying or airports between the two destinations.

Renting a Car in New Zealand

We found that renting a car in New Zealand was fairly straight forward.

We booked a car in advance through Rentalcars.com.

We chose to pick up our rental car in Christchurch and drop it off in Queenstown. Price wise it is a little more expensive that way as opposed to dropping the car back off in Christchurch but it allowed us to stick to our New Zealand itinerary with more flexibility.

Like anywhere else, when renting a car in New Zealand, make sure you have a valid driver’s license, passport (which you should have), and be of age which is 21 in New Zealand.

Also, I did not need an international driver’s license for renting a car in New Zealand. Doing research online it looks as if your license is in English then you don’t need an international license. It’s best to double check before visiting New Zealand.

Tips and Safety

✅ In New Zealand, you drive on the left side of the road. So the opposite side of where you drive in the United States or Germany.

✅ I learned the hard way and wish I knew this before visiting New Zealand. But if you fill up your car at the gas pump even f you only put in a few Dollars, it will charge you NZ$250 and show on your bank statement.

Don’t worry though, after a few days the bank statement fixes itself and shows the correct amount, so no need to be concerned. Apparently this is done just to make sure you have enough money in your account.

✅ The default speed limits in New Zealand were 50 km/h in urban areas and 100 km/h on open roads.

✅ I found even 100 km/h to be fast for many of the roads in New Zealand. A lot of the open roads were curvy and narrow.

✅ Allow yourself plenty of time to drive, I found myself pulling off to the side of the road quite a bit to take photos of the beautiful nature and animals.

✅ Some distances are long, like the day trip to Milford Sound from Queenstown. It’s best to prepare in advance because there might not be any towns or convenience stores.

Road Trip: Attractions, Stops, and Everything in Between

A New Zealand road trip has been on my bucket list for a long time now. Everyone has their own version of their ideal road trip. We saw camper vans, RVs, and even motorcycles fully equipped.

We decided on just renting a car and booking motels along the route near attractions we wanted to stop at between Christchurch and Queenstown.

We spent nearly a week on the South Island. Here is our New Zealand road trip itinerary between Christchurch and Queenstown. Some of these stops were planned while others were random but I feel are worth visiting.

Barnett Cave Walk

We started our New Zealand road trip just outside of Christchurch and hiked the Barnett Park Cave Loop Track.

The Barnett Park Cave Loop Track is a fairly easy roundtrip hike that takes about 1 hour to 1.5 hours.

At the parking lot, you cross Barnett Park and the real trail begins. It’s clearly marked and easy to follow. Barnett Park Cave is the highlight. We took a small break in the cave before continuing along the hike.

It’s a beautiful hike with gorgeous views looking out into the ocean.

Scarborough View Point and Godley Head Gun Battery

From the Barnett Cave Walk, we drove along Evans Pass Rd to the Summit Road toward the Godley Head Gun Battery. This can easily be done too as a day trip from Christchurch.

The Godley Head Gun Battery has an interesting history and was used as a defense during WWII. The are more then 110 structures here, some you can freely explore.

The best feature about this area are the views. There is a small trail around the gun battery that offers stunning views of the ocean.

On our way back to from the gun battery, we briefly stopped at Scarborough View Point. You can see the turquoise color water in the bay and might have to tip toe around some sheep.

Rakaia Gorge

We ended up taking State Hwy 77 from Christchurch and stopped at the Rakaia Gorge or a brief hike.

We parked at the Evans Reserve parking area, crossed the road and began the Rakaia Gorge Walkway. We only hiked about 15 minutes one-way. Even 5 minutes into the hike, there are beautiful views of the Rakaia River.

The Rakaia River is turquoise in color and absolutely stunning. Many of the lakes in the Southern Alps of New Zealand are turquoise color as well.

Apparently the turquoise color is a result of broken down particles from glacial erosion.

Mount Sunday (Edoras: Lord of the Rings)

One of my favorite stops along our New Zealand road trip was the hike to Mount Sunday which is the filming location for Edoras in The Lord of the Rings.

The Mount Sunday Track was an easy 1.5 km hike to the top of a hill which is the rock formation used as Edoras in Rohan.

Once on top of the hill, the views were some of the best in New Zealand.

The Mount Sunday Track is well worth driving out of the way for. It was only an hour from Rakaia Gorge and 1 hour and 20 minutes from Ealing on Hwy 1.

Geraldine Farmshop & Cafe

After the Mount Sunday Trach, we stumbled upon a local farm shop called Geraldine Farmshop & Cafe.

Geraldine Farmshop & Cafe had both a restaurant and grocery store. The grocery store sold local farmed produce and the restaurant had a nice selection of hardy meals and pastries.

We ordered a sausage roll and meat pie to go. I fell in love with sausage rolls in New Zealand.

Lake Tekapo

There are quite a few activities to do in and around Lake Tekapo. You could spend a few days exploring this area alone.

We stopped at Lake Tekapo briefly while en route to Mount Cook to load up on snacks for our trek.

There is a Four Square grocery store here, hotels, and gas stations.

Many visitors stop here to get a photo of the Church of the Good Shepherd. It’s a small picturesque church with Lake Tekapo in the background. Honestly, I felt it was a bit to crowded for it’s size, it was hard to take a good picture.

Mount Cook and the Hooker Valley Track

Another must do hike in New Zealand is the Hooker Valley Track to Mount Cook. Again, some of the most beautiful scenery in New Zealand, this 10 km there and back trail was fairly easy with stunning views every step of the way.

It took us about 3 hours to complete the trek, including stopping for photos and a quick lunch stop at Hooker Lake.

If the clouds part ways and Mt. Cook shows itself, it’s an incredible mountain to see. Mt. Cook is New Zealand’s tallest mountain at 3,724 m (12,218 ft).

Omarama

We stayed in Omarama for one night. It had accommodations that were within our budget and it was only 1 hour from Mount Cook.

Omarama is a small town along Hwy 8. But a great place to stop for gas, groceries, or grab lunch at one of the restaurants. We ate at a local place called Boots and Jandals. They served good Fish & Chips with local craft beer.

Lindis Valley

Between Omarama and Tarras is an area called the Lindis Valley. The Lindis Valley looked nothing like the rest of New Zealand we drove through. The Lindis Valley was drier with rolling hills and grasslands. Reminded me of the states of Colorado a bit.

There are a couple scenic lookouts that are worth pulling over for photos and a break. We stopped at the Lindis Pass Summit Scenic Lookout.

Tarras Country Cafe

For our last stop on our New Zealand road trip between Christchurch and Queenstown, we made a quick visit to Tarras Country Cafe for some ice cream, coffee, and sausage rolls.

Tarras Country Cafe was a nice area equipped with a restroom, local shops, and a cafe. Their sausage rolls were very good and the coffee was excellent!

From Tarras, it’s another hour drive to Queenstown.

Conclusion

When visiting New Zealand, a road trip is a must. It’s the best way to see the country and explore at your own pace. Everyone’s journey will be different, but I highly recommend checking out some of my recommendations listed in this post.

Obviously, there is so much more to see, we did this all in a week and didn’t get a chance to see places like Arrowtown or the Wanaka Tree.

If you’ve done a New Zealand road trip and have additional places to share, please leave them in a comment for myself and others.

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Plan Your Trip: 🗺️✈️🇳🇿

Booking Accommodations ⛺️🛖

For booking recommendations on the best deals and locations, check out Agoda or Booking.com

Activities and Tours 🏖️🚁

Find fun activities and things to do through Tripadvisor. If you are looking for tours and day trips, Viator and Get Your Guide have a lot of great options.

In need of a car rental? 🚗🚘

I recommend checking with Rental Cars.