TranzAlpine Train to Arthur's Pass from Christchurch with Lunch

Please note this runs in reverse from 1st October - 30th April Your day starts with pickup from select hotels, before arriving at Christchurch Train Station, where you'll board the TranzAlpine, consistently ranked among the world's most scenic rail journeys. Settle in and watch the city fade into the Canterbury Plains, before river valleys narrow and the Southern Alps close in around you. There's an open-air viewing carriage you need to check out!

Your Cheeky Kiwi guide meets you here with a modern Mercedes Sprinter and the local knowledge to match.

Also known as Deaths Corner and one look explains why. The Otira Viaduct stretches 440 metres across a dramatic alpine gorge, and without it, crossing Arthur's Pass by road simply wouldn't exist. It's an engineering feat set inside a national park, and the views in every direction are jaw-dropping. Keep your eyes peeled, the Kea, New Zealand's infamous alpine parrot, likes an audience.

If you've got the legs for it, the walk to Devils Punchbowl waterfall is the pick, a low-to-moderate trail through native bush that ends at a 131-metre cascade crashing into the valley floor. Prefer to take it easy? The village café does a decent coffee and the local shops are worth a wander.

Scattered across an open hillside above State Highway 73, the limestone boulders of Castle Hill are one of New Zealand's most quietly spectacular places. Geologically ancient, cinematically famous, this location doubled as Narnia in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and featured in The Lord of the Rings. Walk among the formations, watch the climbers and boulderers doing their thing, and take the photos you didn't know you needed. Self-guided and entirely at your own pace.

Return to Christchurch with drop-off at your accommodation. Take in the city’s architecture, culture, and surrounding landscapes.