Christchurch, New Zealand’s South Island city, is undergoing one of the most closely watched urban rebuilds of the 21st century following the devastating February 2011 earthquake. The walk through the rebuilt city centre — from the shipping container mall to the cardboard cathedral and along the Avon River — is genuinely unlike any other urban walking experience. This post is the companion text to the christchurch walking tour video “Christchurch New Regent St and Cathedral Square Walk Tour 2024 4K” on YouTube, a 4K walk through the city’s most historically significant streets filmed in 2024.
About This Walking Tour
This 4K New Zealand Walking Tour video from 2024 covers two of Christchurch’s most distinctive streets: New Regent Street and Cathedral Square. New Regent Street is a short pastel-coloured Spanish Mission style pedestrian precinct built in the 1930s that survived the earthquake and has become the most photographed street in Christchurch — a splash of colour in a city still rebuilding around it. Vintage trams run along the street as a tourist attraction.
Cathedral Square, at the heart of the old city, shows the ongoing debate about Christchurch’s future most clearly: the Gothic Revival ChristChurch Cathedral, badly damaged in the 2011 earthquake, stood in partial ruin for over a decade while arguments over its fate continued. The nearby Re:START Container Mall — a temporary retail precinct built from brightly coloured shipping containers after the earthquake — became a global symbol of post-disaster resilience and innovation. The walk also passes Shigeru Ban’s Cardboard Cathedral of 2013, built as a temporary replacement using 98 cardboard tubes, a structure that has now been in use for over a decade.
The Avon River Promenade, known by its Māori name Ōtākaro, runs through the city and has been dramatically transformed since the earthquake cleared a large swathe of the inner city of damaged buildings. The cleared land became the Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor — a new linear parkland along the river with contemporary sculpture, native planting, and the restored tradition of punting.
Highlights of Christchurch
The Botanic Gardens, on an island in the Avon River adjacent to the city centre, are among the finest in the Southern Hemisphere. The 21-hectare garden contains notable collections of native New Zealand plants, roses, and magnificent specimen trees. Entry is free. Adjacent to the gardens, the Canterbury Museum houses a world-class Antarctic exploration collection alongside Māori and Canterbury regional history exhibits — also free.
The Arts Centre, in Gothic Revival buildings that were the original University of Canterbury (where Ernest Rutherford studied), has been comprehensively restored following earthquake damage and now houses galleries, restaurants, and the Saturday market. The Re:START Container Mall, while originally described as temporary, became permanent enough to become a Christchurch icon.
Hagley Park, at 165 hectares one of the largest urban parks in New Zealand, surrounds the Botanic Gardens and contains cricket and sports grounds. The Christchurch Botanic Gardens and Hagley Park together form one of the most accessible green corridors in any New Zealand city.
A Brief History of Christchurch
Christchurch was founded in 1850 as a planned Anglican settlement, intended to transplant English middle-class society to the South Pacific. Its street grid, Gothic Revival churches, and English gardens reflected this aspiration, and the city retained a particularly English character well into the 20th century.
The September 4, 2010 earthquake (magnitude 7.1) caused significant damage but no deaths. The February 22, 2011 earthquake, magnitude 6.3, struck at lunchtime in the city centre and killed 185 people — 115 of them in the CTV Building collapse. The February quake destroyed 80% of the central city. The recovery and rebuild continue more than a decade later, making Christchurch a city that is simultaneously historical and entirely contemporary, and a fascinating case study in urban resilience.
Practical Tips
Christchurch Airport is 10 kilometres from the city centre. The free inner-city bus route (Purple Line) connects major attractions. The city centre is flat and easily walkable. The Christchurch City Council offers free guided heritage walks on weekends. The punting on the Avon operates from the city centre Antigua Boat Sheds and does not require advance booking on weekdays. Many CBD attractions are free including the Canterbury Museum and the Botanic Gardens.
Best Time to Visit
November through March is warm and dry, with temperatures of 18–25°C. April and May offer spectacular autumn foliage in the Botanic Gardens. Winter (June–August) can be cold with frosts but the city is fully functional and less crowded. Christchurch is the gateway to the Canterbury Plains and Southern Alps — ski fields on the mountain passes are accessible in winter.
Watch & Explore More
This 2024 4K video tour captures Christchurch’s resilient rebuilt streets in detail. For more New Zealand walking tours, visit @walkingtoursvideoscom. Our companion guides to Queenstown’s lakefront and Wellington’s Cuba Street offer more South and North Island exploration.