Places to visit in Canterbury, New Zealand
16 places to visit in Canterbury, New Zealand, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, Aoraki / Mount Cook, Banks Peninsula and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Canterbury volume.
1 UNESCO World Heritage site · 4 Famous places to visit · 11 Hidden gems
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Canterbury (1)
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Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park
A national park in the central west of the South Island, established in October 1953 and named for Aoraki / Mount Cook, the country's highest mountain. Glaciers and peaks of the Southern Alps fill much of the park, with walking tracks near the village.
Famous places to visit in Canterbury (4)
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Aoraki / Mount Cook
The highest mountain in New Zealand, rising 3,724 metres in the Southern Alps. It stands in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, and Sir Edmund Hillary trained on its slopes before his Himalayan climbs.
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Banks Peninsula
A rugged peninsula south east of Christchurch formed by two extinct volcanoes, its craters now drowned to form the harbours of Lyttelton and Akaroa. French settlers arrived at Akaroa in 1840, and the town still has French street names.
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Christ Church Cathedral
The Anglican cathedral that gives the city of Christchurch its centre, begun in 1864 and finished in 1904. It was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake, and its ruined spire and nave have been under reconstruction since.
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Southern Alps
A mountain range running most of the length of the South Island, with a spine of peaks above 3,000 metres. Its Maori name is Ka Tiritiri o te Moana, and it holds Aoraki Mount Cook and the great glaciers of the west coast.
Hidden gems in Canterbury (11)
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Arthur's Pass
A township and mountain pass in the Southern Alps, linking Canterbury with the West Coast at 920 metres. Arthur's Pass National Park around it has steep tracks, a high alpine flora and the cheeky kea parrots.
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Cardboard Cathedral
Formally the Transitional Cathedral, designed by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban to replace ChristChurch Cathedral after the 2011 earthquake. Its A frame is built with large cardboard tubes, and it opened in 2013 as the pro cathedral of the Anglican diocese.
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Castle Hill
A high country station at 700 metres beside State Highway 73 between Springfield and Arthur's Pass, in the Kura Tawhiti Conservation Area. Huge weathered limestone boulders cover the basin, and the site is popular with climbers and film fans.
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Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
The Catholic cathedral of Christchurch, designed by Francis Petre and opened in 1905. Its Renaissance style dome and facade stood in Barbadoes Street until the 2011 earthquake, and the building was later demolished.
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Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Gardens in the heart of Christchurch, founded in 1863 when an English oak was planted to mark the wedding of Prince Albert and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. They sit in a loop of the Avon River next to Hagley Park.
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Lake Ohau
A glacial lake in the Mackenzie Basin, fed by the Hopkins and Dobson rivers from the Southern Alps. A small alpine village on its shore is known for ski fields and, from 2020, for the damage of a major wildfire.
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Lake Pukaki
The largest of the three parallel alpine lakes along the Mackenzie Basin, coloured turquoise by glacial flour. From the southern shore there is a clear view up the lake to Aoraki Mount Cook.
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Lake Tekapo
The second largest of three parallel alpine lakes at the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin. Glacial flour gives it an unreal turquoise colour, and the small Church of the Good Shepherd stands on its shore.
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Mount Hutt
A mountain of the Southern Alps west of the Canterbury Plains, topped by a major ski field. It rises about 2,190 metres and has one of the longest ski seasons in the country.
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Mount John University Observatory
New Zealand's premier astronomical research observatory, on top of Mount John at 1,029 metres above Lake Tekapo. It lies in the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, and visitors come for the views and for stargazing tours.
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Tasman Glacier
The longest glacier in New Zealand at around 23 kilometres, flowing south from the Southern Alps in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park. Its terminal lake, scattered with icebergs, can be explored by boat.
Collecting in Canterbury
What are the best places to visit in Canterbury?
LOQAH lists 16 places in Canterbury. The best known include Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, Aoraki / Mount Cook, Banks Peninsula, Christ Church Cathedral and Southern Alps. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Canterbury?
16, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Canterbury?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Canterbury before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Canterbury and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
More in New Zealand
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