Right in the centre of the city, tucked inside Hagley Park, the Botanic Gardens are where a lot of us end up on a lunch break, a lazy Sunday, or whenever visiting family need somewhere easy and lovely to walk.
Entry is free and has been since the first tree went into the ground — an English oak planted on 9 July 1863 to mark the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. The Canterbury Horticultural and Acclimatisation Society formalised the garden the following year, and it’s been growing, literally, ever since.
Give yourself at least an hour. Start at the Peacock Fountain near the Rolleston Avenue gate — a riot of Victorian ironwork and one of the most photographed spots in the city — then wander through to the formal rose garden, at its best in December but worth a look most of the year. Cross one of the footbridges over the Avon/Ōtākaro and you’re in the Heritage Rose Garden on the far bank. The conservatories (10am–4pm daily) are a good wet-weather option, with tropical, fern and cacti houses to duck into.
This stretch of Hagley Park has a longer history too: Ngāi Tahu used what became known as Little Hagley Park as a resting and meeting place for Māori travelling into Christchurch through the 1860s. Victoria Lake, just north of the main gardens, was dug out of swampland in 1897 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and is a reliable spot for paradise shelducks and Canada geese.
Four entrances open onto the gardens, with parking off Armagh Street and Rolleston Avenue. Bring a picnic, or grab something from the ilex Café near the Visitor Centre.
Photos: Pseudopanax, Pear285, OffaWorldOrder, and Amr Ghoneim, via Wikimedia Commons.
