Christchurch Gondola and City Center from Lyttelton

[sonoma03]

I will be on the Celebrity Edge in February stopping at Lyttelton, and I've been reading some conflicting information about transport and shuttles there. My understanding is that there will be a free shuttle to Lyttelton, and paid shuttles from the cruise terminal to Christchurch.  The local authorities are strongly discouraging cruise ship passengers from using the local buses because they swamped the capacity of the bus system last season which was bad for the locals.  But I have not found a good way to visit both the gondola and Christchurch city center without using the local bus.  The ship's excursion to the gondola is a round-trip shuttle so it doesn't go into Christchurch, plus it's expensive.  There is a shuttle that goes from Christchurch to the gondola and back, but it only runs once per hour and it wastes time and money since I have to pay for one shuttle from Lyttelton to Christchurch and a second from Christchurch back out to the gondola and then back to Christchurch, and the gondola is far closer to Lyttelton than to Christchurch.  Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative besides taking the public bus?  Thanks!

[possum52]

18 hours ago, sonoma03 said:

I will be on the Celebrity Edge in February stopping at Lyttelton, and I've been reading some conflicting information about transport and shuttles there. My understanding is that there will be a free shuttle to Lyttelton, and paid shuttles from the cruise terminal to Christchurch.  The local authorities are strongly discouraging cruise ship passengers from using the local buses because they swamped the capacity of the bus system last season which was bad for the locals.  But I have not found a good way to visit both the gondola and Christchurch city center without using the local bus.  The ship's excursion to the gondola is a round-trip shuttle so it doesn't go into Christchurch, plus it's expensive.  There is a shuttle that goes from Christchurch to the gondola and back, but it only runs once per hour and it wastes time and money since I have to pay for one shuttle from Lyttelton to Christchurch and a second from Christchurch back out to the gondola and then back to Christchurch, and the gondola is far closer to Lyttelton than to Christchurch.  Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative besides taking the public bus?  Thanks!

Perhaps a taxi or Uber?

[sonoma03]

1 hour ago, possum52 said:

Perhaps a taxi or Uber?

Taxi will be more expensive than we want to pay.  Not sure about using Uber; I will need to get a local SIM card and set up that phone number in my Uber account which is currently based on my U.S. phone number that won't work in NZ or Australia.

[possum52]

 

4 minutes ago, sonoma03 said:

Taxi will be more expensive than we want to pay.  Not sure about using Uber; I will need to get a local SIM card and set up that phone number in my Uber account which is currently based on my U.S. phone number that won't work in NZ or Australia.

If you have a set budget you may have to choose to do one or the other.

[PasadenaDave]

We were there on Christmas Eve with Viking which has only 930 passengers.  The port is a very small town.  A shuttle is required to get from the ship to the town which is close.  Suttles were provided free of charge  to both town and Christchurch from the ship.

 

I don't know if Viking paid for the shuttle into Christchurch or not.  I think it might have been the greater Christchurch Chamber of Commerce or Tourism Bureau.  I think it is provided locally to both boost visitors to the CBD and not inundate the small town.  The trip into the City isn't long, perhaps 15 minutes

[Over from NZ]

On 1/4/2024 at 3:48 PM, sonoma03 said:

Taxi will be more expensive than we want to pay.  Not sure about using Uber; I will need to get a local SIM card and set up that phone number in my Uber account which is currently based on my U.S. phone number that won't work in NZ or Australia.

Oh harden up! Ubers are cheap - particularly when you're coming over with $USD! lol! If you're not going to spend the money on excursions.. why come? 🤣 

 

You can get the free shuttle into Lyttleton and then a short uber over the hill to the Gondola (it's basically right above the port - I've walked from Lyttleton to the top of the Gondola before). 

 

If you want to see the city centre and do the Gondola. Get the cruise ship provided bus to the city centre. Then get a one-way uber to the Gondola - it's cheap. If you're then enjoying your day and wanting to penny-pinch.. walk down from the top of the Gondola into Lyttleton Port and get the free shuttle back to the ship.  

[dreams_of_travel]

23 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Oh harden up! Ubers are cheap - particularly when you're coming over with $USD! lol! If you're not going to spend the money on excursions.. why come? 🤣 

 

You can get the free shuttle into Lyttleton and then a short uber over the hill to the Gondola (it's basically right above the port - I've walked from Lyttleton to the top of the Gondola before). 

 

If you want to see the city centre and do the Gondola. Get the cruise ship provided bus to the city centre. Then get a one-way uber to the Gondola - it's cheap. If you're then enjoying your day and wanting to penny-pinch.. walk down from the top of the Gondola into Lyttleton Port and get the free shuttle back to the ship.  

Your post made me laugh.  Thanks for the info about the Gondola and city centre.  I have only done a drive through the city on a recent cruise excursion, so I hope to see a bit more this time around.  

[Over from NZ]

1 hour ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Your post made me laugh.  Thanks for the info about the Gondola and city centre.  I have only done a drive through the city on a recent cruise excursion, so I hope to see a bit more this time around.  

Haha. I hope you enjoy your trip. If you get off in the city.. I recommend doing the Punting down the Avon and the Tram (it's not a long loop.. but has been recently extended) as both are great fun, close-by and fair value. Actually, there's a discount package involving the Punting, the Tram and the Gondola. If you do the Gondola - make sure you do the discovery ride at the top - it's included in the cost I think and is excellent. 

[Jamietravelstheworld]

I was just in Christchurch, and while there the NCL Spirit was in Lyttleton. I took an Uber from Christchurch to the Gondola, I think it was US $16, and no tipping in NZ. I took the #8 bus from the gondola back to Christchurch, $4 NZ (so about $3 US), and it wasn't crowded at all and took about 20 minutes, if that.  

 

BTW, someone else mentioned the punting. It was okay, but I don't know if I'd spend the money and take the time. The tram was nicer. But if you do the punting, you absolutely have to pre-reserve a time, it was fully booked the day I did it.