Atomic Shuttles buses stop in Lake Tekapo en route between Christchurch and Queenstown. Their buses stop outside the Four Square supermarket in the village centre on the Tekapo–Twizel Road.
InterCity Coachlines and the Cook Connection buses also stop in Lake Tekapo, but they use a different bus stop in the car park outside the Lake Tekapo Tavern, around a three-minute walk from here.
InterCity Coachlines stop at the old train station on Station Street in Timaru on their Christchurch–Dunedin and Christchurch–Te Anau routes.
Newmans Coach Lines stop in Geraldine en route between Christchurch and Queenstown.
Coaches stop outside the Kiwi Country Tourism Complex just north of the town centre.
The TranzAlpine, New Zealand’s most spectacular rail journey passes through Arthurs Pass en route between Christchurch and Greymouth.
Methven Travel run a Christchurch-Methven shuttle service and during the ski season they also operate a bus service linking Methven with the Mount Hutt ski area. Buses depart from their office at 93 Main Street.
In addition to serving as the hub of the city’s local bus network, the Christchurch Bus Interchange is the main stop for most bus and coach services to other parts of the South Island, including services by Atomic Shuttles, InterCity Coachlines and the West Coast Shuttle.
Bus and coach services that depart from here include services to Akaroa, Dunedin, Fox Glacier, Greymouth, Hanmer Springs, Kaikoura, Picton and Queenstown.
The Christchurch Bus Interchange has better facilities than most other long-distance coach stops in the South Island and includes an information counter, luggage lockers, toilets and a few shops.
Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is 12km west of the city centre. It’s the country’s second-busiest international airport and an increasingly popular international gateway, particularly for flights from Australia.
There are several airport shuttle bus services, including Super Shuttle, which operate a door-to-door service to hotels and hostels around Christchurch. This shuttle runs around the clock and charges $25 to go to most parts of the city.
A much cheaper option is the local bus routes (purple and route 29), although timing may not be practical if you have an early morning flight. The cash fare to the airport is $8.50 ($2.55 if you pay with a Metrocard), but it only costs $4 if you get off the bus a stop before the airport (near the Antarctic Centre).
There are regular bus and coach services linking Kaikoura with Christchurch, Blenheim and Picton.
Northbound InterCity Coachlines services stop outside Fish Tank Lodge on West End and southbound services stop across the road outside the i-SITE Visitor Information Centre.
InterCity Coachlines stop in Haast en route between Franz Josef and Queenstown with direct daily coach services to Fox Glacier, Franz Josef, Queenstown and Wanaka.
The Haast InterCity coach stop is on Marks Road opposite Wilderness Backpackers.
InterCity Coachlines connect Fox Glacier with Greymouth and Queenstown with with direct coach services to Franz Josef, Greymouth, Hokitika, Queenstown and Wanaka.
The Fox Glacier InterCity coach stop is on Main Road outside Fox Glacier Guides.