Christchurch Travel Forum

We're thinking of staying in Sumner while visiting Christchurch. We found a very nice apt w/ a view and since we'll have a car, we thought it would be nice to stay in Sumner and drive into town if it strike our fancy. Is the Sumner road to and from the city center easy to drive or is the traffic too much to make it a worthwhile place for lodging? On the map there seems to be but one road in and out. Any suggestions? Thanks

We've stayed in Sumner and really enjoyed it there. It is a bit of a trail into Christchurch but not enough to put us off staying there again, and it's a great location from which to explore the Port Hills, Lyttleton Harbour, etc. There's a great little cinema in Sumner, check it out. Plenty of restaurants and cafes too.

I agree with above, and if our experience is anything to go by, you need not worry about traffic at all! It was like heaven compared to Brisbane traffic!!!
Good idea is to take your own GPS with downloaded NZ map. We did this and it was great. Never had a drama finding our way. Was also easy to pre-program our itinerary, which saved a lot of time on the road.
Cheers and enjoy!

The only traffic problem you encounter when staying in Sumner is during peak commuting hours. The coastal road is clogged in the early morning and on the way back from 5 to 6pm. There is also huge traffic on Sundays in summer when everybody heads towards the beach. The solution would be to drive to Lyttelton over the hills and then take the tunnel road straight to the city, or do a scenic drive via the Summit Road down to the suburb of Cashmere and from there straight into the city centre on Colombo Street.

If you want to go to the city centre you can leave your car behind, this would save you parking fees. There is a direct bus route from Sumner (#3 route).

Sumner is great, and as you do not rely on early starts, you can forget about the daily traffic jams. Just try to avoid those peak times, or use the alternative routes.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and insights.