International Antarctic Centre
A visitor centre on the working Antarctic campus at Christchurch Airport, with a storm room, rescued penguins and the vehicles that cross the ice
Christchurch is one of five cities in the world that serve as gateways to Antarctica. Around a hundred flights a year leave its airport for the ice. Beside the runway is the International Antarctic Centre, a visitor attraction that puts you in a room at minus eight degrees, drives you over an obstacle course in a tracked Hägglund, and keeps a colony of little blue penguins. We think it is the best wet-day choice in the city and the right use of a spare half day at the airport. It is not cheap, and we think it suits children better than it suits a reader of polar history.
How this page was madeThis page is not written from our own visit. It is researched from the centre’s own site, Christchurch Airport, NZ History, the Antarctic Heritage Trust and the city’s tourism body, all named at the foot of the page. Where they disagree or say nothing, we tell you. When we go, we will say so here.
Last updated 4 October 2026
Why it matters
The centre is here because the real thing is here. ChristchurchNZ, the city’s tourism and economic agency, names five Antarctic gateway cities: Christchurch, Hobart, Cape Town, Punta Arenas and Ushuaia. It says the United States, Italy, South Korea and New Zealand all base their Antarctic programmes in Christchurch, and that China, Germany and France pass through. The visitor centre shares its name with the campus they work from.
The airport gives the figures. About a hundred direct flights a year go from Christchurch to the ice, in a season that runs from October to February. The distance is about 3,920 kilometres. A United States Air Force C-17 covers it in five hours and a ski-equipped Hercules in seven, and they land on a runway of compacted snow. The American operation, Operation Deep Freeze, has flown from here since 1955.
The ships came first
Long before the aircraft, the expeditions sailed from Lyttelton, the port over the hill. Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery left there on 21 December 1901. Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod followed on 1 January 1908. Scott came back with the Terra Nova in 1910. The Antarctic Heritage Trust says the ship finally left Lyttelton on 29 November; other accounts have it leaving Port Chalmers, near Dunedin, that day. He did not return. The Terra Nova brought the news of his death to Oamaru on 10 February 1913.
New Zealand’s own presence dates from the next generation. Scott Base opened on 20 January 1957, and on 4 January 1958 Edmund Hillary’s party reached the South Pole, the first to do so overland since Scott and the first by motor vehicle. The Ross Dependency, the sector of Antarctica south of New Zealand, has been administered by New Zealand since 1923.
What else of Antarctica you can see in Christchurch
The city holds more of this story than one building. Scott’s statue stands on the Avon, and its inscription is quoted below. At Lyttelton, the harbour ferry goes to Ōtamahua, or Quail Island, where the local information centre says Scott’s and Shackleton’s dogs and ponies were kept and trained; the kennels are on the island walk. On the Cashmere hills, at Cracroft Reserve, a National Erebus Memorial is being built to the 257 people who died when an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight struck Mount Erebus on 28 November 1979. Ground was broken on 22 June 2026, and it was not yet open when we checked.
What the centre is, and is not
The visitor centre opened in 1992, according to the airport. It is a commercial attraction, not a national museum. Business Canterbury reported that the owners of Willowbank Wildlife Reserve bought it from the tourism company RealNZ, with the handover in December 2024. Its strength is the physical experience. For objects from the expeditions the place to look is Canterbury Museum, which is closed for rebuilding; by one report it will not reopen before mid-2029.
What it’s like
The centre lists seven experiences under general admission. The table in the next section sets them out; this is what each asks of you.
The Storm Experience is the one the centre leads with. It describes a room chilled to minus eight degrees Celsius and then swept by a wind that takes the chill to minus eighteen. The centre lends overshoes and asks you to bring your own warm jacket. There is also an optional Polar Plunge Challenge, which involves icy water; the site does not say whether it costs extra.
The Hägglund is the tracked, two-cab vehicle used on the ice itself. The ride lasts about fifteen minutes, and the centre describes it as driving across ice, up and down hills, above crevasses and through water. It is included in the ticket. The centre advises against it for anyone pregnant or with a heart, back or neck condition.
The penguins are kororā, little blue penguins, the smallest penguin species, and the centre says it holds up to 26 of them. An independent guide calls it the country’s largest colony of rescued little blues, many with permanent injuries. They are fed in public, at times the centre says it sometimes changes.
The rest is indoors and quieter: a 4D theatre, the Antarctic Gallery, and displays the centre calls Antarctica 101 and Generation Antarctica. You may read elsewhere of huskies to meet. The centre’s own list of experiences does not mention them, so do not promise them to a child.
What writers and artists have made of it
The words that belong to this story are not at the centre. They are in the city, cut into the plinth of a marble statue of Scott on the bank of the Avon, at Worcester Street and Oxford Terrace. His widow, the sculptor Kathleen Scott, carved the figure, and it was unveiled on 9 February 1917. The inscription is from his diary: “I do not regret this journey, which shows that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another and meet death with as great fortitude as ever in the past.” The statue was damaged in the earthquake of 22 February 2011 and unveiled again on 6 October 2017.
In the storm room, when the wind comes, take one hand out of your pocket and hold it up into the air. Count slowly to twenty. Notice where the cold reaches first, and what your body does without being asked. Then put the hand back and notice how long the feeling takes to return. The centre gives that wind as minus eighteen degrees, and you met it for twenty seconds in a room you can leave. Hold that thought until you are next beside the Avon, in front of the statue, and read the inscription again.
How to visit
Getting there
The centre is at 38 Orchard Road, on the edge of Christchurch Airport, and it says the terminal is about five minutes away on foot. From the city, Metro bus 8 stops outside and bus 29 a short walk away. Metro allows about 30 minutes for either, with the 8 running every 15 minutes on weekdays and the 29 every half hour. The fare is $3 by Metrocard or contactless card and $4 in cash. Parking at the centre is free.
Older guides mention a free shuttle from the city called the Penguin Express. We found no trace of it on the centre’s site or anywhere current. Plan on the bus.
Tickets and hours
General admission is $74 for an adult of 16 or over, $49 for a child of 5 to 15, and free under five. A student with identification pays $59. A family ticket for two adults and two children is $199, and each further child is $25. The centre is open from 9am to 4.30pm every day except Christmas Day. It sells tickets online in advance; its site does not say whether that is cheaper.
There is also a guided tour of about two hours, from $99 a person, which the centre says is not suitable for under-sixteens. It adds talks about the penguins to the storm room, the Hägglund and the theatre.
What is inside
| Experience | What it is | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Experience | A room at −8°C with a wind chill to −18°C | Bring a warm jacket; overshoes are lent |
| Hägglund Field Trip | About 15 minutes in a tracked Antarctic vehicle over an obstacle course | Minimum height 1.2 m; not advised in pregnancy or with heart, back or neck trouble |
| Penguin Rescue | Up to 26 little blue penguins, with public feeding | Feeding times vary; ask on arrival |
| 4D Theatre | A short film with moving seats and effects | The centre gives no title or length |
| Antarctic Gallery, Antarctica 101, Generation Antarctica | Displays on the continent and the people who work there | None |
The Hägglund is the centre’s headline ride, and it sets a minimum height of 1.2 metres, with every child accompanied by an adult. A child aged five or over pays $49 whether or not they are tall enough to ride. If yours is close to the line, check at the desk before you buy.
How long, and what else is there
The centre gives no recommended time. One campervan company’s guide suggests two to three hours, or about four with a tour and a stop at the café, and says there are coin lockers for bags. We could not confirm the lockers from the centre itself, which matters if you are coming with luggage between flights; the airport terminal is the safer place to ask.
The centre describes itself as fully accessible, with accessible toilets and baby-change rooms. The Hägglund’s health limits apply to everyone.
Seeing the real aircraft
You cannot visit the working programmes. But the airport’s own guide for plane-spotters names two places to see the Antarctic apron, where the C-17s and Hercules park in the season: the south side of the Novotel at the terminal, and Wairakei Road. From October to February you may see a grey aircraft bound for the ice.
Making the most of it
At $74 an adult this is not a casual ticket, so it is worth getting right.
The centre is five minutes’ walk from the terminal, and one independent guide allows two to three hours. We think that makes it the Christchurch sight to fit before a late flight or after an early arrival, with no trip into the city.
The centre lends overshoes for the storm room and asks you to bring your own warm jacket. Christchurch in summer does not suggest one, so put it in the bag before you leave.
The penguins are fed in public, and the centre says the times sometimes change. Ask as you come in, and fit the Hägglund and the storm room around it.
Scott’s statue stands on the Avon at Worcester Street, in the middle of the city. Read the inscription after the storm room, or before it. Either order improves both.
A chilled room, a theatre, galleries and penguins are what the centre lists, and none of them needs good weather. On a clear day we think the hills and the gardens are the better use of Christchurch, and they are free. On a wet one, this is.
From October to February, glance at the apron from the south side of the Novotel. A C-17 or a ski-equipped Hercules there is the real version of everything inside.
Nearby
The centre is out by the airport, half an hour from everything else. Our Christchurch guide sets out the city, with where to stay, including near the airport. The Scott statue is on the walk we describe in the rebuilt city centre, and the Canterbury Museum pop-up, at 66 Gloucester Street, is close by; its page does not say whether any Antarctic material is on show.
Two free alternatives for a clear day are the Botanic Gardens and the Port Hills, where the Bridle Path drops to Lyttelton, the port the expeditions sailed from. The Air Force Museum at Wigram, on the other side of the city, has a Hercules you can go inside; it is free for New Zealand residents and $15 for an overseas adult.
A final word on the Antarctic Centre
Antarctica is the one continent most of us will never stand on. For most visitors this is the nearest practical taste of it in New Zealand: a cold room, a tracked vehicle and, in season, the aircraft that fly there. On the evidence, we would go with children or on a wet day, and read Scott’s plinth either way.
Andrew + Margaret
- Christchurch Overview
- Christchurch’s rebuilt city centre Highlight
- The Port Hills & the Christchurch Gondola Highlight
- Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Hagley Park & the Avon Highlight
- Akaroa & Banks Peninsula Highlight
- Where to stay in Christchurch Decide
- International Antarctic Centre — tickets and prices Booking
- International Antarctic Centre — plan your visit Official
- International Antarctic Centre — Hägglund ride limits Official
- Metro — buses to the airport Practical
- Christchurch Airport — gateway to Antarctica Official
- NZ History — Antarctica and New Zealand, a timeline Culture
- NZ History — the Scott memorial, Christchurch Culture
- Antarctic Heritage Trust Culture
- Air Force Museum of New Zealand, Wigram Practical
How much is the International Antarctic Centre?
An adult is $74, a child aged 5 to 15 is $49, and a family of two adults and two children is $199. Under-fives are free. General admission includes the Hägglund ride.
How long do I need?
The centre does not say. An independent guide suggests two to three hours.
Can I walk there from the airport?
Yes. The centre says it is about five minutes on foot from the terminal.
Is it suitable for small children?
Under-fives go in free. The Hägglund ride needs a height of 1.2 metres and an accompanying adult, and the storm room is cold by design. We think the penguins are the safe bet for the smallest.