TranzAlpine Highlights: 12 Places You’ll Wish You’d Stopped Longer

The TranzAlpine train is New Zealand’s great coast-to-coast rail journey, travelling between Christchurch and Greymouth across the Canterbury Plains and through the spectacular Southern Alps.

Along the way, the TranzAlpine highlights include dramatic river gorges, high-country landscapes, Arthur’s Pass, the famous Otira Tunnel and the lush forests of the West Coast. It’s an extraordinary journey in its own right.

But what if, instead of simply watching it all go by, you actually got off? In Scenic Class, there’s no extra fare to pay for breaking the journey, so the only thing you really need is time…

There’s a funny thing that happens when you travel on the TranzAlpine train. You’re comfortably settled into your seat, the scenery is getting increasingly spectacular and everything is going exactly to plan. Then the train pulls into a small station.

A couple grab their backpacks and get off. Someone else is met on the platform. Perhaps a suitcase disappears into the back of a waiting vehicle. And suddenly you’re thinking: Where are they going? Should we be getting off too? What do they know that we don’t?

We’ve had exactly the same feeling.

The TranzAlpine between Christchurch and Greymouth is quite rightly considered one of New Zealand’s great train journeys. But one of the things we love about it is that the railway doesn’t simply take you through a spectacular landscape. It gives you access to it.

Some TranzAlpine stops are worth turning into an overnight stay. Others provide the starting point for a completely different adventure. And once you reach the West Coast, there are places where we’d happily keep going for several more days.

So rather than another list of things to photograph through the window, here are 12 TranzAlpine highlights that might just persuade you to get off the train.

1. Springfield – Where the journey starts getting serious

Springfield is easy to overlook. By now you’ve crossed the Canterbury Plains, the mountains are getting closer and most passengers are looking ahead to Arthur’s Pass. But perhaps this is exactly where you should get off.

Springfield sits at the foot of the Southern Alps, right where the landscape starts becoming considerably more adventurous. Nearby Kura Tāwhiti/Castle Hill is one of Canterbury’s most extraordinary landscapes – a collection of huge limestone formations scattered across the high country between the Torlesse and Craigieburn ranges. The Dalai Lama is even said to have described the area as a “spiritual centre of the universe” during a visit in 2002. Whether or not you feel quite that enlightened, it’s a remarkable place to walk amongst the rocks.

For something wilder, Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park opens up a landscape of tussock-covered mountains, alpine tracks and huge Canterbury views. This is proper high-country country – somewhere for experienced walkers to pull on their boots and disappear for a while.

And because this is a rail journey, there’s another reason to linger. The Midland Rail Heritage Trust occupies the former locomotive depot opposite Springfield station, preserving locomotives, rolling stock and the history of the Midland Line. Springfield was once an important railway base: beyond here came the tunnels, viaducts and steep gradients required to push the railway towards the Southern Alps.

After all that activity, there’s the Springfield Hotel, which traces its beginnings back to 1862 when Springfield was an important coaching stop on the route west. It’s exactly the sort of country pub that belongs in a journey like this.

And yes, there’s still the giant pink doughnut. Take the photo. But don’t make it the reason you came.

2. The Wilderness Lodge Arthur’s Pass – Disappear for a while

This is for the person who looks out of the TranzAlpine window and thinks: I’d quite like to stay out here. Not necessarily in Arthur’s Pass village itself, but properly surrounded by mountains.

Wilderness Lodge Arthur’s Pass sits on a working high-country sheep farm and nature reserve surrounded by Arthur’s Pass National Park. There are walking trails, guided nature experiences, merino sheep, mountain views and the rather appealing prospect of returning at the end of the day to a very comfortable lodge and an excellent dinner. Transfers from the TranzAlpine at Arthur’s Pass can also be arranged. It’s a very different interpretation of a rail holiday.

Get off the train. Put the suitcase down. Stay for a couple of nights. Walk. Eat. Read. Look at the mountains. Sometimes doing less is actually the adventure.

3. Arthur’s Pass – Follow the people with the backpacks

Of all the TranzAlpine stops, Arthur’s Pass is probably the one most likely to make you question your original itinerary. People actually do get off here. And some of them look suspiciously well prepared.

Arthur’s Pass sits right in the Southern Alps and is a natural base for walking, hiking and exploring Arthur’s Pass National Park. The railway station is also the highest operational railway station in New Zealand.

You don’t have to be heading into the mountains for three days carrying everything on your back, either.

There are shorter walks, including the popular Devil’s Punchbowl Waterfall Track, while those with more time can explore considerably further.

And keep an eye out for kea. New Zealand’s alpine parrot is intelligent, inquisitive and quite capable of taking an unhealthy interest in anything you’ve left unattended.

4. Otira – Experience the other side

Not every place on our list is somewhere you can simply step off the train, and the Otira Tunnel is obviously one of them but it fits our list as one of the TranzAlpine highlights. This 8.5km journey beneath the Main Divide of the Southern Alps illustrates perfectly why slowing down, and perhaps travelling the TranzAlpine more than once can completely change what you see.

We experienced this ourselves on a winter journey. Travelling in one direction, there was little to suggest what was waiting for us when we returned a day later. Coming back from the West Coast, we entered the tunnel at Otira and began the long climb towards Arthur’s Pass. When we emerged at the other end, around 335 metres higher, everything had changed. There was snow on the ground, the mountains were white and suddenly we were looking out at a winter landscape we simply hadn’t expected. What magic is this! The train all alighted and a few snowball fights amongst the kids took place while we waited at the station.

Could the same thing happen on a return journey later that day? Absolutely. That’s mountain weather. But stopping for a night or two gives the landscape time to change, and that’s rather the point of this whole list.

It also reminds us that the TranzAlpine isn’t necessarily a journey to tick off once. Travel in summer and return in winter and you can experience what feels like a completely different railway.

And if the wonderfully eccentric Otira Stagecoach Hotel has caught your attention as you’ve passed through, talk to us. It’s one of those places that flashes past the train window and immediately makes you wonder what on earth you’ve just seen.

Otira isn’t a regular scheduled TranzAlpine stop, so we’ll need to check what’s possible for your particular journey. But if you’re drawn to places that are a little unusual, it’s certainly worth asking. The hotel is packed with weird and wacky exhibits, curiosities and unexpected characters – and we’re deliberately not going to explain all of them here.

You can even stay the night, which rather perfectly brings us back to the whole point of this blog: the places you pass on the TranzAlpine and later wish you’d stopped to explore. Otira might just be the most unusual of them all. Why? You’ll have to stop long enough to find out.

5. Moana – This is the one we’d seriously consider getting off for

The doors open at Moana and most people stay in their seats. Maybe don’t. The last time we travelled on the train, this is where we alighted for 24 hours of local flavours in the most beautiful setting.

Moana sits beside Lake Brunner, surrounded by mountains, forest and the kind of West Coast landscape that makes doing very little seem like a perfectly legitimate holiday activity. The station is genuinely convenient too. This isn’t somewhere requiring a complicated expedition after leaving the train; the little lakeside settlement is right there.

Go walking. Try trout fishing. Sit beside the lake. Have lunch. Stay overnight.

Hotel Lake Brunner is an obvious base, with lake and mountain views, while its Kingfisher Restaurant & Bar gives us another compelling reason not to rush back onto the train. There are even wood-fired hot tubs. This is possibly the ultimate answer to that where are those people going? question.

They’re staying at Lake Brunner. And now you’re slightly jealous.

6. Lake Brunner – Stay long enough for the lake to change

Yes, technically we’ve just been here.

But Lake Brunner deserves its own entry because arriving in Moana and actually spending time around the lake are two different things. Even if you don’t stop, Lake Brunner is one of the scenic TranzAlpine highlights, with the train skirting the lake shortly after emerging from the Southern Alps. But watching it through the window and waking up beside it are two very different experiences.

The weather changes quickly on the West Coast. So does the light. A lake that is grey and moody in the afternoon might be perfectly still the following morning, reflecting the surrounding mountains. Mist can sit amongst the forest before disappearing almost as quickly as it arrived.

It’s one reason we’re wary of itineraries that reduce every destination to a photograph and a departure time. Some places improve when you give them absolutely nothing to do. Lake Brunner is one of them.

7. Greymouth – Don’t just collect your suitcase

Greymouth is the end of the TranzAlpine line. It does not have to be the end of your journey.

This is where we think some travellers make a mistake. They arrive, collect their luggage and immediately start concentrating on getting somewhere else. Give Greymouth a little time.

Explore the town’s gold and coal mining history, walk along the floodwall, discover the rugged coastline nearby or simply find somewhere for a good West Coast lunch. More importantly, Greymouth is the point where the railway hands you over to the rest of the West Coast. And that’s where things get interesting.

8. Punakaiki – Keep going until you reach the Pancake Rocks

Now we’re extending the journey. Punakaiki isn’t one of the TranzAlpine stops, but it makes enormous sense as part of a TranzAlpine holiday so yes, we’ve absolutely taken the liberty to include it as one of the TranzAlpine highlights.

Head north from Greymouth and you reach one of the most dramatic sections of the West Coast, where rainforest meets the Tasman Sea. The famous Pancake Rocks and blowholes are the obvious attraction, but don’t make the mistake of treating Punakaiki as somewhere you leap out, photograph and leave.

Stay overnight. Walk in Paparoa National Park. Explore the coastline. Listen to the sea when the weather rolls in. The TranzAlpine has brought you across an entire island. This is where you start understanding just how different its two coasts really are.

9. Hokitika – Small town, very easy to like

Alternatively, turn south from Greymouth. A rail tour to Hokitika has become one of our favourite West Coast additions because it has enough going on to warrant a stay without losing the character of a small town.

And it’s remarkably easy to add. Hokitika is only around 40 kilometres south of Greymouth, so within 30–40 minutes of leaving the TranzAlpine you can be heading down the coast towards your next stop. That’s why we think Hokitika deserves a place among our TranzAlpine highlights. It isn’t somewhere the train takes you directly, but it’s exactly the sort of place the TranzAlpine can lead you to.

There’s the beach, galleries, pounamu, cafés and the rather wonderful Hokitika Gorge a short drive inland, where the colour of the water can look as though someone has been overenthusiastic with the photo editing. They haven’t.

Add the West Coast Treetop Walk, Lake Kaniere and surrounding rainforest and suddenly the TranzAlpine has become the first day of a much bigger West Coast adventure. Which, to us, is exactly how a great railway journey should work.

10. Find somewhere good to eat – And don’t rush it

Rail itineraries can become dangerously efficient. Train. Transfer. Hotel. Attraction. Dinner. Sleep. Repeat. So here’s one of our less complicated TranzAlpine highlights: have a long lunch.

It might be at Kingfisher Restaurant overlooking Lake Brunner. It might be somewhere in Hokitika or Greymouth. It might simply be a country pub you hadn’t planned to visit. One of the pleasures of turning the TranzAlpine into a multi-day journey is that you stop travelling according to the railway clock. There’s no announcement telling you to return to your seat. Although, having said that, there is one occasion when we’d happily suggest staying exactly where you are.

Upgrading to Scenic Plus turns lunch into one of the TranzAlpine highlights in its own right. Instead of simply grabbing something to eat along the way, food and drink become part of the journey, with a regionally inspired menu served at your seat as the scenery rolls past outside.

And there is something rather special about that. You’re crossing the Southern Alps, perhaps looking out towards the Waimakariri River or watching the landscape change as you approach the West Coast, while somebody else takes care of lunch. No restaurant reservation. No transfer. No need to watch the clock.

It’s a reminder that slowing a journey down doesn’t necessarily mean getting off the train. Sometimes it simply means giving yourself the time and the excuse to sit back, order another drink and enjoy where you are.

11. Stay for a West Coast sunset

The TranzAlpine gives you mountains, braided rivers, viaducts, tunnels, rainforest and lakes. These are all TranzAlpine highlights. What it can’t give you from the railway line is a proper West Coast sunset over the Tasman Sea. So add one.

Hokitika Beach is an easy option. Punakaiki gives you a wilder version. And on the right evening, when the cloud cooperates, the sky over the Tasman can be spectacular.

There’s something rather satisfying about beginning your day on the eastern side of the South Island, crossing the Southern Alps by rail and eventually standing beside the sea on the western side watching the sun disappear. That’s not just a train journey. That’s crossing New Zealand.

12. Do it again – In the other direction, or another season

Our TranzAlpine highlights isn’t really a stop at all. It’s the TranzAlpine itself. If you’ve travelled Christchurch to Greymouth, consider travelling back by train rather than treating it purely as transport in one direction. Things look different.

You’re on the opposite side of the carriage. The light has changed. You’re approaching landscapes rather than leaving them behind. And features you barely noticed the first time suddenly become obvious.

Better still, come back in another season. The TranzAlpine in summer and the TranzAlpine surrounded by winter snow can feel like two entirely different railway journeys. It’s difficult to describe quite how dramatic that transition feels until you’ve experienced it.

And perhaps that’s the biggest lesson from all these TranzAlpine highlights….

The best TranzAlpine journey might not be the fastest one

You can absolutely travel from Christchurch to Greymouth, stay aboard and enjoy one of the world’s great scenic railway journeys. There’s nothing wrong with doing exactly that. But we’d also encourage you to look at the people getting off. Arthur’s Pass. Moana. Greymouth. Where are they going?

Maybe they’re hiking. Maybe they’re disappearing to a remote lodge. Maybe they’re spending two days beside a lake doing almost nothing. Perhaps they’re picking up a car and continuing up of even down the West Coast.

That’s the beauty of the TranzAlpine stops. They can turn a five-hour railway journey into a three-day escape, a week-long West Coast holiday or part of a much bigger New Zealand adventure. It allows the TranzAlpine highlights to keep on giving.

And if you’re sitting on the train watching someone disappear down the platform with their suitcase and wondering whether they’re having more fun than you are. They just might be. Next time, get off.

If you are planning your own TranzAlpine trip, let the team at LOCO Journeys help. For a small selection of slightly different TranzAlpine train journeys, including different TranzAlpine stops consider LOCO Journeys unique TranzAlpine Escapes

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