TranzAlpine Train

The TranzAlpine runs 223 kilometres between Christchurch and Greymouth and is regularly listed among the great rail journeys, which for once is not far off. It leaves the Canterbury Plains, follows the Waimakariri River into a gorge of pale braided channels and rock, climbs into the beech forest around Arthur's Pass at 737 metres, then goes through the 8.5-kilometre Otira Tunnel - opened in 1923 and for a time the longest in the British Empire - and drops down the wet western side through rainforest to Lake Brunner and the coast. There are sixteen tunnels and five viaducts. An open-air viewing carriage is the thing that makes it: you can stand outside in the wind and photograph without glass, and most people spend the good sections there. One service runs each way daily, so a day return means five hours out, an hour in Greymouth and five hours back.

What you actually see

• The Waimakariri gorge - braided river and rock on the eastern climb.
• The Otira Tunnel - 8.5 kilometres under the main divide.
• The open-air carriage - photography without glass, and the wind.
• The western rainforest - the wet side dropping to Lake Brunner.

When to go

Any season; winter puts snow on the pass and autumn colours the beech. Book ahead in summer. One service each way daily sets the timetable.

Honest expectations

A day return is ten hours on a train for one hour in Greymouth - most people go one way and continue by road. The open carriage is cold and often wet. Cloud on the pass can close the view entirely.

Nearby

Arthur's Pass village is the midpoint stop; Greymouth and Punakaiki are at the western end.