Due to our itinerary schedule, we travelled on the train from Christchurch to Greymouth and back to Christchurch. It was an expensive, average train journey. Apart from a short section of the journey near Christchurch the scenery was average NZ scenery. It is certainly not one of the world’s great train journeys. Anyone who has done train journeys such as the Rocky Mountaineer or the McKinley Explorer will be very disappointed. There is a café carriage on the train and prices are reasonable. The staff were very helpful. The train ride was smooth. However at the end of the journey the train arrived at Christchurch over an hour late – not an uncommon occurrence apparently. People who love trains might like this train trip but it’s certainly not worth going on the train for the sake of seeing the scenery because the scenery is very ordinary.
jwatkins0
I enjoyed this reading and scenic train journey from Christchurch to Greymouth. A nice relaxing way to travel and the train had comfortable seat and was clean. A good cafe car on board as well. Recommended.
GGupta83
The views from this train are amazing. It is truly an experience to travel on this route in this wooden interior classic locomotive. Not to be missed, if you are a nature lover.
KimA927
Scenic trip with not having to drive. I would recommend taking your own food with a limited selection available on board. Viewing platform is busy so get a spot early and enjoy.
SkiLoverofCT
Took the 4 hour train ride from Christchurch to Greymouth starting at 9 am. The train was clean, comfortable, and very new looking. But it was the views of New Zealand as we crossed over the mountains to the west coast that were just so beautiful and made the experience so rewarding.
635allant
1 word "beautiful" pretty much says it all. Great ride, great staff, good food, beautiful scenery. Yes you can get better than this, see the rest of the West Coast & Fiordlands
OzS
Its almost certainly better by road, when you can stop and take photos and even get out and walk a bit. Its very expensive and unreliable, frequently being very late (several people on our train missed international flights) like 3 hours! Apart from a very brief stretch its pretty standard NZ scenery. Hugely over-rated.The staff are utterly fantastically helpful, though.
gaynorclare
We had already completed a tour of the South Island so to see yet more braided rivers, mountains, lakes etc was a bit of the 'same old' for us. But if this was the only view of these wonders that you were going to get... this is the comfortable way to see it.... just close your eyes over the bridges.
maryanddave2015
Would have put excellent if it had not been raining on the day we travelled - you pay your money and take your chances.