Nearby Food and Activities

Eating places

Little River Cafe - 2 km (2 mins)

Excellent for coffee, breakfast, brunch and lunch! Open 7.30am - 4.30pm (5pm on weekends). See their Facebook page and map.

The One Next Door - 2 km (2 mins)

Good restaurant / bar, open for lunch and dinner Fri-Sun. They also do take-out. See their Facebook page and map.

Little River Inn - 4 km (4 mins)

Traditional NZ pub, extensively renovated in 2022, open every day for lunch and dinner. See their Facebook page and map.

Hilltop Tavern - 8 km (10 mins)

Traditional NZ pub, amazing views, great pizzas. Hours vary; typically Thu-Sun 10am-7pm. It's best to call them first (03 3251005) to make sure they're open! See their website and map. The drive is hilly and windy.

Duvauchelle Hotel - 16 km (19 mins)

Traditional NZ pub, good for evening meals. Open Wed-Thu 4-9pm, Fri-Sat 12-10pm, Sun 12-9pm. See their Facebook page and map. The drive is hilly and windy.

Ma Maison Restaurant, Akaroa - 26 km (30 mins)

There are many eating places in Akaroa, but this is our favourite restaurant! Open daily 11am-10pm. See their website and map.

Activities

Shopping

• The Little River Village (2 km, 2 mins) has a good art gallery, gift shop, library and a general store where you can get basic food supplies. There is also a great playground for kids.

• Akaroa (26 km, 29 mins) has a good selection of arts and craft shops and clothes shops.

Walking

• The Little River Rail Trail starts (or ends, depending on your perspective) at Little River (2 km, 2 mins). This can be walked or biked as far as you like back towards Christchurch!

• You can park at Okuti Valley Scenic Reserve (7 km, 9 mins) and walk up through the bush on Reserve Road, which turns into a paper road that eventually gets to Hilltop.

• The Montgomery Park Scenic Reserve (8 km, 10 mins) has a short walk to a giant totara tree (5 mins) and on to a scenic lookout (10 mins). You can then keep going for another 45 mins and get to Montgomery Peak, from where there are spectacular views to Pigeon Bay, Akaroa, Lake Forsyth and Little River. Another hour further on you get to Mt Sinclair. Keep going for another 1.5 hours and have someone meet you at the Port Levy Saddle. More info here.

• The Saddle Hill Scenic Reserve (15 km, 22 mins, part of it on unsealed road) has amazing views, with a walk to the top of the hill through open country that takes about 30-40 mins each way.

• The Packhorse Hut Track (25 km, 22 mins) in Kaituna Valley takes about 1h 20min each way, with nice views down on to Lyttelton Harbour once you get to the hut. You can stay in the hut if you want - see DOC's website: Packhorse Hut.

• The Children's Bay Rhino Walk (25 km, 28 mins) is just before Akaroa. Park by the sea and enjoy a fairly gentle climb up to some nice views and some animal sculptures. About 30 mins each way. More info here.

• Newton's Waterfall (28 km, 36 mins) is just past Akaroa. It's an easy 10-min walk each way. More info here.

Swimming

There are many scenic beaches on Banks Peninsula. The best swimming beach is Tumbledown Bay (17 km, 26 mins, half of it on unsealed road), though you can also swim at most of the bays on the peninsula. The closest ones are Pigeon Bay (16 km, 21 mins), Little Akaloa (23 km, 31 mins), Tikao Bay (19km, 26 mins), Wainui (21 km, 27 mins), Akaroa (26 km, 31 mins).

Driving

A beautiful scenic route is to drive up Okuti Valley, then along the ridges and down to Wainui, then back over the hill via Hilltop. Driving time is just over an hour (45 km, half of it on unsealed road), but you'll want to stop along the way to admire the views or to have an ice cream at Hilltop Tavern. Optionally, you can stop at Saddle Hill Scenic Reserve and walk to the top of the hill in about 30-40 mins (each way).