Things to Do in Addington, Christchurch

Atmosphere

Gritty-residential with bursts of creative spark, the growl of freight trains and the morning duel of malt and coffee on the breeze.

Price Level

$$

Safety

good

Horncastle Arena

Christchurch's largest indoor venue looms over Addington's northern fringe, staging everything from netball finals to touring rock shows. The outside is plain concrete, but once you’re through the doors the scale slaps you—14,000 seats, acoustics better than expected, and a ceiling that seems to hover above the action. Popcorn, spilled beer, the increase when the home side scores, the floor pulsing under a bass drop.

Tip: Leave the car on Lincoln Road and walk ten minutes—arena parking runs roughly triple the price of nearby street spots, and the stroll lets you eye up pre-show eats along Lincoln.

Addington Raceway & Events Centre

Harness racing has thundered around this track since 1899, and the timber grandstand still creaks with memory. Thursday night meetings pull a loyal crowd—old-timers in flat caps, families clutching fish and chips in paper. The air smells of churned earth and horse sweat, and the starter’s bell drifts across the suburb. Even if you never place a bet, the sight of standardbreds at full stride, hooves hammering crushed limestone, opens a window onto a Christchurch tradition that’s quietly slipping away.

Tip: The public grandstand costs nothing on non-feature nights; bring binoculars and be trackside by 6:30pm to catch race one and bag a seat with a clear view of the finish straight.

The Tannery

This repurposed 19th-century industrial site on Garlands Road ought to feel forced—a Victorian-themed shopping court inside a former wool plant—yet it pulls it off. Sunlight drops through the glass roof onto polished concrete, and the central atrium bounces footsteps and piped jazz back at you. Boutique chocolatiers, a bookshop with proper creaking boards, and a brewery wedged into the rear corner share the space. It’s geared for tourists, sure, but finished with enough craft that locals still browse.

Tip: The ground-floor public toilets are kept to a standard seldom seen in Christchurch; handy intel if you’ve been pounding pavement all day.

Lincoln Road dining strip

This unvarnished strip packs Addington’s densest eating scene, a mash-up of long-running joints and recent arrivals. Charcoal smoke from Korean BBQ, garlic steam from late-night noodle houses, and the sweet yeasty scent of dough proving at Baker’s Delight drift along the pavement. Neon in half a dozen languages flickers above shopfronts whose signage hasn’t changed since the 1980s. It’s rough around the edges, yet alive in ways mall food courts can’t touch.

Tip: The best Malaysian satay in the area comes from a cart that parks outside the mosque on Friday afternoons—turn up before 2pm or they’re gone.

Addington Cemetery

Founded in 1858, this hillside cemetery gifts surprising views across the city to the Port Hills. Headstones spell out Christchurch’s past—shipwreck victims, children taken by diphtheria, Chinese market gardeners who fed the first settlers. Mature oaks and planes throw shifting shadows, and in autumn the leaf-litter smells of damp soil and rot. Traffic noise drops behind the slope, leaving an unexpected quiet; outside Anzac Day you’ll probably have the place to yourself.

Tip: Start at the eastern gate on Strickland Street and follow the upper path counter-clockwise for the best vistas without doubling back.

Unknown Chapter

Specialty coffee and brunch

Specialty: A smoked-salmon bagel with house-cured fish and dill cream cheese, priced roughly mid-range for Christchurch brunch joints.

Dimitris Greek Food

Casual Greek/Mediterranean

Specialty: Lamb souvlaki with proper hand-cut chips stuffed straight into the pita, cheaper than anything you’ll find in the central city.

Zen Sushi & Dumplings

Japanese/Chinese fusion

Specialty: Pork and chive dumplings, pan-fried to order with the classic lace-crisp skirt, easy on the wallet for the portion you get.

Three Boys Brewery

Brewery with food

Specialty: A tasting paddle of seasonal releases matched with beer-battered fish and proper hand-cut chips, mid-range on the till.

Addington Coffee Co-op

Ethical coffee roastery and cafe

Specialty: A long black pulled from the house roast, plus date and orange scones that vanish by 10am most Saturdays.

The Pedal Pusher

A big pub squatting in a former cycle shop on Lincoln Road, original high ceilings and industrial windows still intact. The crowd blends tradies still in hi-vis, university students, and old regulars who’ve occupied the same stools since the 1990s.

Unpretentious, noisy, properly local

Pomeroy's Old Brewery Inn

Just over the Kilmore Street border but an easy walk from central Addington, this is Christchurch’s go-to craft beer stop. Malt and hops scent the timber-lined room, and the twenty-plus taps never stay the same for long.

Beer nerds, serious conversations about hops

The Tannery bars

Old brick warehouses pack in bars barely larger than living rooms. One stocks 120 gins, another pulls straight from the brewery's fresh tanks. The crowd skews young—jeans, trainers, drifting in from outer suburbs while the CBD winds down.

Date-night couples, after-work groups