Not to be missed - More than a museum, add discovery center, activity center, research facility, educational exhibit, just ..Wow! Ever since reading about Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic has held me in awe, seeing the exhibits of his and Scott’s base camps with survival gear made it so clear. Then the Antarctic storm chamber gave you a real glimpse of the conditions, not to mention the 3D voyage to the Antarctic. We caught the penguin feeding at 3:00 and the well trained and well taken care of, and friendly husky dogs lifted the entire experience to a do not miss this, we Loved it!! Staff was better than great, every one of them, from ticket counter to departure. Thank you all; well done!!

Amazing - Absolutely fantastic. There was a 4 D Theatre, another theatre, live penguins, and a meet and greet with the huskies. The best thing was the simulated snow storm room, it was so cold, but anazing. Dont miss this if you are in Chritchurch.

Great place! - An amazing place! So much to do all included in the basic ticket price (penguins, huskies, Hagglund ride, 4D cinema and Antarctic storm experience) Lots of interesting information displays. Really friendly staff - a specific shoutout to Scott the Husky man who did an excellent talk about the role of Husky’s previously in Antarctica. Great for adults and children. Would 100% recommend!

Make sure you do the Hagglunds Field Trip! - Make sure you do the Hagglunds Field Trip, it's a full on bone shaking ride with a amusing guide. It does take a bit of mucking around to get everyone loaded up, but well worth the wait. We also loved the penguins, you can peek through glass windows and see them in their burrows, and see them both above and below water from other parts. The snow storm was great too. We arrived a bit later than expected and found 2 hours just a little rushed, if we had more time we would have spent more with the penguins, and done the snow storm and Hagglunds trip twice each. Well worth the family pass price for me and the three nephews.

The International Arctic Centre is a MUST ! - The International Arctic Centre is a must when visiting Christchurch. It is located adjacent to the airport and there is plenty of parking. You start with climbing into vehicles designed to operate in the Antarctic. You are driven through an obstacle course mimicking the frozen tundra. There are some highs and lows but perfectly safe. Everyone in our vehicle was laughing and asking for more. People who have neck issues should not go on the ride. Inside you have an option to go into a large room that simulates the freezing temperatures and high winds of the Antarctic. You will be provided a coat and booties if you chose to go into the room. I was in the room for 21 minutes with an open jacket. There is another exhibit where you place your hand in frozen water and a timer displays how long your hand is in the water. The challenge is to keep your hand in the water for one minute. I kept mine in for two minutes. I could have kept it in longer but others wanted to try the exhibit. No one in front of me lasted more than 15 seconds. There are lots of exhibits in the Centre. Plan on 3 hours to see everything.

Exceeded our expectations - We went on a Sunday so expected crowds. In fact it catered for the numbers really well and we always had great viewing and easy access to all the brilliant activities and displays. Incredibly informative. Great friendly people. A terrific experience that exceeded our expectations

Penguins! And a Hagglund ride! - My wife and I booked this trip when we had planned to visit Christchurch, and it especially became critical when my wife learned there were penguins. The center is located just next to the Christchurch airport. We weren’t sure how much time to allocate to the day, but ultimately I would say probably 3 hours, especially if you have any experiences booked (we had the behind the scenes penguin tour, which lasted about 30-40 minutes). Otherwise, there are exhibits and interactive displays in the museum, as well as a 4D Antarctic experience, penguin feedings, and a short movie about some of the science occurring down south. One of the “scary” experiences was the Antarctic storm experience, where they place you in a sealed room where they can drop the temperature and create storm force winds. They do provide puffy jackets and shoe covers (the floor is snowy/icy), but you’d definitely want to be wearing pants! Our penguin tour guide was Gabrielle, and she was particularly patient, nice, and informative. And the Hagglund ride was actually a ton of fun, if not short—it’s a 10 minute ride through their obstacle course, and it’s white knuckle ride! Overall, a fun several hours, and or course, penguins.

Disappointed - Unless you are prepared to do a whole lot of reading, which children aren’t, then the centre doesn’t offer a lot of info. The Dog sled display was hugely disappointing, the presenter just the early explorers into the ground with a , try to be funny presentation, lacked fact and purpose.we weren’t even show how the dogs work. There was a good 3 D show which the children liked , but no commentary. The cold experience in the chiller room was fun, but again no commentary….the technology is out there but sadly not encompassed at the Antarctic Centre , rated 3/10

Terrible staff experience - The Center itself was pretty cool, but standing in line for the Hagglund ride a cafe employee came out and was extremely rude to a mother of a newborn about which bin she had disposed of her diaper. It was totally unprofessional as she did it in front of an entire group of people instead of pulling the lady aside and talking to her in a respectful manner. Having a newborn is hard enough without being dressed down in front of a crowd. Extremely unprofessional and kinda ruined the experience.

Solo guests spots damage - Solo visiting, noticed displays worn or broken/missing could easily be replaced at the price they charge for entry. The timing of things is bad so had to wait around for ages for thing to start once another ended.