Central Business District

The Central Business District main activity is centred on the intersection of Esk and Kelvin streets. However, the overall CBD is bounded by Leven, Tay, Daveron, and Gala streets.

• Esk Street is the main shopping street of Invercargill running from Don Street to a little east of Kelvin Street. The west end of Esk Street is anchored by Wachner Place, while the main pedestrian area ends at about the Invercargill City Council offices midway between Kelvin and Deveron streets.
• Wachner Place is a civic open area that captures the sunshine nicely and has become a place to sit and people watch. It also is the location of the central toilets and features showers which are open to the public to use.
• Bank Corner, the intersection of Tay/The Crescent and Dee/Clyde streets, is located just south of Wachner Place and it features three architecturally wonders from the turn of the 20th Century. These three bank buildings no longer house the banks they were built for but it is worth admiring. In the middle of the roundabout is The Trooper's Memorial which honours those who died during the Boer War in South Africa.
• Southland Fire Service Museum[4], located at Jed and Spey streets, houses several fire engines and other fire fighting items. Generally open Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday and the admission is a gold coin.
• Queen’s Park[5] is on the northern edge of the central business district. This large Edwardian styled city park has a lot of amenities including the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, the Observatory[6], Queen’s Park Golf Club[7], rose gardens, duck ponds, an excellent children’s playground, a bird aviary, and a zoo housing introduced species to New Zealand. It is quite easy to spend half a day exploring this 81 hectare park.
• Southland Museum and Art Gallery[8] on Gala Street, where you can see live Tuatara, a reptile that has been around since the time of the dinosaurs.

South of Invercargill

• Bluff – Bluff is about 30 km south of Invercargill and is at the bottom of the South Island, the closest place on the mainland to Antarctica.
• Stewart Island is New Zealand's third largest island and is visible from Invercargill and many parts of surrounding Southland. You can either fly from Invercargill Airport or take a ferry from Bluff.
• Tiwai Point Aluminium SmelterManapouri Power Station was built. There are regular tours of the plant, though visitors should leave their watches, electronics and jewellery in a safe place as the strong magnetic fields in the plant can damage sensitive equipment.

By bus

InterCity Coachlines is New Zealand's national coach company and operates over 150 services to more than 600 destinations nationwide. They operate daily services from Dunedin to Invercargill and Christchurch as well as to Queenstown and other places in the southern lakes district. The low cost bus option is nakedbus.com with prices starting at $1.

Knight Rider is six times per week option from Christchurch and Dunedin. It arrives in Invercargill at 3.00 AM.

Catch-a-Bus provided service to Dunedin six times a week. This service will pick you at your door.

By car

Invercargill is the main focal point of numbered highways in Southland.

Heading south from Southern Scenic Route [2], often called SH 92, through the Catlins. While only a half hour longer to drive, allow a day for this trip at there's heaps of natural attractions to see.

Invercargill is about two-and-a-half hours south of Queenstown via SH 6.

In addition, following SH 99 through Riverton you can reach Te Anau in about two-and-a-quarter hours.

By plane

Air New Zealand[3] with flights from Christchurch and Wellington. A flight from Christchurch to Invercargill takes about an hour in a turboprop aircraft. On a clear day the flight is spectacular, with the Southern Alps to the west of the flight path. If flying south to Invercargill be sure to request a window seat on the right or starboard side of the aircraft (request port or left if flying out to Christchurch.) Mount Cook, which is visible about half way through the flight, is merely the biggest of the many massive peaks of the Southern Alps. A direct flight from Wellington takes around 2 and a half hours.