Ferrymead Station is part of Ferrymead Heritage Park, a living history museum in Ferrymead, Christchurch. The park recreates life in early 1900s Christchurch. Visitors can ride the vintage trams and the steam trains, and walk through an Edwardian township with restored cottages, a schoolhouse, a church and period-style businesses. The park also houses heritage exhibitions, each run by a volunteer society with its own collection, and offers hands-on education programmes. Its website names family outings, school trips, corporate events and weddings as the kinds of visit it suits.
Visitors say there is a lot to see, with old shops and houses laid out in an easy-to-follow route, and the tram and steam train rides are the highlights. One found parking easy by arriving early. Another said the rain did not spoil the day and that they could have stayed longer. A former member of the Heritage Kids group said the park looks just as it always did. Staff were kind when a visitor got lost. One reviewer found the views best on sunny days. The site's location between Christchurch and the port of Lyttelton explains its history, as goods came over the Bridle Path and up the estuary before the railway arrived in 1863.