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Auckland, New Zealand, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
▶ Video · Auckland & Islands
Video guide · 2:08:29
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Top 10 Things To Do in Auckland

Country
New Zealand
Best months
Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar
Population
1.7M
Language
English
Budget / day
NZ$220–420
Quick answer

Give Auckland four days. One belongs to the city: the museum on the Domain, the Art Gallery, Karangahape Road and the walk up Maungawhau. One belongs to Waiheke, 40 minutes out of the ferry terminal. One belongs to the Hauraki Gulf, on the crossing to Rangitoto or the longer run to Tiritiri Matangi. The fourth belongs to the west coast, where Piha and Muriwai sit inside an hour.

Auckland & Islands

▶ Video guide Open the film page (2:08:29) →

Auckland is a city with a ferry timetable at the middle of it. It sits on an isthmus so narrow that at Ōtāhuhu a finger of the Waitematā reaches within 1.2 kilometres of the Manukau, and roughly fifty volcanoes push up through the suburbs. Climb a cone in the morning, get on a boat in the afternoon.

The 10 best things to do in Auckland

Start at Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand
1

Start at Auckland War Memorial Museum

Museum· The Auckland Domain, Parnell, Auckland 1010

Tāmaki Paenga Hira is the country's founding museum and the city's war memorial in one building, set on the tuff ring of an extinct volcano above the Domain. The Māori and Pacific collections on the lower floors are the reason to come and the reason to allow more time than you planned. Open until 8.30pm on Tuesdays.

Time2–3 hrs
CostFree for Auckland residents
Best atWeekday morning
TipOpen late on Tuesdays
Map↗ Website
Take the ferry to Waiheke Island, Auckland, New Zealand
2

Take the ferry to Waiheke Island

Island· Matiatia Wharf, Waiheke Island, Auckland

Forty minutes out of the Downtown Ferry Terminal the register of the trip changes: olive groves, bays with no road down to them, and more than thirty vineyards on an island you can cross in half an hour. Two of the five MICHELIN stars Auckland took are here. Fullers360 runs up to 22 services on a peak day.

TimeFull day
CostFerry from NZ$46.50 return
Best atMidweek
TipBook lunch before the ferry
Map↗ Fullers360
Climb Rangitoto, 600 years old, Auckland, New Zealand
3

Climb Rangitoto, 600 years old

Island· Rangitoto Island, Hauraki Gulf, Auckland

The cone on every Auckland postcard rose out of the sea about 600 years ago, which makes it the youngest volcano in New Zealand. The summit track runs 7 km return across raw lava fields and through what DOC calls the largest pōhutukawa forest in the world. There is no shop and no drinking water, so carry what you need.

TimeHalf day
CostFerry ticket
Best atMorning sailing
TipCarry all your own water
Map↗ DOC
4

Walk up Maungawhau / Mount Eden

Viewpoint· Puhi Huia Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024

The highest of the isthmus cones, and the one whose crater still reads as a crater, fenced at the rim out of respect for its significance to mana whenua. The summit road has been closed to private vehicles since 2016. From the top the city resolves into its own geography: two harbours, the gulf, and cone after cone.

Time1 hr
CostFree
Best atLate afternoon
TipGates close at 8.30pm in summer
Map↗ Tūpuna Maunga Authority
Go up the Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand
5

Go up the Sky Tower

Landmark· Corner Victoria & Federal Streets, Auckland CBD 1010

Three hundred and twenty eight metres of concrete and steel, the tallest building in New Zealand, and the quickest way to understand a city laid across an isthmus. Three public observation levels stack up the shaft, each a full circle. AJ Hackett runs a walk around the outside and a jump down the side of it.

Time1 hr
CostTicketed
Best atClear evening
TipCheck the day's hours first
Map↗ Website↗ AJ Hackett
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand (Wimup)
6

Spend an hour in Auckland Art Gallery

Gallery· 1 Kitchener Street, Auckland CBD 1010

Toi o Tāmaki holds the largest art collection in the country and costs nothing to walk into. The heritage wing and the timber-canopied atrium behind it open off the same entrance, and the collection runs from colonial portraiture to contemporary Māori and Pacific work. Open daily 10am to 5pm, and late to 9pm on Fridays.

Time1–2 hrs
CostFree
Best atFriday evening
TipLate opening until 9pm on Fridays
Map↗ Website
7

Cross to Devonport and Maungauika / North Head

Neighbourhood· Devonport Wharf, Devonport, Auckland 0624

Twelve minutes on the ferry and Auckland turns Victorian: wooden villas, a main street of bookshops and cafes, and Cheltenham Beach looking straight at Rangitoto. Two kilometres from the wharf, Maungauika is honeycombed with tunnels cut between 1888 and 1914 against an attack that never came. They are open and unlit.

TimeHalf day
CostFerry fare
Best atClear afternoon
TipTake a torch into the tunnels
Map↗ DOC↗ Devonport Village
Drive west to Piha and the Waitākere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
8

Drive west to Piha and the Waitākere Ranges

Beach· Piha, Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, Auckland 0772

Forty minutes west the road drops through rainforest onto black iron sand, with Lion Rock splitting the surf into two breaks. Piha is a serious beach: the rips are constant and the flags are where you swim. Sections of the ranges are closed for kauri dieback, so the boot-cleaning stations are not optional.

TimeHalf day
CostFree
Best atSunset
TipSwim between the flags
Map↗ Auckland Council↗ Track status
Walk Cornwall Park and Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill, Auckland, New Zealand
9

Walk Cornwall Park and Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill

Park· Cornwall Park, Green Lane West, Epsom, Auckland 1051

A working sheep and cattle farm fifteen minutes from the city centre, wrapped around a heavily terraced volcanic cone whose pā earthworks are still legible from the path. The park belongs to its own trust; the maunga above belongs to the Tūpuna Maunga Authority, which is why the summit has been vehicle-free since 2018.

Time2 hrs
CostFree
Best atEarly morning
TipEnter from Green Lane West
Map↗ Website↗ Tūpuna Maunga Authority
10

Book ahead for Tiritiri Matangi

Island· Tiritiri Matangi Island, Hauraki Gulf, Auckland

An open sanctuary of 220 hectares, 75 minutes out of the city, and the best chance most visitors will get to stand next to birds that no longer live on the mainland. Takahē walk the tracks, and kōkako, tīeke and hihi are all here. The ferry books out well ahead between November and April, so arrange this before you land.

TimeFull day
CostFerry ticket
Best atNov to Apr
TipAdd the volunteer guided walk
Map↗ Website↗ DOC

9 of the 10, mapped

Auckland · 9 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Auckland travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Auckland?+
Four. One for the city itself: the museum on the Domain, the Art Gallery, Karangahape Road and the climb up Maungawhau. One for Waiheke. One for the Hauraki Gulf, on the crossing to Rangitoto or Tiritiri Matangi. One for the west coast at Piha and Muriwai. Three works if you drop the west coast. Two only covers the city and one island.
What is the best time of year to visit Auckland?+
December to March. Summer is the warmest and sunniest stretch, and the sea holds above 18°C from December into April. March is the value pick: the weather stays, the school-holiday crowds have gone, and peak accommodation pricing starts easing. Rain falls here all year, so pack for it whenever you come.
Do you need a car in Auckland?+
Not for the city. An AT HOP card covers buses, trains and ferries, a transfer inside one journey counts as a single fare, and the ferries reach Devonport, Waiheke and Rangitoto. You want a car for the west coast: Piha, Karekare, Muriwai and the Coromandel are awkward or impossible without one.
How do you get from Auckland Airport to the city?+
Three ways. SkyDrive runs an express to SkyCity every 30 minutes, about 35 minutes when the motorway is clear. The AirportLink bus runs every 10 minutes to Puhinui Station, where a train finishes the job for about NZ$5.40 on an AT HOP card. A taxi is indicatively NZ$38 to NZ$105.
Is Waiheke Island worth a whole day?+
Yes, and it is the best single day out of the city. The ferry is 40 to 45 minutes from the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and the island holds more than thirty vineyards plus two MICHELIN-starred restaurants. Book lunch before you book the boat: the cellar doors around Onetangi fill first.
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Auckland (2026)

Six rooms, three of them holding one of the five MICHELIN stars Auckland took in the first New Zealand edition of the guide.
MICHELIN star
Commercial Bay

Ahi

New Zealand · Fine dining

Ben Bayly's dining room on the second floor of Commercial Bay, built around New Zealand produce and named for the fire it is cooked over. One MICHELIN star.

Map↗ Website
MICHELIN star
Parnell

Tala

Samoan · Fine dining

Henry Onesemo's Parnell restaurant, and the only Samoan kitchen in the world holding a MICHELIN star. Contemporary Samoan cooking, which had no shelf before.

Map↗ Website
MICHELIN star
Herne Bay

Paris Butter

French · Fine dining

French technique on New Zealand produce, in a villa on Jervois Road. Nick Honeyman and Zennon Wijlens run it, and it held three hats from Cuisine before the star arrived.

Map↗ Website
Bakery
Britomart

Amano

Italian · All day

An all-day Italian room and bakery spanning two heritage buildings on Tyler Street. The bakery counter opens long before the dining room does.

Map↗ Website
Britomart

Ortolana

Italian · Produce led

A glasshouse in the Britomart pavilions with a produce-led Italian and European menu that turns over with the season rather than the fashion.

Map↗ Website
Oyster bar
City centre

Depot

Seafood · Small plates

Al Brown's counter on Federal Street, and the reference point for the small-plates-and-oysters format half the city copied. Shucked to order, no ceremony.

Map↗ Website
Sand

Best beaches in Auckland (2026)

Five beaches, calm on the east coast and serious on the west. Safeswim posts live water quality and conditions for all of them.
Takapuna BeachNorth Shore

Takapuna Beach

Swimming · Lifeguarded

A long east-coast beach on the North Shore with Rangitoto filling the whole view and pōhutukawa along the sand for shade. Lifeguards patrol in summer.

Map↗ Website
Mission Bay

Mission Bay

Swimming · City bus

The closest proper swimming beach to the city, ten minutes out along Tāmaki Drive, with a row of cafes across the road and Selwyn Domain behind the sand.

Map↗ Website
Cheltenham BeachDevonport

Cheltenham Beach

Swimming · Sheltered

Devonport's own beach, tucked under North Head and calm at almost any tide. Fifteen minutes on foot from the ferry, so the easiest swim to reach without a car.

Map↗ Website
KarekareWest coast

Karekare

Surf · Exposed

The black-sand bay south of Piha, reached down a steep road and across a stream. It is where The Piano was filmed, and it carries the same west-coast rips.

Map↗ Website
West coast

Te Henga / Bethells Beach

Surf · Dunes

Forty-five minutes from the city centre: black sand, dune country, caves, cliffs and a river mouth. A surf beach, so read the conditions before you swim.

Map↗ Website
Island cellar doors

Best Waiheke wineries (2026)

Four cellar doors on an island of more than thirty, two of them holding a MICHELIN star for the restaurant attached.
Mudbrick Vineyard
MICHELIN star
Church Bay

Mudbrick Vineyard

Cellar door · Restaurant

Formal gardens on Church Bay Road, ten minutes from Matiatia, with the Auckland skyline laid out across the water. One MICHELIN star in the first New Zealand guide.

Map↗ Website
MICHELIN star
Onetangi

The Estate at Tantalus

Cellar door · Restaurant

Tantalus Estate's dining room on Onetangi Road, the island's second starred restaurant, with a brewery working out of the same building.

Map↗ Website
Onetangi

Stonyridge Vineyard

Cellar door · Restaurant

The label that made Waiheke's name for Bordeaux blends, at 80 Onetangi Road. Cellar door and restaurant open daily from 11am: walk in for a glass, book ahead for lunch.

Map↗ Website
Oneroa

Cable Bay Vineyards

Cellar door · Restaurant

A modern room on the ridge above Oneroa pouring both Waiheke and Awatere Valley fruit, with the view back across the gulf to the city that most people came up here for.

Map↗ Website
Fifty volcanoes, one city

Best volcanic cones and lookouts in Auckland (2026)

Five more places to get above the isthmus, past the two in the top 10. All free, all walkable, and on the Tūpuna Maunga the summit belongs to feet.
Devonport

Takarunga / Mount Victoria

Maunga · North Shore

The highest volcano on the North Shore and a ten-minute walk up from Devonport's main street. The harbour on one side and Rangitoto on the other.

Map↗ Website
Mount Wellington

Maungarei / Mount Wellington

Maunga · Crater rim

A steep cone over the eastern suburbs with a crater rim you can walk the whole way round, and a summit closed to private vehicles since 2018.

Map↗ Website
Mount Roskill

Puketāpapa / Mount Roskill

Maunga · Two harbours

One of the central cones that shows you both harbours at once, which photographs of Auckland rarely manage. Pedestrian-only at the tihi.

Map↗ Website
Mount Albert

Ōwairaka / Mount Albert

Maunga · Quiet

A low, broad cone in the western suburbs and the quietest of the big lookouts, which on a Sunday afternoon is the entire argument for going.

Map↗ Website
Pukekawa / Auckland DomainGrafton

Pukekawa / Auckland Domain

Park · Free

Auckland's oldest park: 75 hectares set aside in 1843 on the tuff ring of an extinct volcano, with the crater floor now a sports field. The Wintergardens are free.

Map↗ Website
Collections

Best museums and galleries in Auckland (2026)

Five more collections past the two in the top 10, from a maritime museum on the wharf to a craft gallery on Rose Road.
Viaduct Harbour

New Zealand Maritime Museum

Museum · Waterfront

Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa, on Hobson Wharf beside the Viaduct: Pacific voyaging, colonial migration and the America's Cup in one building. Open daily except Christmas.

Map↗ Website
MOTATWestern Springs

MOTAT

Museum · Two sites

The Museum of Transport and Technology, founded in 1964 and spread over 40 acres on two sites, with a heritage tram running between them.

Map↗ Website
Gus Fisher GalleryCity centre

Gus Fisher Gallery

Gallery · Contemporary

The university's gallery, in a 1934 heritage building on Shortland Street, showing contemporary work in rooms that were built as a radio studio.

Map↗ Website
Ponsonby

Objectspace

Gallery · Craft & design

New Zealand's gallery for craft, design and architecture, in Ponsonby since 2017. Small, sharp, and the best place to see what is being made rather than painted.

Map↗ Website
Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary GalleryTitirangi

Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery

Gallery · Contemporary

Opened in 2014 on Titirangi Road, on the edge of the ranges and worth folding into a west-coast day. Local artists, with bush out of every window.

Map↗ Website
Where to spend an afternoon

Best neighbourhoods in Auckland (2026)

Six quarters of the city, and the InnerLink bus loops most of them: Britomart to Parnell, Newmarket, K Road, Ponsonby and back.
City centre

Britomart

Dining · Design

Twenty-odd heritage warehouses between the station and the water, restored into the densest block of good restaurants in the city. Every ferry arrives here.

Map↗ Website
PonsonbyPonsonby

Ponsonby

Dining · Shopping

The strip Auckland has dressed up for since the 1980s, a kilometre of restaurants, boutiques and homeware running along the ridge above the city.

Map↗ Website
Karangahape RoadK Road

Karangahape Road

Nightlife · Independent

A kilometre of Auckland that never smartened up, and is better for it: record shops, Lebanese and Indian counters, galleries, late bars and two rainbow crossings.

Map↗ Website
Parnell

Parnell

Heritage · Galleries

A restored Victorian shopping village on the ridge above the Domain, created in the 1970s from a run of derelict shops. The rose garden sits below it.

Map↗ Website
NewmarketNewmarket

Newmarket

Shopping · Rail

Auckland's main fashion retail strip, ten minutes by train from Britomart, and the one part of the city organised around shopping rather than a view.

Map↗ Website
Wynyard QuarterWaterfront

Wynyard Quarter

Waterfront · Seafood

The working harbour edge west of the Viaduct, now a waterfront promenade with the Auckland Fish Market at the centre of it, trading on this site since 1904.

Map↗ Website
Out of the city

Best day trips from Auckland (2026)

Six trips, from forty-five minutes west to three hours in either direction. The last two are better as overnights and are listed honestly as such.
Hobbiton Movie SetMatamata

Hobbiton Movie Set

Film set · 2 hrs away

Two hours south near Matamata, and the only Lord of the Rings location left standing rather than returned to farmland. The walk finishes with a drink at the Green Dragon.

Map↗ Website
Waitomo

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Caves · 3 hrs away

A river cave under the Waikato farmland, lit by a glowworm found nowhere outside New Zealand. The standard tour ends drifting under the grotto in silence.

Map↗ Website
Muriwai gannet colonyWest coast

Muriwai gannet colony

Wildlife · 45 min away

Forty-five minutes west: one of only three Australasian gannet nesting sites in New Zealand and the easiest to reach, with platforms above the birds. October to February.

Map↗ Website
Cathedral Cove / MautoheCoromandel

Cathedral Cove / Mautohe

Coast · 3 hrs away

The sea-carved archway on the Coromandel's east coast, about three hours out. The track shuts in an orange weather warning, so check on the morning. Park at Hahei.

Map↗ Website
RotoruaBay of Plenty

Rotorua

Geothermal · 3 hrs away

Three hours south into an active geothermal field: mud pools, geysers, a lake and the Māori cultural centres built around all of it. Better as an overnight.

Map↗ Website
Bay of IslandsNorthland

Bay of Islands

Islands · 3 hrs away

Three hours north to Paihia and Russell, on the shore where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. Not a day trip unless the day is very long.

Map↗ Website
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Auckland (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Late Jan

Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta

New Zealand's oldest sporting event and the largest one-day regatta in the world, sailed on the Waitematā. Free to watch.

Late Feb

BNZ Auckland Lantern Festival

Four nights at the Manukau Sports Bowl closing out Chinese New Year. Free, smoke free and alcohol free.

Mar

Pasifika Festival

Western Springs handed over to Pacific nation villages for a weekend, in the largest Polynesian city in the world. Free.

Mar

Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Arts Festival

Eighteen days of theatre, dance and music from New Zealand, the Pacific and further out, across venues in the city centre.

May

Auckland Writers Festival

The largest literary festival in the southern hemisphere, across the Aotea Centre's six theatres, with a free street evening.

Jun or Jul

Matariki

The Māori new year, and a public holiday since 2022. It always falls on a Friday and the date moves each year.

Oct or Nov

BNZ Auckland Diwali Festival

Aotea Square and Queen Street given over to a free two-day festival of light, with three performance stages.

Nov

Auckland Marathon

Marathon, half, an 11 km traverse and a 5 km. The main distances cross the Harbour Bridge, the only day anyone runs it.

Getting around

Auckland transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
AKL

Auckland Airport

One domestic and one international terminal, linked by a free bus and a marked walkway. SkyDrive runs an express to SkyCity every 30 minutes, about 35 minutes when clear.

Map↗ Website↗ SkyDrive
RAIL

AirportLink & trains

The cheap way in. The orange bus runs between both terminals and Puhinui Station every 10 minutes, and the train finishes the trip. About NZ$5.40 the whole way with an AT HOP card.

↗ Auckland Transport
HOP

Buses, trains & AT HOP

One card covers buses, trains and ferries across the region. HOP and contactless both beat the cash fare, and AT caps HOP fares at NZ$50 over seven days.

↗ AT HOP
FERRY

Ferries

Thirteen routes out of the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and the reason Auckland reads differently from the water. Devonport is 12 minutes, Half Moon Bay 35, Waiheke 40.

↗ Auckland Transport↗ Fullers360
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Auckland, New Zealand

The classics to order before you leave.
Green-lipped mussels, Auckland (Wimup travel guide)

Green-lipped mussels

Found only in New Zealand and named for the green lip on the shell. Steamed with wine and garlic, or fried.

Pavlova, Auckland (Wimup travel guide)

Pavlova

Meringue under whipped cream and fruit, named for the ballerina who toured in 1926. A Christmas dessert.

Flat white, Auckland (Wimup travel guide)

Flat white

Double espresso under steamed milk. New Zealand and Australia both claim it. The default order here.

Fish and chips, Auckland (Wimup travel guide)

Fish and chips

The Friday-night default, ordered at a suburban takeaway and eaten out of the paper on the nearest sand.

Whitebait fritter

Inanga, the tiny transparent juveniles caught on their spring run, bound with egg and fried. Seasonal.

Hāngī

Meat and root vegetables cooked slowly in an earth oven on heated stones, which is where the smoke gets in.

Kūmara

The sweet potato Māori brought south from Polynesia. A staple of the hāngī, and the pub chip of choice.

L&P

Lemon & Paeroa: spring water bottled at Paeroa from 1900, with lemon added in 1907. Sold nowhere else.

Auckland fact sheet

Auckland at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
New Zealand · Aotearoa
Region
Auckland · Tāmaki Makaurau
Population
1,656,486 · Auckland region (2023 Census)
Founded
1840 · Tāmaki Makaurau long before
Nickname
City of Sails
Language
English · te reo Māori and NZSL official
Currency
New Zealand dollar (NZ$)
Time zone
NZST · UTC+12 (NZDT · UTC+13)
Calling code
+64 9
Airports
AKL
Power
230V · Type I
Emergency
111
Ideal length
4 days
Getting around
Ferries, buses & trains
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • At Ōtāhuhu a finger of the Waitematā reaches within 1.2 kilometres of the Manukau, which is why the city grew where it did.
  • The Auckland volcanic field holds roughly fifty volcanoes, and it is monogenetic, which means each one erupted only once.
  • Rangitoto rose out of the sea about 600 years ago. It is the youngest volcano in New Zealand and carries the largest pōhutukawa forest.
  • Auckland is regularly described as the largest Polynesian city in the world: 243,966 Pacific people lived here at the 2018 census.
  • The first MICHELIN Guide New Zealand was published in June 2026, and Auckland took five of the country's stars.

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