Auckland
Auckland is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand.
It has an urban population of approximately 1,547,200. It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, and which has a total population of 1,816,000 as of June 2025. It is the most populous city of New Zealand and the fifth-most populous city in Oceania.
Getting to Auckland
- 01Auckland Airport
New Zealand's largest airport is located 22 km/14 miles south of central Auckland in the southern suburb of Mangere on the shores of the Manukau Harbour.
- 02North Shore Aerodrome
Has a few flights from Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands, Tauranga and Great Barrier Island.
- 03Auckland Strand Station on Ngaoho Place
The 681-km (423-mi) journey takes about 12 hours.
Worth seeing
Auckland's many volcanoes offer great vantage points to take in the city and some of them have been turned into parks. Popular ones include Mt. Eden and One Tree Hill in Auckland Central and Mt. Victoria in Devonport. Auckland Art Gallery, cnr Kitchener and Wellesley Streets.
Things to do
Movies. Ticket prices vary around Auckland. The cheapest are in the west, with adult tickets at WestCity in Henderson the lowest at $8.50, and a bit higher at $10 at LynnMall and Westgate. Hoyts Hibiscus Coast in the north on Whangaparaoa Peninsula is also cheap at $10.90. Elsewhere in Auckland prices are in the $18.50 to $19.50 range, except on Tuesdays when there is a $12.50 special (2017 prices).
Where to eat
There are some good cheap food courts (food halls) offering a variety of usually Asian foods usually priced around $10. Try next to the Queens' Arcade at the bottom of Queen St (slightly hidden entrance), or the Metro award winning Food Alley (9-11 Albert St). Very good value and good quality predominantly non-Asian choices are available at Elliott Stables (39 Elliott Street, near Wellesley).
Getting around Auckland the local way
- Get aroundLocal transport options include bus, train, ferry, shuttle, taxi, and car rental.
- Get aroundAT also has a mobile app that can be used to find the time of the next bus, ferry or train or to find the quickest way to get to your destination using public transport.
- Get aroundYou will find free bus, train and ferry schedules there – which is handy since the frequency of some services is low and sometimes irregular.
- Get aroundThe AT HOP card is a prepay smart card for travel on bus, train and ferry services that costs $5 and is available from a number of retrailers and major stations around the city.
- Get aroundThere is a $50 weekly fare cap on trains, buses and inner harbour ferries.
- Get aroundBetween 2015 and 2018, the bus network was significantly overhauled, simplifying routes and extending frequent bus services, with the trade-off of having to transfer to a train, ferry or another bus to access the CBD from the outer suburbs.
- Get aroundFerry services operate from the CBD to other points on the mainland and to Hauraki Gulf islands.
- Go nextIt seems a world away from Auckland, but is only 35 minutes by ferry.
From Wikivoyage: Auckland, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Iswzo (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.
