I know it's called a War Memorial Museum and there is a section dedicated to that topic. Beautiful…read morehalls and displays of remembrance. However, it shows so much more. Actually it can be quite confusing. The are halls, corridors, several floors, rooms dedicated to various themes and you can get lost in there. Not that the museum is really huge, but the the rooms interconnect in some way that defies rhyme or reason. Still I enjoyed my stay here and especially the Maori experience. Very educational as well as entertaining. Please follow the performers' requests as this is a cultural experience and you should be mindful. I highly recommend it. There was also a shark exhibit going on and some sort of student activity while I was visiting. This place is a hodgepodge of all things Auckland and New Zealand in general. Perfect for folks with a short attention span, because there is something new and different around every corner.

Known as the war memorial museum, this place was much more than that. I'm used to museums with a…read morespecific theme and this was a hodge podge museum, filled with quirky collections of indigenous, historical war, science and other miscellaneous items. I am quirky, so I really enjoyed my visit here. The first floor was about indigenous Māori history and other Polynesian islands. The second floor's theme was natural history and the third floor was war history (Māori, World wars) and memorial dedicated to those who served from New Zealand. I spent about three hours looking at all the exhibits and displays. In another lifetime, I worked at an aviation museum and I was astounded to find an intact Zero plane here. With less than twenty in existence, to actually see one in person with actual World War Two history was the highlight of my visit. The museum has two eateries that's pretty decent in price with nice sitting areas to enjoy. The gift shop had original items I didn't see anywhere else on my trip. The museum is free to NZ residents but visitors have to pay admission. It's worth it to pay and visit here atleast once in your lifetime.

A free museum? Sign us up. We did the kid games and kid packet in the first floor exhibit on the…read moreMāori and local culture. What a story and history lesson with modern art approaches. The staff were so kind and recommended which exhibits to try and the we just spent an hour or two in the clay zone making our own art! This is well worth an afternoon and our next trip will include visit to the cafe when the rain hits!

Gorgeous Art gallery in the heart of Auckland! My husband and I enjoyed strolling the gallery…read moreduring a recent trip. I really enjoyed their Manet and Picasso pieces. If you have a few hours to spare, there's a really nice outdoor space to sit and read a book!

Fascinating ! Highly recommend. I got bored of reading so I took pics to read later. There are some…read morereally cool touches I won't describe so I don't spoil it for you.

Right on the harbor, this large new Maritime Museum presented the history of New Zealand Māori &…read moreEuropeans on the water. There was a cafe and large gift shop. This museum opened in 1993 and houses the most extensive collection of naval artifacts in New Zealand. There were many exhibits, concentrating on: Maori vessels & navigation, European voyages of discovery, Settlement & immigration, Early coastal trading, Whaling & sealing, commercial shipping, piloting & coastguard services, Navigation &surveying, nautical arts & crafts,Recreation & sporting maritime activities, trades, and harbor &port history.

Excellent museum one can reach by bus from the centre of Auckland. Wood paneled trams to ride over…read moreto the aviation section with many vintage aircraft including some of the majestic flying boats. Funny to see the Dakota and Dragon Rapide that I've flown on in previous years in the UK on pleasure flights. Some vintage Air New Zealand bags and model aircraft to buy in this hangar. Silly rules about not being able to smoke on site. Richard and I had a quiet fag and made sure we put our butts in the bin anyway. Friendly staff on board the tram. Some interactive exhibits to do with noise and image in one of the sheds. Also some information on migrants to New Zealand in the 20th century especially the Poms. Retro buses adorn the main area and there is a cafe. Ridiculous one cannot smoke on the cafe balcony. There are some lovely restored old houses and a kirk (church) in one section with lovely green lawn to walk on. I enjoyed this museum and was interested to learn that Air New Zealand used to be called National Airways corporation until 1978.

This museum had a good amount of stuff to keep a car loving two year old busy and a nice smaller…read morebaby play area for our nine month old to crawl around that was soft/pretty safe. The outdoor playground kept us busy for a good while. Not a huge place for kids to explore but good for a quiet morning. There's also a real tram/train that you can take with your ticket (the wait was too long for us so you might want to look ahead at the times).

This is one of the most beautiful green spaces I've ever seen in my life. I thoroughly enjoyed…read morewandering through the grounds of the domain. Especially the greenhouses. I wanted to stay in those spaces, smell all the flowers, touch all the plants, and pick some of the very ripe fruits and vegetables. I admit to smelling some flowers and touching a few plants, but no fruits or veggies were at risk. Highly recommend the Auckland Domain if you are in Auckland. It's free, beautiful, and walking it is great exercise. It's made of win.

Green lawns, ball fields, gazebos with live music, clean public restrooms, unique trees & shrubs,…read moreendless trails with lots of benches & a very nice day. I loved the trees, I expected to see a Hobbit crawl out. We were walking to the museum & then back to our hotel. We passed pristine rolling hills, a bowling center, tennis center, Olympic aquatic center .... Many were biking, walking, jogging and enjoying the green space. There is a botanic garden near the museum.

Loved visiting this beautiful Wintergarden in Auckland Domain…read more Wintergardens are conservatories or glasshouses that were built to enjoy flowers in the winter. They were very popular stating in the early 1900s. The Auckland Domain Wintergarden was built a century ago. It has two glasshouses that contain the most beautiful flowers, a sunken Fernery and a courtyard with a pond and sculptures. Loved the glasshouse filled with so many colorful flowers. Giant hibiscus. Sunflowers. Gladiolas. Foxgloves. Begonias. The Fernery is so interesting. Loved walking into the sunken quarry and looking at all of the native ferns. The wooden statues which represent bird native to New Zealand were a nice touch. The Wintergarden is free. Located in the Auckland Domain, it is a nice place to stop and enjoy the flowers and history.

One of the highlights of my trip to Auckland was visiting the Wintergardens. It was an especially…read morecold and gray day when I set out to explore Auckland Domain, so by the time I got here I was thankful to be heading inside. The gardens are two main greenhouses: one very warm, the other more temperate. In between the two is a fountain and pool, outdoor plants, and at the back is the entry to the fernery (a word I didn't know existed but now I want one for myself). The building on the right of the entrance is the warm one, which keeps the doors closed. Inside are many warmer weather plans including orchids, lotus, ferns, and tropical flowers. The building on the left is more temperate and has flowers galore; so many colors it's hard to know what to see first. The fernery is an amazing place - dark, damp, and quiet; you can either walk around the ring path at the top or go down the stairs to the bottom to look up. There are statues of various New Zealand birds around to show you what their silhouettes would look like if you came across them in the wild. You can't be aware how varied ferns are until coming here. This is an amazing free activity to do on your visit to Auckland, plus lots more nearby. You can easily spend a day in Auckland Domain. There were a few groups of retired people and school groups as well, worthwhile for any age.

Highwic is the Gothic colonial villa of a prominent colonial stock trader. The home was occupied by…read morethe family until the 1970s and the bought by Auckland city council and renovated as a museum. The rooms are decorated in a period style with some family belongings original to the house. When I arrived it was a quiet summer afternoon so the docent had the time to explain all about the family and life of the house. You could really imagine living here with the bustle of children (21 in total), balls in the living room and tennis on the lawn. That being said, knowing that a wealthy family in Auckland only had this kind of a home reminds you of how precious everything was in New Zealand at the time, so far from Britain. I toured the home and then strolled the gardens. I'd recommend a picnic lunch and a visit if historical houses are your thing. If in doubt come, it's a beautiful piece of history.

Highwic House is a wonderful illustration of what enrichment heritage buildings can bring to a…read morecommunity. Smack bang in the middle of the busy Newmarket shopping precinct, it seems a rather incongruous place to find such a place, but it has stood the test of time in this location, its been there since 1862! Up a steep driveway and surrounded by a lovely manicured lawn and trees, its hard to believe that you are still in one of Auckland's most bustling areas. The day I was there, I was there solely for a visit to the 'museum', the inside of the house itself has been preserved as would have been back in the day, which provides a interesting insight into this specific time period. I loved all the old antiques and things. My friend who came with me actually commented that she had been before as her cousin had his wedding/ reception at Highwic and she thought it was an amazing venue for that sort of thing. That it is.

Art + Object is one of NZ's leading art auction houses. They focus predominately on contemporary NZ…read moreArt and they sell pieces from the likes of McCahon, Goldie and Frizzell as well as works from more entry level artists. The owners are all qualified art historians and do a lot of work valuing national collections and museum/gallery exhibitions, so they clearly know their stuff. I came here recently to listen to a presentation by one of the owners about the health of the New Zealand art market and although my knowledge of NZ art is lacking I found the presentation incredibly interesting and completely unpretentious. If you are in the art market, I would most definitely suggest signing up to their newsletter on their website to stay up to date with their auction dates and catalogues

The library is located in an enormous old building at the top of Parnell Road and houses a great…read morecollection of books from childrens to cookery and everything in between. It's not the biggest in Auckland but it has everything you really need, including wifi so I'd recommend bringing your own laptop rather than waiting for the library's own computers. With only four of them, it can often be quite hard to get online during busy times (although I have never found myself waiting more than half an hour to get a place) and they can be painfully slow at times. The staff are all really friendly and helped me out when trying to print off things and to order me in a book from another library in the city. There is ample amounts of parking at the building, which is great as the location is a bit of a climb!