I was so impressed with Mt Eden! It's a free activity that offers great education on the history…read moreof the site and the people who lived there long ago. It has an excellent boardwalk all around to further enforce the importance of staying on the paths. There are phenomenal 360 degree views of all of Auckland! It's actually quite stunning! It does involve a good amount of incline walking. Nice clean bathrooms available too.

Yes. The answer is yes, this is a view and experience worth walking uphill and up many steps. Take…read moreyour time and enjoy looking every direction out over the city towards the water; imagine the active volcanoes that were once here. Observe the signs that are written in the Maori language as well as English and think about the efforts the people of New Zealand have made to live with each other. If you are stickler for close parking you may be disappointed; just remember this is a volcano. You are not supposed to be able to drive to the top of a volcano.

This is the place where I spent hours and hours pretending to study. My love for sculptures and all…read morethings artsy led me to this place after I realised studying indoors when the weather was amazing, was a complete waste of my time. I grabbed my study items, a novel that had nothing to do with my exams and a beverage of some sort. I sat on the bench looking at the fallen sculptures and thought about the mysteries of life, hours went by as I say there contemplating what was there before and what will be there in the future, All I can say is if you are looking for a place to just take a chill pill, enjoy some quiet time, "study" and be one with the grass then Western Park is for you. The location is perfect that if you get hungry you can just waddle on to Ponsonby road or K road for a bite.

Want local flavour? Try Western Park. At the K Road end of Ponsonby Road it's close enough to the…read morecity to attract those "interesting" types that seem to just love hanging out in parks (broad daylight sleeping seems to be the thing here). This place is a bit of a secret in that from its main entrance on Ponsonby Road it looks very small. Even if you can't be arsed walking down the hill to explore, seeing John Radford's famous building sculptures is reason enough. They have become a much-loved Ponsonby icon and still fascinate kids and adults alike after all these years. If you do decide to carry on down the hill though, you'll find a landscaped basin with a pretty cool playground leading to tennis courts and sports fields. Who knew? The playground is always fairly quiet, thanks I think to the steep climb down (and inevitably back up). The last time I was here there was a film crew shooting so like I said, you just never know what surprises await. It's also a great spot for lunch if you work nearby and there's even a fitness trail if the hill just isn't enough.

Coyle Park is cool and with Pt Chev Beach nearby I love that you can smell the ocean as you head…read moretowards it. Perched right on the point, it's a great place for picnics and has a really awesome playground including a giant sleeping... dragon? Crocodile? Whatever, it's cool. There's enough room here for people to do things with balls (Aucklanders love to do that in public parks I've noticed), without disturbing everyone else. I will say that early evenings are not so great due to the local teenagers amping up their car stereo and having a big old underage booze-fest in the carpark. Kind of puts you off. The good news is that they eventually lock it up although one would imagine the kids just continue with their cars on the road instead. Anyway, come during the day and if you're lucky Mr Whippy will turn up too - he usually does.

You'll find this park at the end of Point Chevaleir Rd, right by the beach…read more When I last visited the beach, there were a heap of kids all enjoying the playground. I gotta admit that it did look pretty awesome. There was a couple of twin slides that looked like they'd be a lot of fun, as well as the playground feature I most loved growing up - a flying fox. There is also a modern roundabout (safety conscious) and a miniature train ride. This park has a heap of grass to chill out on, play volleyball, get a cricket game going, play some touch, or walk the dog. There are barbecue tables and a block of toilets also in the park. This park offers some great harbour views over the city. And you have Point Chev beach as an added attraction!

Small little pedestrian bridge that you can cross from Te Wero Island to the Wynward Quarter. It…read morecrosses the Viaduct Basin water and it's free. Watch as yachts cross here. There's a beautiful view of the marina and Sky Tree in the background so take some pics. The Viaduct Events Center is on this side

A very picturesque spot in Auckland behind the stunning St Patrick's Cathedral, St Patrick's Square…read moreis a place to take a breather from the inner city rush. Whether you'd like to sit next to a relaxing fountain stream, read a book underneath the shade of a tree on some well-kept grass, feed the pigeons or read the wall of important things to do before you die, this spot has all of those. The neon blue glow at night reminds me of a stage musical, as the water cascades down the hill in a dramatic way. It's an enjoyable place. I wish there were more spots like it, both inside and outside the city.

Auckland is slowly playing catch-up with providing quality urban public spaces, and St Patrick's…read moreSquare is a perfect case in point. This is urban design at its best. The focal point is the eponymous St Patrick's Cathedral at the southern end which is surrounded by stately paving. The northern end forms a series of grassy steps with a water feature and cool sculptures. It's a favoured lunchtime spot for the office workers in the area, as well as the hordes of students at the nearby language schools, so it's always colourful and full of people during the day. At night the water features glow a cool neon blue - very cool!

Besides the hike up Mount Victoria just a few blocks away, the North Head Historic Reserve is a…read morefree active outdoor activity in Devonport. You can easily walk here along the beach from the ferry port, plus there's tons of free parking if driving. There is an office and many signs sharing the history of the place. The area is a mountain on the coast and offers spectacular views all around, including Devonport and Mount Victoria. You can also see the islands and further out to sea from here. There are winding paths all around, both rings around the mound plus stairs and paths going up to the top. They have clean restrooms at the top as well should you need. It's muddy here and many of the paths are just dirt, so be prepared with proper shoes. If you're exploring the Auckland area, an entire day can be well spent in Devonport. This is a not to be missed activity; Auckland is a beautiful city you can better appreciate from afar.

We took the 807 bus here from the ferry & followed the trails upward. Magnificent views were…read moreenjoyed all the way up. There were clean bathrooms, magnificent views of Auckland, beaches, sailboats, and hand gliders. Maori history dates back to here, 4 aboriginal villages were fortified at this site. It's an important icon for the Maori. I wandered into the south battery, through dark tunnels and ruins. These tunnels were built as a defense against the Russians in the 1880s. Initially it was armed with a 64 pound gun and disappearing gun was added in 1888. This massive gun recoiled into the gun pit after firing to reload safely out of enemy site. There's a complex tunnel system linking the gun pit with magazine storing ammunition, and observation post, gun crew quarters and the engine room. The navy museum is below us right on the harbor protecting Auckland.

The downtown area is fairly small but quite interesting. Lots of things to do, places to shop and…read morean abundance of restaurants and hotels. The entire city though stretches over quite a large area if you include all the residential areas. If you are looking for adventure, there are many tour companies to keep you busy either within the city or with daytrips to the surrounding areas. I also highly recommend the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Auckland Zoo. Or attend one of the local festivals. There seems to be something going on at all times.

My husband, sister, and I arrived in Auckland on the afternoon of May 3rd and then flew off to Fiji…read moreMay 9th. While it was a relatively short trip, we were able to see and do quite a few things. What we did: May 3: Arrived in Auckland, had disgusting pizza from Hell Pizza for dinner, and relaxed at the hotel. May 4: Did the Wētā Workshop tour and went to Taco Medic for lunch. My husband rested in the hotel in the evening while my sister and I went to Cafe Hanoi for dinner. May 5: We spent the day on Waiheke Island, touring the wineries. On the island our first tasting was at Wild Estate, then we stopped at Heke Kitchen, Brewery & Distillery for lunch, Stonyridge Vineyard and Cable Bay Vineyard for two more wine tastings, and Mudbrick for dinner. May 6: Walked around and stopped in the Gow Langsford Gallery temporary satellite space on 131 Queen Street, had lunch at the Indian restaurant "1947 Eatery", and then my husband went to a workshop at Wētā (which unfortunately sucked and was not what he was expecting) while my sister and I went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Drinks at Bar Albert in the evening. May 7: We booked with the tour company Bush and Beach and did an all day tour to Hobbiton and Waitomo Glowworm Caves (and as a bonus, the awesome driver took us to the Arapuni Suspension Bridge). May 8: Went up the Sky Tower, walked up Mount Eden Domain, had lunch at the Garden Shed, and dinner at Orbit. May 9: We flew off to Fiji! While we were in Auckland, it was very rainy, more so than usual. (New Zealand declared a state of emergency due to severe flooding a couple of months before our trip and the Auckland airport had flooded. While parts were still closed and under repair, it had fortunately reopened when we went.) Despite the rain, it didn't bother us -- we're from Vancouver, you can't control weather, and my husband bought a really nice rain jacket on Waiheke Island. While there were some days where it was POURING rain, the weather was fine when we went to Waiheke Island, just a few sprinkles when we went to Hobbiton, and May 8th was dry, which was fortunate as that was the day we had planned to go up the Sky Tower and walk around the city and Mount Eden. So even though some days were miserable weather-wise, the days we were out side were dry. The day we left for Fiji it was pouring, and as we arrived at the airport, we all received alerts on our phones about a severe rain storm (we had NZ SIM cards). Luckily the storm did not affect our flight. While I enjoyed my time in Auckland and experienced some amazing things, the reason why I am giving Auckland three stars is it is not one of my favourite cities I have visited, and five days was enough (the weather has no bearing on my rating). While I would liked to have seen other parts of New Zealand, because none of us drive, we can't just drive out to the country, so we had to stay in the city (except when we went to Waiheke Island or hired a a driver to take us to Hobbiton and Waitomo). I'd love to go back to new Zealand, but I've seen enough of Auckland and I'd rather see other parts of the country if I ever have the opportunity to go again. [Yelp collections: NZ/Fiji 2023; New Zealand 2023; Cities]

Definitely a community park with a unique history, Silo Park in Auckland NZ is located right off of…read morethe harbor in Wynyard Quarter. When we visited on a Sunday afternoon, it was very much alive with children, many of whom were practicing to ride their bikes (some with training wheels, many were not) at the adjacent parking lot. It is so named because of the 7 silos that dominate the scenery around the park. They were built and used to store cement, but have now been converted into an art and exhibition center and movie screen for outdoor cinema. How cool is that!

What a neat place for the whole family while in Auckland!! We had the luck to go during Christmas…read morefestivities our first time. There were Holiday food trucks and funny picture spots and lots of games for the kids. They had rides and I think there was a concert. Normally when we went they still had a awesome colorful playground and the sand pit for falls and a small wading pool for young kids they had to share with seagulls. My kids said it was there favorite place.