Queen Street and the Auckland CBD on foot

Albert Park and the Art Gallery

General entry to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, uphill off Queen Street, is free, international visitors included, because the charge was suspended. Ticketed exhibitions cost $20 to $25. You can walk in without booking, or book a guided tour.

The building is really two buildings. An 1887 French-Renaissance stone wing has been grafted onto a modern atrium where kauri timber columns fan out into a canopy ceiling, and the old trees of Albert Park press against the glass. The Māori and Pacific collections are the strongest reason to come.

Albert Park is one minute uphill from the gallery, free and open, laid out over the old colonial barracks. The cast-iron fountain of 1881 carries cherubs riding dolphins under a figure of Aphrodite, and a planted floral clock and a white band rotunda sit further along the slope among huge Moreton Bay figs, with the CBD towers ringing the lot. Picnics and large parties spread out on the rotunda lawn, the quickest escape from Queen Street's traffic. Sit as long as you like before heading back down.

The Civic and St Patrick's Cathedral

The Civic (267 Queen Street) is one of the few 1920s atmospheric theatres left standing anywhere. The domed auditorium ceiling is indigo and pricked with the stars of the Southern Cross, twin gilded lions with glowing eyes flank the proscenium, and the foyer is an Indian fantasy in red and gold. It was built for crowds, with 2,378 seats, and ticket prices run $$ to $$$ depending on the show.

Without a show ticket, the heritage tour gets you in under the star ceiling. Auckland Town Hall and Aotea Square are immediately next door, so the three sit in one stop.

St Patrick's Cathedral, a two-minute detour off Queen Street, is wedged onto a tight Wyndham Street corner with office towers rising directly behind it. The pale rendered walls and pointed-arch windows are Gothic Revival, and inside the room is polished timber and stained glass. It is Auckland's oldest Catholic cathedral site and the calmest interior in the CBD. Entry is free, a donation is welcome, and you should check the Mass schedule before you wander in. Phone ahead if you want a guided visit.

Shopping at Faradays

Faradays (131 Queen Street) fills three retail floors of the heritage-listed Milne & Choyce building. The beauty hall is marble and brass, an apothecary counter sits alongside it, and a bright all-day restaurant runs upstairs. Prices are $$$$, and you can book a personal styling appointment.

Queen Street lost its department store in June 2025, when the 145-year-old Smith & Caughey's shut its doors. Faradays is the street's main shopping reason again.

The harbour end of Queen Street

New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui Te Ananui a Tangaroa stands on the wharf edge at the corner of Quay and Hobson Streets, in sheds high enough to hold Polynesian waka and classic racing yachts under one roof. Heritage steam launches are tied up on the water outside, and you can book a sailing in advance. Adult entry is $24, children are $12, and Auckland residents go free.

This is the museum that explains why Auckland exists at all, running from Pacific voyaging through to the America's Cup. The 'Our Ocean of Islands' exhibition runs into 2028.

The Fullers360 Devonport ferry leaves from Pier 1 at the heritage Downtown Ferry Terminal on Quay Street, and the crossing takes 12 minutes. Buy an AT HOP card and the fare is $7.80 each way; a paper ticket is $12. The white-and-blue commuter boats run every 15 to 30 minutes until late, and nobody takes bookings, so you turn up and board. Pulling out, the Sky Tower and the container cranes recede astern and Rangitoto's low cone sits on the horizon. It is the cheapest skyline view in the city.

Up through Auckland Domain to the War Memorial Museum

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira stands alone on a grassy volcanic ridge in Auckland Domain, a white neoclassical temple behind a long colonnade. It is a 25 to 30 minute walk up through the Domain from Queen Street, or 10 minutes by car. International adult entry starts at $13.50, New Zealand residents give a donation, and Aucklanders go free.

A carved Māori meeting house and a 25m war canoe sit in the galleries inside, and Māori cultural performances run several times daily, bookable in advance. The museum is just outside the CBD proper, and its Māori and Pacific collections are worth leaving the street grid for a morning.

Eating in the CBD

Commercial Bay, at the harbour end of Queen Street, is a run of glass-roofed retail laneways with the 650-seat Harbour Eats hall below. Plates cost $12 to $25 at open vendor kitchens covering Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Greek food, plus fried chicken. Nobody takes bookings down there. You sit at communal tables and watch the ferry terminal and the wharf cranes through the windows, which is the fast answer for a party that cannot agree.

Ahi (Level 2, Commercial Bay) took a Michelin star in August 2026. Ben Bayly cooks native New Zealand ingredients over fire in a wood-fired open kitchen that runs along one wall, and the dining room is floor-to-ceiling glass over the ferry basin and the Waitematā. It is $$$$. Reserve well ahead, and ask about the set menus if you are booking for a larger table.

Cassia (58 Albert Street) reopened as Cassia 3.0 on 1 September 2026, after Sid and Chand Sahrawat moved their modern Indian restaurant out of SkyCity in June 2026. Old Fort Lane listings are long dead, so check the address before you set out. The new corner room is light and open, with floor-to-ceiling windows onto the street, the opposite of the moody basement it came from. It trades seven days at $$$, and lunch is being trialled on Thursday and Friday.

Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar (86 Federal Street) sits under the Sky Tower, a tight loud room with an ice-packed shucking station at the counter, chalkboard menus and shared tables. Al Brown's kitchen shucks 1,600 oysters a week. It is walk-in only with no reservations, which makes a party above four or five awkward. Go early or split into two tables. Prices are $$, and it closes Sundays and Mondays.

Drinks in Britomart and the Viaduct

Caretaker hides behind an unmarked vintage doorway on Roukai Lane in Britomart, down a dark stairwell into a low-lit room with leather couches and two huge convex street mirrors on the walls. The bar keeps no menu. You describe the flavours you like and the bartenders build the drink from that. It runs 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., seven days, at $$$, and the room is small, so two to six people fit comfortably and a big group will struggle for space.

Dr Rudi's Rooftop Brewing Co. is a rooftop deck above Viaduct Harbour, looking out over a forest of yacht masts, with the brewing tanks behind glass indoors and two tenpin bowling lanes alongside the tables. House-brewed beer, share plates and metre-long pizzas on boards come at $$, and the deck takes reservations. The Viaduct is a 10-minute walk from mid Queen Street.

Where to stay

The Hotel Britomart (29 Galway Street) is the best-placed base in the CBD, because Britomart's restaurants, the ferry terminal and the bottom of Queen Street are each a few minutes away on foot. The brick tower holds 99 timber-lined rooms with hand-made ceramics and tiled bathrooms, plus five Landing Suites on the roof that open onto plant-filled sky terraces with outdoor fireplaces. It was New Zealand's first 5 Green Star hotel. Rooms are $$$$, and the hotel hires the suites out for private functions.

Closed days and bookings

Depot closes Sundays and Mondays, and St Patrick's opens around its Mass times, so check both before you fix an afternoon. Reserve Ahi well ahead, buy a timed Sky Tower ticket before you arrive, and pick up an AT HOP card for the cheaper ferry fare.

See the Auckland guide and the Auckland hotel search.