Auckland travel guides & articles
All 23 in-depth pieces we’ve published on Auckland — newest first.
Tours & tickets
Standing on Auckland's Mt Eden Rim in November
A free twenty-minute climb puts Auckland's volcanic field in front of you from inside it. This is how to do Maungawhau properly in November 2026, from the gate to dinner in the village.
Tours & tickets
Waitomo's Glowworm Caves on a Day Out from Auckland
Three show caves, two wet adventure operators and a free walk with wild glowworms. Which one to pick, what it costs in NZD, and the hours when the coaches aren't there.
Tours & tickets
Crossing Auckland's Harbour to Devonport in September
Twelve minutes on the ferry buys two volcanic cones, a navy museum on the water and something to do on the afternoon the southerly wins.
Three Nights in Auckland Without Wasting a Day
Most of a first visit to Auckland is decided by how you use the water. Three nights across the isthmus, the gulf and the west coast, with none of it over-planned.
Auckland in Spring Rewards Anyone With a Plan B
How to build an Auckland day between September and November with a wet branch and a dry branch, so a passing squall costs you nothing.
The Climb, the Jump and the Dinner at Auckland's Sky Tower
One ticket, one wire and one revolving dining room: the three very different experiences stacked inside Auckland's tallest building, and how to take them on without wasting a day or a fare.
Auckland's Black-Sand Coast: Piha, Muriwai, and the Wild Tasman Edge
Sixteen stops along Auckland's untamed west coast, from Lion Rock's surf patrol to a gravel-road beach nobody photographs.
Fifty-Three Volcanoes, One City: Walking Auckland's Green Summits
A walker's honest reading of Auckland's volcanic field — which grassy summits reward the climb, which suit a coach party and which a quiet pair, and how to move between them without a car.
The Pacific Table: Auckland's Polynesian Kitchen, One Island Plate at a Time
From a Michelin-starred umu degustation to three-dollar pork buns, here is how to eat your way across the largest Polynesian city on earth — in 2026.
The Waitākere Ranges: Auckland's Rainforest Cathedral Twenty Minutes from Queen Street
A grounded, 2026-verified guide to the kauri forest, waterfalls and black-sand coast of the Waitākere Ranges, and who each stop actually suits.
The City of Sails: Auckland's Love Affair with the Water
One in three households owns a boat, two harbours frame the streets, and the Hauraki Gulf waits beyond — a grounded guide to reading Auckland the way Aucklanders do, by the water.
Queen Street and the Auckland CBD on foot
The Sky Tower, a free art gallery, a Michelin star above the ferry basin and a 12-minute harbour crossing are all within walking distance of each other in central Auckland.
Thirty-Five Minutes to Another Country: Waiheke Island from Auckland
A calm, honest field guide to Waiheke's vineyards, tables and thrills — how to plan the crossing, which places suit couples and which suit a crowd, and what a day really costs.
Auckland's Night Markets: The City's Best Eating After Dark
A market-by-market guide to Auckland's rotating car-park night markets in 2026, from Pakuranga's 200-stall flagship to the quieter Monday and Sunday legs worth the drive.
The Hauraki Gulf: Auckland's Island-Hopping Day Trip by Ferry
From vineyard lunches on Waiheke to a volcanic summit and a bird sanctuary two decades in the making, Auckland's harbour opens onto a gulf that rewards a single day with a ferry ticket and no fixed plan.
Fifty-Three Sleeping Giants: Life Inside Auckland's Volcanic Field
Auckland is the only major city in the world built inside a live volcanic field — here is how to read its fifty-three cones, craters and islands like a local, one maunga at a time.
Reading Auckland as Tāmaki Makaurau
A grounded look at Tāmaki Makaurau's maunga, marae and waters through Māori eyes — who's hosting, what it costs, and how to visit well in 2026.
Tours & tickets
Sailing out of Auckland's maritime museum in October
The galleries at Hobson Wharf, the price of a ticket with a heritage sail added, and why October weather should decide the order of your day.
Tours & tickets
Torchlight and gun pits on Auckland's North Head in October
The harbour-mouth maunga has no gate fee, so the ferry over is the only fare you pay, and the upper tunnels are unlit.
Tours & tickets
A November ascent of the Auckland Sky Tower
What $47 buys at 186 metres, when to go in November, and what it takes to step outside the pod.
Oneroa and Waiheke Island, a ferry hop from Auckland
Oneroa village sits minutes from the Matiatia ferry, and from there you can swim, walk the headland, eat oysters and drink Waiheke wine.
How Auckland Slows Down for Its Shortest Days
As days shrink toward the winter solstice, Matariki lights, warm kitchens and empty ferries reveal an Auckland made for lingering, not just sailing.
Auckland, the World's Largest Polynesian City
Fifteen minutes south of the waterfront, Auckland's Pacific heart beats through a Saturday market, a food strip that never needed a tourist board, and church-lunch cooking that has fed the same streets for half a century.