Auckland Travel Guide | Tips to help elevate your trip in New Zealand

hey guys welcome back to the channel and thank you so much for joining me for another video today's video is a travel guide for Auckland New Zealand my partner and I are currently in New Zealand from Canada on a working holiday Visa and we lived in the Auckland region for the first three months of our visit here so in this video we're going to cover where to stay what things to do what to eat how to make the most of your time in Auckland if you have an unlimited budget there's so many amazing things that you can do in Auckland I prefer budget travel and things that are either free or low cost so that is what this video is going to focus on the first thing is where to stay so what areas in Auckland are really good to stay in terms of walkability restaurants shopping things to do the positives to staying right in the city center in the CBD is that you're really close to the ferry terminal if you want to go and take day trip ferries out to places like hobsonville or Davenport waiheke Island being close and walkable to of the ferry terminal is a huge bonus you're also going to be really close to the train station because it is just steps away from the ferry station now the train system in Auckland is not the best I have taken it a couple of times if you're going to and from the airport it's a nice option to just hop on the train otherwise you're probably not going to be using it much in terms of traveling to and from certain areas but it's nice to have it close by if you're going to be staying right in the city center of course you're going to be just steps away from amazing restaurants shopping bars you name it if you're staying in the CBD it's going to be super close and that is a huge bonus this really depends on what you value when you travel there are accommodations in this area that fit every budget you can stay in a budget hostel up to a five-star gorgeous hotel now the cons of staying right in the city center of course is if you have a car finding parking and finding parking that is not extremely expensive is going to be a challenge there's also also tons of crowds downtown if you're walking up and down Queen Street for example and if you don't like crowds you're going to feel a little bit overwhelmed it can be hard to get into certain restaurants and bars on like a Friday or Saturday night in the High season the second place that I would recommend staying in includes a few different communities that are just on the outskirts of the CBD the first one is ponsonby ponsonby is this very cute quaint little area that's trendy and hip and it's got a ton of eclectic stores restaurants ponsonby is the type of place that I would love to live in if I were to live in Auckland it's very close to the CBD you can see it from afar it's sort of up on a hill so you get really nice views of the downtown area and the sky tower it seems to really come to life at night tons of bars and restaurants there's a comedy club there's theaters if you can find a place to stay in ponsonby that would be my top choice if you're not going to stay right in the Heart of the City there's also places like Parnell or Kingsland or more warning side these again are really cute vibey places that are outside of the city center but are a short trip into the CBD if that is where you're going to be spending most of your time so all of these neighborhoods that I mentioned have all the same benefits of staying in the CBD but with a little bit less noise and tourism if I was to return to Auckland I would love to stay in one of these inner city areas instead of staying right in the city center just to avoid some of those massive crowds and I don't know if there are a lot of Hotel options in these areas but you should be able to find something on Airbnb now let's talk about things to do so I'm going to mainly focus on things that are either free or inexpensive that's the way that I personally like to travel and after staying in Auckland for three months these are the items that I would recommend the most the first thing is Mount Eden this is a great spot to go for a walk a hike up to the top see the amazing views of Auckland City you can bring up a picnic there's tons of space in kind of the lower section facing the city center where you can just sit down and have a nice break this is also the area that I feel like is not as busy if you go straight to the top there are a few platforms and areas that you can look out but it's usually quite busy this is one of the top spots to watch the sunset as well for me this is the top thing to do in Auckland and it's a short bus ride from the city center I think it would be around 20 minutes now if you're coming to New Zealand of course I recommend taking public transit especially if you don't have a vehicle and I'll link the video above and down below if you're interested in learning about at or Auckland Transit because you can get a card and it'll really set you up to get around the city for a super low cost next thing on this list is the art gallery so this is right in the heart of downtown and it's free sometimes they do have exhibits on that you have to pay for but the regular Museum and the regular everyday exhibits are free so this is a great way to spend a rainy day or if you have a few hours to kill in between activities I really enjoyed walking around this Museum and seeing a lot of local artists displayed there was also I believe a work from Picasso which was kind of cool I'm not really that big into art and I don't think you have to be in order to go and appreciate this Museum next is farmers markets I'm a huge supporter of farmers markets because it typically supports local businesses there's one in britamart although I wasn't able to go and check that out while we were there we did go to the one in Parnell and it was fabulous they actually had a craft Market on at the same time as the farmers market there were lots of handmade Goods by local artists and I love to see that it's free to do you don't have to buy anything but you can go take a little walk around there's usually a place to buy some coffee and some pastries and there's typically lots of spots that have fresh produce if you have a kitchen wherever you're staying it could be a good spot to buy that next on the list is the war memorial this is located in the Auckland domain which is the this really big Park and it also contains the botanic gardens which are free to enter you could easily spend a half day or a full day here just exploring having a nice picnic lunch if you walk to the very top that is where you will find the war memorial if you're an Auckland resident you do get free entry into the war museum but if you're interested in going I'll put the prices up here for how much it would be there are pretty spectacular views from the top of where the Moore Memorial is next on the list is to take fairy day trips from the city center so I mentioned this earlier and I'm gonna list a few spots that you should check out if this is something that's on your list the first one is hobsonville it seems like hobsonville is this brand new development there's so many incredibly beautiful brand new homes they have a farmer's market every Saturday and Sunday although I'm not too sure how long into the year it goes there's a brewery and like an old aircraft Hangar there there are a few cafes and shops and if you use your at Hop card it's only like five dollars to get there you could also go to devonport which is about three dollars one way and there are lots more to do in this area you can do the walk up to the very top of I can't remember what the hill is called but I'll put it here you can watch the sunset from up here or just go up and take in the spectacular views of the Auckland Harbor there's a nice little town center with some shopping restaurants there's even a thrift store there or an OP shop this is supposedly one of the most rich areas in and around Auckland you have to be pretty much a millionaire to live here so it's cool to walk around and see all these incredibly expensive homes there are a few other spots that you can go to from here as well like waiheki Island that is a 43 dollar round trip so if you go later in the day if you go after one o'clock it's half price you do have to come back after 7 PM so this is a good option if you want to save a bit of money but still see waiheke Island you can also do a day Ferry trip to orangetoto and it's 46 dollars and there's no half price special so that is a bit more expensive if you're into hiking and you want a really unique experience walking on lava rocks I would say it's worth it next on the list is the sky tower it was sixty dollars for two people to do this but I think it was super worth it so thirty dollars per person will take you up there are a few different levels in terms of observation decks there's also a restaurant up here called The Sugar Club we did not end up going to the Sugar Club because apparently it's quite expensive and you would get pretty much the same view as going up just to go on the observation deck I would personally do this either first thing in the morning or later in the day so that you can either see like a sunrise or getting close to Golden hour and sunset next on the list is the Auckland Zoo it's twenty four dollars per person if you're a New Zealand resident otherwise it's thirty five dollars I really enjoyed the zoo I thought it was well worth the money they have a lot of very unique things in this Zoo they have a a like a gorilla crossing that's up above where you walk and the gorillas can climb on these huge ropes from platform to platform and you can watch them crawling across and then like sitting and it's kind of hard to explain but I'll throw in some footage here so you can see what I'm talking about there are a lot of really unique and interesting animals in this place and if you're into zoos if you like visiting zoos in different cities around the world I would definitely put this on your list because I think it's quite affordable and you can easily spend a full day here it's easy to take Auckland Transit out to the zoo as well and then the last thing on this list is just to explore different areas in Auckland I love to do walking tours not organized walking tours but I like to go out and explore different areas just see what different communities have to offer and although Auckland is quite hilly I would say it's quite walkable as well depending on your Fitness level you can do walks up to things like the war memorial or you can just stick to the harbor area and walk near the water let's talk about food so I'm not covering any sit-down restaurants in this video because my partner and I don't really go out and eat out a whole lot these are the foods that I would recommend that are more budget friendly the first is meat pies this is easily one of the best things to eat in New Zealand hands down and you can get them practically anywhere most gas stations will have them there's cafes that will have them little shops here and there have them as well so you can pop in grab a meat pie there's all different sorts there's all different fillings and they're typically between four and seven New Zealand dollars so this is a great budget option we've had many meat pies over the last few months and we're not sick of them yet this is number one on my list what I would recommend if you're looking for a quick cheap snack while you're out and about the next thing is fried chicken so there are a ton of Korean fried chicken spots in Auckland most of them are relatively inexpensive I would say you'd pay between 10 and 20 New Zealand dollars for like a really good portion of food chicken eats is the place that I would recommend personally this is located in Morningside or Kingsland it's a little bit out of the way but if you're going to be in that area I would highly recommend you pop in for a nice lunch if you're looking for a more substantial meal having burgers and chips at most restaurants is going to cost you between 15 and 25 New Zealand dollars and you can find more budget-friendly options if you're going to somewhere like a food truck or a smaller place that just does take out if you are going to be going to restaurants and bars for the majority of your meals like lunches and dinners then I highly suggest you take a look at happy hour menus or different weekly specials try to align your schedule so that you're going out to different restaurants you want to try on the nights where they have better deals this will save you money in the long run and you'll still get to try the food that you want to try so I hope this travel guide helped you out in planning your trip to Auckland New Zealand and we'll see you very soon in the next video bye

Channel: Brittany Morgan

Views: 28,188

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Id: P0ZQ10Y5YAo

Length: 12min 0sec (720 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 21 2023