Auckland City travel guide
Posted by Jonathan Asher | Travel Destination | Posted on December 22nd, 2009
The “City of Sails” — Auckland — is New Zealand’s biggest city. With twin harbours (and lots of boating!) Auckland is surrounded by water while the land is hilly and green. Voted fourth in the Worldwide Quality of Living Survey 2009, Auckland is a great place to live and a great place to travel to.
Considering the small population (1.3m), Auckland is very large — about the size of LA, USA. In terms of its organisation, there are actually four major administrative regions (Auckland, North Shore, Waitakere and Manukau) but these are currently being combined into one region.
Because of the large area and small population, the public transport network struggles to remain efficient. Current improvements to Auckland’s train network and talk of integrating the ticketing system give some hope for the future. If you are travelling from main suburban centres to the city centre, you’re fine but I would recommend hiring a car if you want to see any real sights.
Auckland International Airport is likely to be your first point of entry into Auckland, New Zealand. There are several ways into the city, but none are cheap! If you are travelling by yourself, the Airbus is a good option, but a taxi will be cheaper and more convenient if there is more than one person. Some hotels provide complementary shuttle services, so check this before you fly.
If you use Auckland’s public transport, you’ll probably be catching the bus. You can buy tickets from the driver; prices vary depending on how many stages you’re travelling through. You can buy bus cards from various outlets, which you can prepay your journeys on. This normally works by buying 10 journeys or getting a monthly pass. Auckland’s train network has improved recently, and is undergoing constant improvements and upgrades at the moment, but destinations are still very limited.
In summer, Auckland is buzzing with free events, mostly held in the parks which dot the city. Music in Parks tends to be held in smaller reserves, where the big events like Christmas in the Park and Symphony under the Stars are held in the enormous Domain. There are many sporting events to attend, from local games to premier international events – the Rugby World Cup is in New Zealand in 2011, so that’s a great time to visit. Each year Auckland University’s annual Summer Shakespeare is also held during summer, and for Chinese New Year there is a large lantern festival held in Albert Park.
Want more Auckland travel information? Download a free Auckland travel guide or check out the huge New Zealand summer feature in the free Indie Travel Podcast online travel magazine.
