Auckland, NZ

A 50-year-old Mount Eden game restaurant run by second-generation Schwass siblings. The menu is built around wild venison, hare, and seasonal birds; the wine list runs deep on small NZ producers.

A 30-seat K Road wine bar pouring natural and low-intervention bottles alongside a tight French-leaning menu. Mathias Ortiz Sandoval's cooking is the reason Aperitivo took on the name's meaning here.

A Parnell Road North Indian dining room that has fed Auckland for three decades, with cooking rooted in Gujarat and Kolkata. The slow-cooked Billy Goat curry is the dish regulars build a meal around.

A dark-room modern NZ restaurant in a converted Freemans Bay warehouse running an a-la-carte plus tasting format. Has cycled chefs but the room and service have stayed consistent for 15 years.

Mark Wallbank and Mark Wylie's Princes Street brasserie above the law school. Big format, deep banquettes, kitchen-table mains; built for long lunches and CBD client dinners.

A small-plates Vinegar Lane restaurant from the team behind Pasture, focused on hyper-seasonal vegetables and fermentation. Quietly one of the best vegetable-forward menus in the country.

A Hip Group-built Britomart Italian inside a restored brick warehouse, with an open kitchen, a bakery wing, and breakfast through dinner service. The bread is the giveaway it takes its craft seriously.

Ben Bayly's Commercial Bay restaurant focused on indigenous NZ ingredients and open-fire cooking. The name means fire in te reo and the kitchen takes the brief literally.

A Britomart Peruvian-Japanese nikkei restaurant with a 12-seat raw bar plus a wood grill. The ceviches and tiraditos are the menu spine; pisco sours run by the jug.

A Ponsonby Italian trattoria in the Three Lamps Plaza that has been the neighbourhood family Sunday lunch for two decades. Strong wood-fired pizzas, solid pasta, and a sun-trap terrace.

A St Marys Bay bistro in the former Ponsonby Post Office with a Mediterranean-leaning menu and one of the city's most considered wine lists. Brunch through dinner; the room transitions through the day.

A 14-year-old K Road Italian-leaning bistro from the Fitzgerald sisters that became a city institution. Big pasta plates, an aggressive wine list, and a loud room that hits its stride after 9pm.

A Ponsonby pasta restaurant from Sergio Maglione (Toto), focused on regional pasta from across Italy. Compact menu, all-day-fresh pasta extrusion in the open kitchen.

Sergio Maglione's CBD Italian fine-diner inside a former church on Nelson Street. The room is the most theatrical of any Italian in the city; the wood-fired oven is the kitchen's centrepiece.

A Ponsonby kaiseki-leaning Japanese restaurant from chef Makoto Tokuyama. Tight tasting menus, immaculate sashimi, and a sake list curated with Tokyo precision.

A modern Korean restaurant in Parnell that runs an a-la-carte alongside a chef's tasting. The fermentation pantry behind the bar is the kitchen's library and most of the menu draws from it.

A 25-year-old teppanyaki and ramen Japanese restaurant near Quay Street. The teppanyaki room is the showy one; the ramen room next door is where regulars go alone at lunch.

A subterranean izakaya on Queen Street tucked under a stairwell, accessible only through an unmarked door. Yakitori sticks, sake by the carafe, and a no-reservations no-fuss room.

A Britomart Israeli-Palestinian restaurant from chef Yael Shochat focused on Middle Eastern home cooking. Hummus made daily, slow-braised meats, and a Friday Shabbat lunch service that is the city's warmest meal.

A K Road Lebanese restaurant in St Kevin's Arcade from chef Samir Allen Farah, named for the Beirut neighbourhood. Mezze, charcoal grills, and arak slings; the room runs Lebanese house music after 9.

A Britomart all-day kitchen with a garden-driven menu, half-supplied from the Hip Group's own farm in north Auckland. Brunch is the locals' time; the room turns over for lunch by 1.

Al Brown's New York-Jewish-style delicatessen on Federal Street, opposite the Sky Tower. Pastrami sandwiches, matzo ball soup, and an unbroken brunch service that has run for over a decade.

A Britomart all-day bistro on Shortland Street with a French-leaning lunch menu and a wine list of small natural pours. Quietly one of the city's most consistent rooms.

A Ponsonby Road all-day kitchen with a wild-food and foraging-leaning menu. Daytime cafe service flips to a tighter dinner offering; the menu changes weekly to match what's foraged.

A 16km signposted urban walk crossing the isthmus from the Waitemata harbour at Viaduct to the Manukau harbour at Onehunga, over four volcanic cones. Splits naturally into half-day sections.

A 30-minute walk from the lower car park to the summit of Maungawhau, over a grass-and-gravel surface. The summit road has been closed to cars since 2016; the only way up is on foot.

A 45-minute loop around the Devonport volcanic headland, taking in 1880s gun emplacements and unlit tunnels. Best free walk on the North Shore.

A 2.5-3 hour return walk from the Rangitoto wharf to the 260m summit, over loose volcanic scoria the whole way. The view from the top runs from the Coromandel to the Waitakeres.

A 4km loop through 172 hectares of working farmland, taking in the obelisk on One Tree Hill, the cottage at Acacia Cottage, and the avenue of plane trees on Pohutukawa Drive.

A coastal regional park 25km north of the city, with a 1.5-2 hour coastal walk from Long Bay to Granny's Bay over the headland. Sheltered swimming on the way back.

A 4km walk around a freshwater volcanic crater lake in Takapuna, mostly along the shore and partly through neighbourhood streets. The only freshwater swim within 5km of downtown.

A 5km flat coastal walk from Devonport wharf around to Cheltenham Beach and back over North Head. The most scenic flat walk on the North Shore.

A 30-minute clifftop walkway from St Heliers to Achilles Point, with lookouts over the Hauraki Gulf and Rangitoto. The views are some of the best in the city for the effort.

A black-sand West Auckland beach 33km from the city, used as the setting for The Piano. A 30-minute walk to Karekare Falls inland through native bush is the standard combo.

A 1km flat loop around a spring-fed lake near the zoo, popular for runners, dog walkers, and the Saturday-morning park run. Resident eels and pukeko make the path interesting.

A West Auckland coastal track from Bethells Beach south along the cliff tops toward Muriwai, with views of the black-sand surf coast. The full Te Henga Walkway runs 7-8 hours; most walkers do an out-and-back at the Bethells end.

A 15-minute climb up the second of Devonport's volcanic cones, with WWI signalling masts at the top and a 360-degree view across the harbour to the CBD.

An 8km flat shared cycle and walking path from downtown to St Heliers, hugging the harbour. The locals' commute and the city's best flat run; the views run east to Rangitoto the entire way.

A 17-hectare urban zoo in Western Springs that has shifted heavily toward NZ native species and serious conservation work since the 2000s. The Te Wao Nui native walk-through is the unmissable section.

A planetarium and astronomy education centre in One Tree Hill, with twice-nightly shows and a working telescope room. Run by a charitable trust; the planetarium roof is the kid magnet.

The Museum of Transport and Technology, with two sites either side of Western Springs connected by a working tram. Aircraft hangar, working machinery, and a colonial village; this is the dad-and-kid museum.

A Hobson Wharf maritime museum holding the country's most significant collection of waka, working sail boats, and the original KZ7 America's Cup yacht. Heritage harbour sailing trips run from the wharf.

The CBD's main civic performing arts venue, holding the Auckland Town Hall, the ASB Theatre, and several smaller stages. Home of the NZ Opera and the Auckland Philharmonia.

A 1929 atmospheric cinema and theatre with a star-painted ceiling and faux-Moorish interior. One of the world's last seven surviving atmospherics; now a film festival and theatre venue.

A 350-seat contemporary theatre off Queen Street, home to the city's strongest independent theatre and stand-up programme. The smaller Loft space upstairs runs experimental work.

A 600-seat purpose-built theatre on Wynyard Quarter, home to the Auckland Theatre Company. Opened in 2016; the building's wave-form facade is one of the city's better recent pieces of architecture.

A 1100-capacity Mount Eden live music venue in a converted brick substation. The city's best mid-sized rock and indie room since the 1980s; the sound and sightlines are properly thought through.

A 600-capacity small live music venue under Spark Arena, designed for the support tours the arena does not fit. The room's intimacy is its selling point.

An outdoor stadium in a natural amphitheatre at Western Springs, used for the biggest summer concerts in the country. Capacity 50,000; this is where the world's biggest tours play Auckland.

Auckland's main rugby and cricket stadium in Kingsland, capacity 50,000. Home of the Blues and the Black Caps; matchdays are the city's biggest sporting events.

A 30,000-capacity stadium in Penrose used for the NZ Warriors NRL games and major touring concerts. The Warriors home crowd is the city's most committed sporting fanbase.

A free public contemporary art gallery in the Pah Homestead in Hillsborough, holding rotating exhibits from the James Wallace Trust collection. The 1879 mansion is half the visit; the art is the other half.

The city's main indoor arena on Quay Park, capacity 12,000. The standard stadium tour stop for international acts; sightlines are reasonable and the public transport links are the best of any large venue.

An outdoor summer cinema in Wynyard Quarter, projected onto an industrial silo. Free Friday-night screenings through January and February; bring a blanket.

A free outdoor summer concert series in Aotea Square through January and February, programmed by Auckland Live. Local acts, food trucks, and family-friendly afternoons.

A converted council-vehicle depot on the CBD edge holding Best Ugly Bagels, a brewery, a cycle shop, and a rotating roster of pop-ups and design studios. The most coherent food-and-design precinct in the city.

A cluster of small independent galleries — Michael Lett, Hopkinson Mossman, Starkwhite, Gus Fisher — on and around K Road, holding the city's strongest contemporary art programme. Free entry to all.

A Saturday morning farmers market in Takutai Square, running year-round. Smaller than Matakana but the most central market in the city; producers come from Northland to South Auckland.

A 1911 Edwardian baroque concert hall at the bottom of Queen Street, with one of the southern hemisphere's best concert hall acoustics. Home of the Auckland Philharmonia.

The 328-metre telecommunications tower defines the Auckland skyline and holds the city's best 360-degree view. The glass-floor panels on the main observation deck are the cheap thrill; SkyJump and SkyWalk are for the committed.

A neoclassical hilltop museum in the Auckland Domain holding the country's most significant Maori and Pacific collections, plus a serious natural history floor. The cenotaph and Hall of Memories upstairs are a working war memorial, not a display.

The country's largest art collection housed behind a kauri-canopied atrium that won a World Architecture award in 2013. The Maori and Pacific portrait rooms by Goldie and Lindauer are the unmissable bit; touring exhibitions hit hard for a city this size.

Auckland's highest natural point and a dormant volcanic cone with a perfectly intact crater. The summit road is closed to cars (since 2016), which is exactly why the walk up feels worth it.

A 182-metre volcanic cone in Cornwall Park topped by an obelisk to Maori chief Sir John Logan Campbell. The lone tree it was named for was felled in 2000; a grove of nine has been planted in its place.

The youngest and largest of Auckland's volcanoes, rising from the Hauraki Gulf 600 years ago. The island is pest-free, uninhabited, and entirely a scenic reserve; the only way on is the Fullers ferry from downtown.

A 35-minute ferry from the city delivers vineyards, olive groves, and Oneroa village. The island has shifted from boho hideout to luxury weekend market over the last decade, but the eastern bays still feel like proper countryside.

Two glasshouses (one cool, one tropical) and a fernery framing a sunken courtyard, built in the 1920s. The Domain itself is the city's oldest park and the museum sits at its top edge.

A Victorian downtown park sitting between Queen Street and the University of Auckland. The fountain, statues, and flowerbeds are old-school formal; the lawns fill with students at lunch most weekdays.

A crescent of sand 8km east of downtown lined with cafes, gelato counters, and a 1950s art deco fountain. The water is sheltered enough for kids; the boardwalk runs continuously to Kohimarama and St Heliers.

The North Shore's main swimming beach, with a clear view of Rangitoto across the water and a strip of cafes set back from the sand. The Sunday morning market in the council car park is the local fixture.

A Victorian seaside village 12 minutes by ferry from downtown, all weatherboard houses and bookshops. North Head and Mount Victoria sit behind it; both are walking-distance volcanic cones with WWII tunnels.

The strip above the CBD that holds Auckland's queer scene, the city's best independent galleries, and the most concentrated bar block. K Road has gentrified hard since 2018 but still feels distinct from Ponsonby.

A precinct of restored Edwardian warehouses behind the central train station, redeveloped from 2003. Now Auckland's tightest cluster of mid-tier dining, designer retail, and the Saturday City Farmers Market.

A redeveloped industrial waterfront west of the Viaduct, opened progressively since 2011. Holds the silo park, the Maritime Museum, the fish market, and the start of the harbour edge promenade.

A small volcanic headland at the tip of Devonport honeycombed with 1880s tunnels built against a feared Russian invasion. The tunnels are open, unlit, and free to wander.

A headland east of downtown with sweeping views over the harbour and the resting place of Michael Joseph Savage. The site of the 1977-78 Ngati Whatua occupation that reshaped Maori land politics in New Zealand.

A 1985-built aquarium in repurposed sewage holding tanks under Tamaki Drive, with the world's first walk-through underwater tunnel. Sub-Antarctic penguins and stingrays are the headline tanks.

172 hectares of working farmland gifted to the city in 1901 by Sir John Logan Campbell, wrapping the base of One Tree Hill. Sheep and cattle graze the paddocks; the avenue of plane trees up Pohutukawa Drive is the photo set-piece.

The former fishing port reworked into a superyacht basin for the 2000 America's Cup, lined with restaurants and bars. Touristy by Auckland standards but the working boats and the bridge animation still pull crowds.