The Best Sight in Auckland, New Zealand

Background Illustration for Sights

You can get around city center and the suburbs close to the harbor like Ponsonby, Devonport, and Parnell, on foot, by bus, and by ferry. Elsewhere, Auckland is not as easy to explore. The neighborhoods and suburbs sprawl from the Waitemata and Manukau harbors to rural areas, and complicated roads, frequent construction, and heavy traffic can make road travel a challenge. Still it's best to have a car for getting between neighborhoods and some city center sights. What might look like an easy walking distance on a map can turn out to be a 20- to 30-minute hilly trek, and stringing a few of those together can get frustrating.

If you're nervous about driving on the left, especially when you first arrive, purchase a one-day Link Bus Pass that covers the inner-city neighborhoods and central business district (CBD) or, for a circuit of the main sights, a Discovery Pass. Take a bus to get acquainted with the city layout. Getting around Auckland by bus is easy and inexpensive. The region's bus services are coordinated through the Auckland Transport. You can buy electronic Hop cards which can be used on buses, trains and ferries and its website can provide door-to-door information, including bus route numbers, to most places in the greater Auckland area. Timetables are available at most information centers.

Museum of Transport & Technology

Western Springs

This museum 6 km (4 miles) west of Auckland is a fantastic place for anyone with a technical bent, offering not only a fascinating collection of vehicles, telephones, cameras, locomotives, steam engines, and farm equipment but also a tribute to Kiwi ingenuity. The aviation collection includes the only surviving Solent flying boat. One of the most intriguing exhibits is the remains of an aircraft built by New Zealand aviation pioneer Robert Pearse. There is a reproduction of another he built, in which he made a successful powered flight around the time the Wright brothers first took to the skies. The flight ended inauspiciously when his plane crashed into a hedge. But Pearse, considered a wild eccentric by his farming neighbors, is recognized today as a mechanical genius. MOTAT, as the museum is called, also has the scooter that former prime minister Helen Clark once rode.

825 Great North Rd., Auckland, 1022, New Zealand
09-846–0199
Sight Details
NZ$19

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