Without a doubt, the best area to stay in Auckland is the City Centre, also known as the Auckland CBD (Central Business District) where you can find all possible options for entertainment, culture, nature, gastronomy, nightlife, and just a few minutes from the beach.
Auckland, known worldwide as the city of sailboats, is situated on a strip of land bordered by the Pacific Ocean and its location, with its ports and bays, makes it a perfect place for water sports. The Downtown area concentrates a wide variety of shopping options, from exclusive designer shops to street markets with local crafts, countless cafes and restaurants, theatres, art galleries and a wide variety of hotels.
If you are staying in New Zealand’s largest city, choose the Central Business District and you will have an exclusive and safe stay in Auckland’s chicest area.
Also known as the Central Business District (Auckland CBD), the city center is the financial heart of Auckland.One of its main streets is Karangahape Avenue, commonly known as K’Road, which is home to a wide variety of shops, Maori influenced craft markets, as well as bars, clubs and small shops.
Just a few steps from the Centre there is a wide range of beaches, from the most visited ones in the urban area to the most quiet and isolated ones. Some of the beaches in the Centre are Pt Chevalier Beach, Herne, Home Beach, Mission Bay, Block House or Surfdale.
And for those who enjoy parks, also in Downtown Auckland, there are many options, including Myers Park and Albert Park, which has large native and exotic trees and characteristic palm trees that form an alleyway, as well as benches and artwork, while Albert Park is one of the most important parks in Auckland and has a long history within the city.For culture and art lovers, just around the corner from Albert Park is the Auckland Art Gallery Toi or Tamaki, established in 1888, which has the most extensive and complete collection of national and international art with around 16,000 works.The building has won around 22 awards, including the World Building of the Year (World Architecture Festival) in 2013. The Gallery offers the visitor a new cultural experience through its 35 exhibition halls, distributed on three levels.
In the heart of Auckland’s city centre, tourists can also enjoy an unparalleled cultural experience in the historic Auckland Town Hall and Aotea Centre Theatre.The Auckland Town Hall is home to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company and the local Auckland Philharmonic, which performs classical music, opera and ballet, while the Aotea Centre Theatre is the city’s main theatre and the venue for major plays.Also nearby is the recently renovated Auckland Civic Theatre, between Queen Street and Wellesley Street West, with a capacity of over 2,000.
The Stagecoach New Zealand bus network, known as the NZ Bus, is used to move around the city’s Central Business District and also connects the city centre to the suburbs. The city’s main terminal is at the Britomart Transport Centre at the bottom of Queen Street.You can get day tickets such as the Auckland Discovery Day Pass or Auckland Pass, which includes travel on buses, trains and ferries.
One of the most visited tourist attractions in Auckland’s Central Business District is the Sky Tower, New Zealand’s tallest structure at 328 metres, which has become an icon of the cityscape for its height and design.It is an observation and telecommunications tower from which you can appreciate unique views of the city, and from there you can do bungy jumps from its top. The Sky Tower is part of the Skycity, an area composed of casinos, restaurants, cafes and bars, one of the most popular destinations for tourists.
