News and Views

Top things to do in Auckland 

What's hot with visitors? Well according to international Trip Advisor research, it’s hot springs, wellness experiences and kid-friendly attractions as family travel grows. Walking tours also make the top 10 booked tours worldwide.

TripAdvisor analyzed traveler booking data to reveal the most popular and fastest-growing categories for tours and activities in 2019, setting the stage for determining 2020 travel trends. 
 
The most-booked individual experiences of the year reflect a universal interest in sightseeing activitie; seeing the famous icons and landmarks that make a destination so loved. Whether it’s a skip-the-line ticket to a popular attraction, a walking city tour, or an architecture river cruise, it’s clear that travelers see the value in a guided tour to experience all the worthwhile sights and sounds of a destination.

Top things to do in Auckland on Trip Advisor include (in order of popularity) Sky Tower, a climb up Mount Eden, a visit to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, exploring the Auckland Botanical Gardens and Rangitoto Island. 
 
“Travelers are booking more immersive experiences than ever,” says Molly Burke, a TripAdvisor spokesperson. “Visiting iconic sites is still a priority, but travelers are increasingly curating trips to suit their unique interests. Whether that means bringing the whole family along or booking rejuvenating wellness experiences, travelers have so many options to really customize their trip, and immerse themselves in the local culture.

The trends reveal that travelers are on the hunt for a way to unwind, quiet their minds, and recharge their batteries from fast-paced lives. 
 
Which is why New Zealand with its nature, hot springs and scenic beauty will remain a preferred destination.

Our small-group Hello Auckland walking tour is the perfect 'day one' activity for visitors wanting to familiarise themselves with the city. Family-friendly, it can be booked as a private tour and offers a leisurely way to discover key landmarks and lanes on foot. 

Credit: copy repurposed from Trip Advisor Report “2019 Travel Trends”

Auckland’s top 5 restaurants: Visitors vote!

In April, Auckland’s Metro Magazine announced the winners of the Metro Peugeot Restaurant of the Year Award 2019. Twelve judges fanned out across the city to discretely dine at restaurants on their raydar. 

Pasture, the Supreme Award winner is a six-seat fine diner where you are served by three chefs in an open kitchen. Runner-up Cazador is a family run restaurant serviing Persian and Spanish inspired food down the Mt Roskill end of Dominion Road.
 
Best newcomer is Waiheke’s 372 (named after the island’s area code) on Onetangi beach.
And restauranteur of the year are the Sarawats, owners of Sid Art, Cassia and Sid at the French Cafe.

So we decided to compare the views of the local expert judging panel against what visitors (and locals) think based on Trip Advisor reviews. The results are vastly different.

Here’s the top 5 restaurants according to diners (not judges) for 2019:

Paris Butter, 166 Jervois Road, Herne Bay
Chef Nick Honeyman and his team create innovative French cuisine using locally-sourced New Zealand ingredients. The restaurant’s NZD$110 tasting menu is popular with diners raving about the venison tartare, potato veloute and poached pear dessert. Definitely worth the uber fare from town. 

The Grove, St Patrick’s Square, Wyndham St
Named as one of the top 10 restaurant’s in the world, owner Michael Dearth is riding a wave of success with this fine dining option. Guests mention the knowledgeable wine sommelier, the chef’s exquisite degustation menu (with vegetarian options) and the New York-styled interior offerring pretty views of the city skyline. Popular dishes include the spinach and cashew ravioli and the mushroom brioche.

One Tree Grill, 9 Pah Road, Epsom
This suburban bistro continues to impress diners with its “great food, great staff and great wine.” It’s cozy booths are a perfect foil to a chilly winter’s night. As is the seared scallops, Hereford eye fillet and pork belly with crackling. 

Sid Art, Three Lamps Plaza, Ponsonby Road
A close contender for third spot, Sid Swarawat’s Sid Art serves up Indian-fusion fine dining. Guests describe “a unique experience with smooth attentive service.” Each dish is delicately infused with heavenly spices like coriander or cumin. The restaurant is highly regarded for it’s focus on vegetarian dining with a fabulous range of options.

Kazuya, 193 Symonds Street, Uptown
Top pick last year, Kazuya is a chic, contemporary restaurant offering Japanese-influenced European dishes. Chef Kazuya uses the unique process of slow-roasting meat and also traditional Japanese methods for preparing fish. Guests love the restaurant’s intimacy highlighting dishes like the taro and rosemary infused starter and to finish, the chocolate and salted caramel dessert.

It’s great to see a range of cuisines feature on Trip Advisor’s top 5 restaurants especially as Auckland is one of the most diverse cities in the world. 

We reveal great inner-city restaurants on our Taste Auckland walking tour. Or you can choose to include an optional lunch at the end of our Hello Auckland tour. The city offers an endless array of delicious eats and treats. 

Top marks for Taste Auckland Tour

When expert New Zealand-based travel agent Michael Nees visited Auckland recently, he and partner Pam hopped on board our Taste Auckland food walking tour. The only challenge we faced were their very tiny appetites as they winced about the portion sizes; "too much lamb," said Michael and "these ice creams are too big!" groaned Pam. Followed by 'this is too pretty to eat!'

Michael is the Founder and Director of Guest New Zealand, a travel agency specializing in boutique travel solutions for visitors to New Zealand and Australia. They're very selective about who they work with hand-picking local accommodation hosts and small tour activities. We love their commitment to promoting ‘slow travel’ meaning longer stays at fewer locations so visitors really get under the skin of a region or a city. Guest NZ can provide top-notch recommendations to clients because this team is often on the road experiencing new providers first-hand. 

So what did Micheal and Pam think of Taste Auckland? They loved it so much that within 24 hours, Guest NZ had published a 'guest' opinion on their blog reviewing their experience.

The team wrote:

Most international travellers to New Zealand, will arrive in the city of Auckland. And after a long flight, it is a good idea to get out and explore the city, before you get that well earned sleep.  If you love boutique tours – or a private tour for just the two of you, then Auckland walking tours with Aucky Walky is a must-do.

Liz doesn’t really see her guiding as just a job. She clearly enjoys showing off food made with love and beautiful art to people wanting to experience the real deal. The Taste Auckland Tour is a progressive lunch tour where good food and cool vibes are everything. 

To find out what Michael and Pam enjoyed most, read their full blog here.

Then join us to discover the yummy side of Auckland with a small-group guarantee. Book Taste Auckland Tour here

Please come hungry to keep your guide happy!

Disclosure: Guest NZ paid for their tour and this review is an independent and unsolicited opinion

Auckland Restaurant Month: Feed your face for $55   

This August, American Express Restaurant Month is the perfect opportunity to try something new with over 100 city restaurants presenting special lunch and dining offers. With so many amazing menus to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start, so here’s some of $55 menus we’ve shortlisted to try. Bon appetit everyone! 

Beast & Butterflies - M Social, Quay Street:    With a primo spot on Auckland’s waterfront, this hotel-based restaurant is turning heads in its first 12 months of operation, garnering rave reviews.  The Restaurant Month offer includes $55 for a 3-course dinner or $25 for a 2-course lunch.  The 3 course dinner options include market fish ceviche with beef rendang and rosemary crème brulee, grapefruit with crème fraiche.
The 2 course lunch options include market fish ceviche with ginger gel, coconut, crispy shallots and prawn & chicken laksa, tofu, egg noodles, poached egg and sambal.

Harbourside Ocean Bar Grill - Ferry Building, Quay St:   Newly revamped this classic waterfront bistro offers plush surrounds with gorgeous views across Auckland’s harbour. Harbourside Ocean Bar and Grill offers sustainably caught New Zealand seafood with an international twist. Its 2 course $55 lunch or dinner options include Atlantic scallops, grilled scampi, sundried tomatoes rouille with roasted Eastherbrook farm duck breast, confit potatoes, mandarin puree, dukkah, broccolini, madiera.

Hectors - Shortland Street:  A relative newcomer to the Auckland restaurant scene Hestor's takes pride in sourcing the majority its of produce from local farmers and suppliers within a 50 kilometre radius of the city. 
Its 3 course options for $55 include scallops on spring onion mash, peanut soy dressing with crisp slow roasted pork belly, fennel remoulade, apple croquette and coffee sticky date pudding, rich toffee sauce & salted caramel sorbet to finish.
 

Masu - Federal Street, Sky City : Enjoy contemporary Japanese-inspired food at popular Masu. Cooked over a charcoal grill you’re sure to experience a blend of culinary theatre and great food. Diners can view the chefs at the robata cooking hearth, creating food-laden skewers and slowly rotating them over hot coals.
The 3 course $55 options include kingfish sashimi with robata grilled king salmon, ginger teriyaki, blackened chilli pickled cucumber and shiro miso pavlova, roasted tamarillo, guava chilli sorbet to finish

For something a little different, sign up for Dinner by Bike hosted by Bike Auckland, one of many food events on over August. Discover Auckland’s streets and flavours with a progressive three-course dinner on wheels.  Enjoy a leisurely 8km round-trip tour of the city, with stops for entrée, main, dessert, and nightcap. The ride-by-restaurants include Miss Clawdy’s in Wynyard Quarter for a taste of the South for the appetiser course,  up the Nelson Street cycleway to 1947 Eatery for a contemporary Indian feast then dessert at Madriz in Fort Lane. Also included is a post-dinner drink overlooking the harbour on the rooftop of Parasol & Swing at the Viaduct. 

Visitors always ask us where's best to eat on our small-group Hello Auckland walking tour. Lucky locals can take advantage of world-class dining deals in Auckland this month. There are 100 restaurants awaiting your order so walk on in and sit right down.   

Auckland Streets - New Art Coming!

A dynamic city is one where vibrant street art, sculptures, graffiti and galleries thrive. Where art festivals are well attended, new works are publicly-funded and artists can make a comfortable living. Where visitors can understand a city’s culture and its people, both past and present through its imagery.

We often get asked what’s new in Auckland’s art scene or where is the city's best street art?

Given the lack of accessible art on show, we’re often apologetic about the blank walls and buildings we amble by. Jean Batten Place for example doesn’t feature a statue of our world-record setting Aviator. Michael Parakowhai’s Lighthouse on the end of Queens Wharf was largely funded by corporate donors. But change is in the wind and it’s going to inject more art in the heart of the city.

Auckland Art Gallery’s future is now secure as the council, facing a groundswell of public concern, recently passed a resolution to increase funding by $2million a year for the next 10 years. In February this year, however, the gallery’s future looked uncertain. Faced with a significant funding shortfall, our award-winning gallery introduced a $20 visitor charge, while local entry remained free. More drastic measures including staff cuts and closed days were proposed.

More good news as it’s been announced that public art will receive a $3 million boost over the next eight years from targeted Auckland Council rates*. This will finance new public art installed around the streets of central Auckland. Currently, there are 80 existing public artworks in the city centre of which 65 are in council’s public art asset collection. A further 11 major public artworks will be commissioned, most of which are of scale and significance including:

• Two major commissions as part of the exterior design of the New Zealand International Convention Centre  
• A proposed work in the Mayoral Drive underpass in Myers Park  
• A proposed work in Lower Queen Street outside the Britomart Station  
• Several commissions involving mana whenua in the Commercial Bay development
• New works in the underground stations and underpasses within the City Rail Link  
• Three major planned works for Wynyard Quarter.

This is a significant nod to Auckland’s arts community. But it will take more than just public funding to really swathe Auckland's streets in art. Private and corporate benefactors will hopefully swing in behind this new injection.
Visitors certainly enjoy our Hello Auckland Tour which features a variety of installations en route. However, we look forward to sharing the stories of Auckland through more visible artworks downtown. And celebrating the artists who create them.

*Reference: Auckland City Centre Public Art Plan
File No.: CP2018/07435