Karekare Beach

Wondering what to do and where to go with your travel days in Auckland? I've lived in Auckland city and explored extensively for over a year. My list here isn’t super long, but that’s because I’ve chosen to list only the things we really love and actually do ourselves. Here are the top places we take our visitors.

This is a map of all my favorite spots to explore, eat, and stay in Aotearoa New Zealand after a year and a half of living in the land of the long white cloud with my two kids. Nearly all the pins are child friendly and they are noted if not. I update this periodically as I travel to new places so keep an eye out and enjoy New Zealand's incredible country!

Auckland's West Coast is often overlooked by travellers as you need a car to reach it and explore everything. When I visited, it exceeded my expectations and I fell in love with this rugged and wild coastline. The West Coast is part of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park and is home to stunning black sand beaches, lush rainforest with waterfalls, one of NZ's most popular surf beaches and a gannet colony. It is not far from Auckland but you will feel like entering a completely different world. This remote and untamed region is more than worth a visit and will for sure casts its spell over you. A magical place that you should not miss out on and that can also be explored on a day trip if you have a tight schedule. I'd also be grateful for any support in the way of: 🌺subscribing to my page 🌺sharing this guide 🌺saving this guide 🌺leaving a review THANK YOU SO MUCH!