What to do on a 13 hour layover in Auckland?

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PARADISE_WATERS

Take the blue airport bus into central auckland. Tell the driver to drop you near the bottom of Queen St. That is the main street in Auckland and also at the bottom of queen street is the harbour.

Sky tower is further up and just to the right of queen st - awesome view of the city.

Queen St has a few oriental food courts and the food there taste just like they made it n the orient and not out of a plastic packet!

Murphy

Auckland airport is about a 40 min drive from the city centre. Depends when you arrive, but you could be stuck in traffic if it is rush hour. For somw unknown reason, there is no public transport fromt the airport to the city. You can take a shuttle bus of course or a taxi but a taxi fare will be high.

travel_stories

If you have only 7 hours I don't know that I would be going far at all travel time and checkin will take a lot of that! If 14 - read on

There is a bus $22 return from the airport to the city. You will need to allow time for check in, and the traffic - our motorway is pretty congested, and it may pay to ask the bus driver, which is the best return bus time to catch for your check in.

So that will leave you around 9-10 hours. There is a lot you can do, especially round the harbour end of the city. Sky Tower is worth going up for a 360 degree view of the city. You could go to the Maritime museum which is right on the waterfront. Catch a ferry to Devonport, have a tour around in the horse and cart and take the ferry back( only 15 minute ride.....but very nice.) Wander up Queens Street( the main street, you'll see Wellesley St. Go left up there and you come to the Art Gallery.Just above it is Albert Park. Go up to Princes St and turn left. There is a lovely little clock museum on the corner of the park, (free) ,the university, and then you can wander back down through the park to Queen St again. You could catch a bus out to Mission Bay, and maybe go to Kelly Tarlton's aquarium. Or catch a bus up to the Auckland Museum - they have a Maori cultural show three ties daily. Look at the Glass houses( Wintergardens) and then walk or bus back to the Cathedral in Parnell, look at both the historic St Mary's built entirely of timber, and the newer one with wonderful stained glass panels, wander the shops in Parnell village (historic) and then take a bus back to town.Only a few minutes!
You won't fit all this in.......but could check out what appeals most.
Fro further information go to
http://www.holidays-in-newzealand.com/auckland.html

Dangerous

Sadly Auckland international airport is far from anything but slums and the only way to the city is via a congested road that can take between an hour and two hours to get you into Auckland city. It's a joke to everyone except the morons who populate Auckland.

If you get into Auckland I recommend relaxing at the Domain and taking a walk around the cbd and up Queen St. The shopping's a bit crap, but it will pass the time. Be warned though much of it is up a steep incline.
Other than that there's not a great deal to do besides relaxing in parks or a cafe. Sooner or later some dumb local will recommend this sky-tower, which is just another one of those needles that sticks out (like in St. Petersberg, Seattle, Osaka, Frankfurt, SYDNEY, etc...) and simply nothing special except it's part of a Casino complex you should probably avoid.

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