As soon as we arrived in Auckland, every recommendation seemed to involve leaving the city in some shape or form. The top post when you Google the city is Day Trips from Auckland.
However, with just 24 hours here (including sleeping time), there was limited time to venture too far out. Also, as we both love city life, shopping (Shalini), eating (Shalini and Amar) and finding quirky hangout places (mostly Shalini), it made sense for us to explore the City!
So on that note, welcome to the #AmarniTravels Auckland walking tour, with eating stops every 5 minutes…
9am – 10am (Breakfast)
Grab breakfast and soak in La Cigale Food Market – whether you are looking for coffee liquor, aioli flavoured hummus (yes that’s a thing apparently) or Chicken Tikka flavoured dumplings then this is the place for you. By the end we were stuffed on all the free samples – delish!
10am – 2pm (Break from food – with occasional snacks)
Soak in the city vibes by walking around the city. There isn’t too much to tick off and do but we followed the following route:
Feel the start of spring at the Rose Gardens. Nice place to relax and soak up the sun.
Act like a student again at Auckland University Campus. It’s very much like a UK university, but was great reading all the bulletins from research students. This one was our fav!
Visit Britomart, a pretty cool area where, yet again, you can eat, drink or shop. We couldn’t resist, and found New Zealand’s answer to “The Cronut” – strange shaped, delish and very instagrammable ice-cream! The restaurant is called Giapo and we ordered the “Two become one”. #cringeeee
Shop the streets of Queen Street – we accidentally stumbled into the grand opening of a Luxury Shopping Mall called T Galleria. Although we felt extremely underdressed in our Wifey/Hubby hoodies (everyone else from the fashion industry dressed in ball gowns and heels higher than the Sky Tower) we played it cool, sneaking around each floor wondering if anyone would notice if we stole a glass of champagne.
2pm – 4pm (Lunch)
Orbit 360 is the restaurant at the Top of Auckland’s tallest building the Sky Tower. You sit right next to the window, while the room rotates meaning you can see great views of the city along with relaxed vibes and delicious food. One to add on your travel bucketlists!
4pm – 6pm (Break from food – with occasional snacks)
As we continue the walk, follow the pink brick road. This was BEUT! An entire walking path in Neon Pink?!
Continue walking – nothing specific to call out here as we didn’t bother with any of the Museums or Art galleries, but you see a complete mixture of Chinese restaurants, stripclubs, churches, city halls, small boutiques, hostels, cafes and sheesha joints. We even found a Nandos but resisted!
6pm – onwards (Dinner and Drinks)
Check out the luxury yachts at Viaduct Harbour. With all the global office buildings in the area (Yes, Amar got very excited seeing so many Insurance companies in one place), this was a key spot for after work drinks. After eavesdropping to some juicy work gossip at some waterfront bars, we heading to one of the best Italian restaurants we had ever been to – Amano. Hands down the Burrata and Cacio e Pepe pasta we have ever tried. And the perfect NZ vino blanco to complement.
To end the night, the Ponsonby neighbourhood is meant to be cool but we got sleepy!
It’s been a pleasure Auckland! Time to jump in the campervan and see what NZ has to offer…
#AmarniTravels
Amarni Travels 
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