We need recommendations for full day tours in Auckland New Zealand.?

Question

We arrive at 6am and want to spend the full day on a tour.

Answer 1

There are so many tour groups in Auckland to choose from.

If you want to do things independantly there are also the 'Auckland explorer' buses that pick you up and drop you off at designated tourist spots. Thats a nice way to travel because you can stay there as long as you like without having to be raced around and listening to commentary that you may or may not find interesting.

If you arrive at 6am, you could take the airport bus into the city as a starting point. That will take you into the central part of the city and you could get off at Sky City (the NZ Sky Tower) behind there is the central bus station where you could leave your luggage in a locker.

The Sky Tower opens at 8.30am, so you could start there, and get an idea of how big Auckland is, and in what direction you may want to go in.

There is also an information centre on the lobby floor of Sky City, they can recommend many great day tours for you too.

I wouldn't recommend any 'city' tour because you can do that by foot, and there is also a 'free' bus that does a city circuit (just of the downtown CBD, but it goes up and down the hills so you don't have to walk as much). You could do a round of that and see where you might want to get on and off.

The exciting things to do are generally out of the city, im not sure if you are wanting to do an exciting Auckland city tour, or perhaps more of a wining dining?

You can jump off the Sky Tower, or climb up the needle of the sky tower, which I have tried both of and recommend.

You could also take a ferry from downtown to either Devonport or Waiheke Island.

There are boat tours too where you can swim with Dolphins (book in downtown next to the ferry building), I have done that also, and it was great, unfortunately we couldn't swim with the Dolphins though because there were too many whales, but amazing all the same.

Auckland is actually made up of Volcanoes, so there are many volcanoes you can either climb or drive to the top of and get a nice view too.

Best thing is to wait until you get there, and check out the information centre to find out exactly what you want to do. There are sooooo many things to do, no matter what your time or budget allows. Being winter, I can't imagine that you won't be able to get on tours at short notice. If there is something specific though (such as the Dolphin swimming) you may want to book for things like that. As for jumping from the tower or climbing, generally you will be able to go on the day you wish.

Enjoy your time there, I haven't lived in NZ for two years now, so im sure there are many more exciting things to do~

Answer 2

there are heaps of things to tour in Auckland city i havent done much of them because i live here (and who actually tours where they live??) but i love waiheke island and also kawau island you can hop on a ferry and start from there. try see both islands which sounds possible, there is wine tasting on waiheke and tours on kawau... good luck

Answer 3

Kia ora from New Zealand,

There are many tours available. Scenic Pacific is a reputable company so this would be my choice.

This might be a good tour for you.

http://www.scenicpacific.co.nz//trip.cfm...

Hope you enjoy your time here in our lovely city.