Explore Auckland

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki opened in 1888 as New Zealand's first permanent public art gallery, in a château-style building with a clock tower below Albert Park. A new wing with timber-lined canopies, opened in 2011, doubled its space. The collection covers New Zealand and Māori art, Pacific works and international painting and sculpture.

The New Zealand Maritime Museum occupies a former wharf shed on Hobson Wharf at the Viaduct Harbour in central Auckland. Its exhibitions follow New Zealand's history on the sea, from the first Polynesian voyagers and European immigrant ships to America's Cup racing yachts, and heritage vessels such as the scow Ted Ashby and the steam tug SS Puke are berthed alongside.

Holy Trinity Cathedral on Parnell Road is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Auckland. Its foundation stone was laid in 1957, the chancel was consecrated in 1973, and the Bishop Selwyn Chapel completed the building in 2017; the nave holds a large expanse of stained glass. Beside it stands St Mary's, a wooden Gothic Revival church by Benjamin Mountfort completed in 1897.

MOTAT, the Museum of Transport and Technology, was founded in 1960 at Western Springs to preserve Auckland's trams and early New Zealand technology. Its two sites, on Great North Road and at the Aviation Hall, are linked by a heritage tramway. Exhibits include aircraft, locomotives, the brick pumphouse of 1877 and hands-on science displays.

Auckland Zoo opened in 1922 on Motions Road beside Western Springs Park and covers 16 hectares. Its tracks group animals by region, with giraffes and zebras, red pandas and orangutans, and Te Wao Nui, opened in 2011, where kiwi, kea, takahē and tuatara live among native New Zealand plants. The zoo also runs a veterinary hospital for injured wildlife.