Dog-Friendly Attractions and Day Trips in Auckland

A twelve-minute ferry across the Waitematā lands you in a Victorian seaside village of wooden villas, and the whole day works on foot from the gate: the waterfront, the climb up Takarunga Mount Victoria, the tunnels and gun emplacements of Maungauika North Head, and Cheltenham Beach on the far side. The view from North Head takes in Rangitoto, the harbour and the city skyline at once.

A working farm inside the city, gifted to the people of New Zealand in 1901 and wrapped around the Maungakiekie One Tree Hill volcanic cone, with avenues of olive trees, grazing sheep and cattle, and an obelisk on the summit above a 360 degree view. Nothing else in Auckland puts livestock, archaeology and a skyline panorama on the same walk.

The vineyard island in the Hauraki Gulf, close enough to be a day trip and far enough to feel like a holiday, with olive groves, art trails, bays of clear water and a village at Oneroa built above the beach. It is the one gulf island where a pet dog is welcome, which makes it the natural big day out of an Auckland trip with a dog.