Home > Auckland > Auckland Highlights combined with Wilderness Experience Eco-Tour
USD $164.00
Auckland Highlights combined with Wilderness Experience Eco-Tour
Auckland, New Zealand
Experience the best sights of Auckland City in the morning combined with an afternoon wilderness experience.
Auckland is set on 48 dormant volcanic cones and between two harbors, the sparkling Waitemata and the brooding Manukau. Known as the City of Sails, it's New Zealand's largest and busiest city. Your morning tour is a journey of discovery designed to explore the history and sights as well as see how Aucklanders live and play.
Join the wilderness experience in the afternoon to continue your tour. Just 30 kilometres from downtown Auckland is the city's largest Regional Park - the Waitakere Ranges. Visit the Arataki Centre where you enjoy spectacular views back to the city and of both harbours. Admire the magnificent Maori carvings that stand guard there. Continue on to the wild and rugged west coast where you have the opportunity to stroll on an unspoiled beach. Here you learn about the fascinating local history and flora and fauna of the region from your guide. A short journey brings you to the lush rainforest where you walk amongst giant tree ferns and hear native birds. This gives a true insight and feel for our unspoiled native forest, a classic Kiwi experience. Visit a magnificent specimen of New Zealand's famous Kauri trees.
This unique small group tour operator is a Qualmark Endorsed Visitor Activity and provides expert guided eco-tours in the greater Auckland region a company delivering a quality product focusing on the natural and cultural heritage of the area. Winner of the New Zealand 2007 Small Tourism Business Operator Award.
Had Alexander in the morning for the City tour and David and Jeff in the afternoon for the west coast tour. It was a great day of touring and we felt we really got to see Auckland and surroundings on our one day in the city. All 3 guides worked hard to stay on schedule and were a wealth of information all day long. A really exceptional experience! The smaller group size made for an enjoyable day out with plenty of time to see the sights.
Review by: Judith A, February 2017
I was very impressed with the tour guide. It was a small group of people but all of us felt very informed and rewarded by the experience.
Review by: Isabella B, October 2016
Our guide was an excellent combination of humour and information .....Never a dull moment. A great way to start our holiday in New Zealand. I very much enjoyed seeing the city as well as experiencing the west coast and countryside. An excellent tour!
Review by: Anne-Marie L, July 2016
Excellent tour and breathtaking scenery! Both guides Alin and Warren were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. They both went out of their way to make the experience memorable.
Review by: scott p, May 2016
If you have limited time in Auckland, this is the one tour you should consider it give you an overview of ALL of Auckland not just the city as Auckland stretches coast to coast.
Review by: Patricia D, April 2016
This Auckland Highlights part of this tour was disappointing! The guy that drove us around the city was a bit dry and very much into pointing out areas of the city where he lived during college. At times it seemed awkward when we got out of the van to look at things when there was not much to look at.
Review by: Maura R, April 2016
Very enjoyable day.Guides both morning and afternoon knowledgeable and helpfull.Really enjoyed the whole experience and would highly recommend it.
Review by: David C, February 2016
This is a fabulous tour. It was so great that the Hop-On Hop off tour was not needed since this tour gave a close up and personal tour of the area. It was fantastic and I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great tour of Auckland and the surrounding area.
Review by: Emer W, January 2016
Very entertaining tour guides, the hike in the afternoon was the highlight of this tour for me. Good variety of activities - we saw parts of Auckland that wouldn't otherwise have been accessible to us without a car. The small coach size was also a bonus.
Review by: Steven Z, January 2016
Great tour guide and sights..very educational..
Review by: jennyo1964, October 2015
Great one day tour to get an overall picture of Auckland. _br/_ Tour guides were very informative and friendly. _br/_ I was extremely fortunate with the weather and the views were spectacular.
Review by: Janet C, October 2015
This was absolutely amazing and the guides were great. With the city tour then the rainforest and beach in the afternoon, was so worth it, We seen so much and was definitely not disappointed with having such a short amount of time in New Zealand. This trip was worth it.
Review by: britta g, July 2015
Both drivers were great, really enjoyed their company! The weather was really foggy so don't recommend the morning part of this tour on a cloudy day because we pretty much saw nothing!! Not the tour operators fault of couse, and they were great. Just a warning to other travellers.
Review by: macottone, June 2015
A rainy day- more rain than ever seen before, but we did manage to stop to see Piha beach and walk very briefly in the rain forest.
Review by: Janice R, May 2015
The morning tour was OK, the driver could have slowed down a bit so we could get more pictures through the van windows. The afternoon tour was great, but we could have had more time and I wish we had at the Ataki Visitor Center since we were returned 20 minutes early to our departure point. I would recommend this tour with the above changes.
Review by: Janice R, May 2015
Morning city tour - Ok, but the jokes by the driver were a bit off-color which went unappreciated. _br/_
Afternoon beach tour - good, but needed more time at the Visitor Center to see the exhibits, etc.
Review by: Daniel D, March 2015
What a great trip and beautiful scenery with a great , knowledgeable and friendly guide, Allan Clark
Review by: BRENDA C, March 2015
the tour was great and the people in charge were really helpful and made it an all round great day .
Review by: Richard M, March 2015
Great experience, awesome tour! Our guides Dawn and Allen were very informative and funny
Review by: PETER H, February 2015
I really enjoyed the combination of City and Wilderness experiences offered by this tour. Our guide/driver Tony was hugely enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
Review by: Clayton A, February 2015
Amazing tour. Guides were excellent and I would go again if I get back to Auckland.
Review by: MARGARET T, December 2014
We truly enjoyed this tour. It was a wonderful introduction to NewZealand.
Review by: Tao D, July 2014
We loved our tour! It was very informative and fun. We went on this tour straight from landing from our flight so we had some personal items with us. Wish we had known to leave our valuables in our hotel or something so that we did have to have it with us all the time. Nothing happened but just wish we had known to leave the valuables behind. Also, we were supposed to have one hour break between the two tours for lunch, do to scheduling and traffic we only had about 30 minutes to get food and eat. It was a bit rushed but we managed. Besides the two minor things, we loved the tours.
Review by: Linda N, June 2014
My friend and I loved the combo Auckland Highlights and Wilderness Eco-Tour. Dion was our guide in the morning. He was very kind, professional and enthusiastic about showing us a great overview of Auckland. Sean was our guide in the afternoon. He was equally as nice, informative, enthusiastic and professional. We loved every minute of the tour. It was a great way to spend our first day in New Zealand and our only day in Auckland. I would highly recommend this tour company and would definitely look them up again when returning to N.Z.
Review by: Diane B, March 2014
Our guide, Dawn, picked us up promptly from our hotel and proceeded to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for Aukland the entire time! We made fun stops and felt we had a wonderful overview of Aukland including the coast, suburbs, fish market, eco sanctuary and so much more. Great day and one we would really recommend to those on short visits to Aukland.
Review by: Ed D, February 2014
EXCELLENT TOUR. LOTS OF STOPS AND WALK ABOUTS !
Review by: Scott L, October 2013
Enjoyed both the city part and the rainforest part, a nice way to get a good perspective of New Zealand. The guides were very knowledgeable and the tour well organized. Would recommend this as a good overall view of Auckland.
Review by: Marian O, July 2013
Thank you for an amazing day, informative and very friendly guides, this tour takes in so much a must for a short stay in beautiful Auckland
Review by: Shani S, June 2013
This was a great tour because it allows you to not only explore around the city but also takes you across to the otherside of the island into the rainforest. The staff are very friendly and knowldgeable. Its a great way to spend the day.
Review by: wayne m, March 2013
In spite of the drizzly weather, this was a wonderful tour. Alexander was the guide for the morning tour of Auckland - he was excellent. Wayne and Dion took over for the afternoon, when we went to the rain forest and volcanic beach. They also were excellent. All three were informative and entertaining! We enjoyed the day very much.
Review by: Daryl C, March 2013
Excellent day tour around Auckland city and wilderness tour, both guides were very knowledgable and friendly highly recommended
Review by: Paul S, February 2013
The guide was great. Very knowledgeable. Saw a lot in one afternoon. If we are ever back in Auckland, we will certainly use Viator again.
Review by: Jeremy H, February 2013
Excellent tour guide. beautiful scenery
Review by: Jim H, February 2013
excellent
Review by: Laurie B, July 2012
Our guide, Alexander, did an outstanding job. He was knowledgeable and moved at an easy pace. I especially enjoyed the Wilderness eco-tour. I am glad I used my time in Auckland in this manner.
Review by: Michael R, December 2011
Driver guides were attentive and knowledgeable.
Review by: Christopher H, December 2010
We only had 2 days in Auckland and this tour was perfect! Both of our guides were great - very informative and flexable. I really liked how the day was broken into 2 parts, giving a good overall view of the area. We have done other tours where we were on the bus most of the day, but this one got us off quite a bit which was nice. We LOVED the Karekere waterfall, the black sand beach, and seeing all the volcanoes. All in all, it was a great trip. I was a little confused from the description what we would be doing for lunch, but they dropped us off at a fish market where we had a choice of what to eat. Overall - we really enjoyed this day.
Review by: Eric R, June 2010
City tour part provided little information and didn't show much that was interesting. Best avoided. Wilderness experience was better, much more information, more interesting.
Review by: Eric R, Australia, April 2010
City tour part provided little information and didn't show much that was interesting. Best avoided. Wilderness experience was better, much more information, more interesting.
Review by: Michael B, United Kingdom, January 2010
The tour operator provided a very carefully balanced day of city highlight views and close up experiences of the bush surrounding the city. There are short treks in the bush and along the beach. The guide was both informative and convivial. This tour was well worth the effort.
Review by: Vinh P, United States of America, January 2010
Very informative, satisfying and awesome species abound!
Review by: MICHAEL B, January 2010
The tour operator provided a very carefully balanced day of city highlight views and close up experiences of the bush surrounding the city. There are short treks in the bush and along the beach. The guide was both informative and convivial. This tour was well worth the effort.
Review by: Anonymous, Australia, December 2009
A thoroughly enjoyable experience, must do when visiting the North Island.
The morning tour of the city and the sights was great, Dawn our tour guide was fantastic and very knowledgable.
The afternoon tour of the rainforest and the beach is amazing and Bob is just as lovely.
Don't forget to take your camera, you definately don't want to miss any of the magnificent scenery.
Only thing missing from the tour is a supplied lunch mind you I don't know when they could fit it in
Review by: Allison D, December 2009
A thoroughly enjoyable experience, must do when visiting the North Island.
The morning tour of the city and the sights was great, Dawn our tour guide was fantastic and very knowledgable.
The afternoon tour of the rainforest and the beach is amazing and Bob is just as lovely.
Don't forget to take your camera, you definately don't want to miss any of the magnificent scenery.
Only thing missing from the tour is a supplied lunch mind you I don't know when they could fit it in
Review by: Bruce M, Finland, November 2009
The four stars are all awarded for the Wilderness Experience Eco-Tour, which is definitely a must. The sights were well chosen, and the guide was fantastic. The Auckland Highlights section was good enough, but a bit too much time was spent looking at properties and talking about house prices.
Review by: Charlie G, United States of America, January 2009
The scope of this tour was amazing, and the tour guides are very knowledgeable about the area.
Review by: Anonymous, United States of America, December 2008
The city part was just ok, but the museum was amazing! I wish we could have stayed longer. The bush and beach section was great and gorgeous. Definitely worth doing!
Review by: Ashley P, December 2008
The city part was just ok, but the museum was amazing! I wish we could have stayed longer. The bush and beach section was great and gorgeous. Definitely worth doing!
Review by: Uday G, United States of America, August 2008
So this had two different tour guides, for AM and PM. AM tour, make sure you get the right itinerary when you check-in for the tour! We went around Auckland downtown, local residential areas, include the upscale ones gorgeous houses, folksy commentary of the Auckland lifestyle for those who may be interested in moving here. Saw the Domain and War Museum which was ok, nothing like Te Papa. Short visit, just 30 minutes. AM tour is a short summary of Auckland for those with little time to get the highlights.
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PM tour, had a really nice guide, the best tour guide, deserves awards! Fab time in Waitakere, walked down to the base of a waterfall, which made the whole day worth it. Just spectacular! Lots of great photos. A tricky walk down, kinda steep, so be careful. But totally worth it. Then went down to the black sandy beaches. A melancholy beauty of the place, quiet cold desolate but lots of great photo opps. Wow! Then saw Kauri trees, and did not-strenuous rainforest walks pretty easy, just wet and muddy, with great trees/ferns/foliage, even some birds. So overall a fab time and tour.
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Only sucky thing was lunch which was meager, just some sandwich/snacks on your own. I was starving by the tour's end in evening. But the day was well worth it overall! Highly recommend. Also, if you go in winter get a Marmot hardshell and North Face softshell, and wear layers. You won't regret it! I'm so glad I had mine handy. Plus outdoor shoes, not tennies. Good grip soles.
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