Auckland’s beautiful public spaces come alive during the summer with friends and family getting together.
From playgrounds, urban parks to creative streetscapes, discover premier public spaces that connect people with their community and with each other.
Check out our top five picks that are perfect for playing with the kids, enjoying a picnic, admiring public art, shopping, taking a stroll or going for a roll by bike or scooter.
Myers Park
Connecting the bustling creativity of Karangahape Road and the quiet respite of Myer’s Park, amble through St Kevin’s Arcade into Auckland’s inner-city backyard.
Myer’s Park is beautiful both in art and nature. A narrow park running parallel to upper Queen Street, it’s grassy slopes and large exotic and native trees give the feeling of an overgrown garden.
Adults and children alike can let their mind and body run wild in the playground full of oversized garden birds and insects, brightly coloured flowers and vines that are perfect for climbing, swinging and balancing.
Hurstmere Green, Takapuna
With the view of Rangitoto almost close enough to reach out and touch, Hurstmere Green cleverly connects Takapuna’s beachfront and high street.
Immensely popular, you can spend all day at Hurstmere Green experiencing a mix of vibrant spaces to get together, quiet spaces of tranquillity, bustling retail shops, beautiful open green park space, and breath-taking waterfront views.
Pack a picnic, a beach towel or the dog; this is a must-visit to play, swim, walk or simply sit and watch the world roll by.
Te Hauāuru Park, Westgate
One of Auckland’s newest urban public spaces, Te Hauāuru Park spans over 1.1 hectares and provides a green heart for Westgate’s emerging town centre.
Boasting a large lawn for events, a playful water feature, a playground and a skate park, cycleways and connections, there’s plenty of space to stroll and roll as well as sit and relax.
You’ll also find the award-winning Kopupaka Reserve; a new form of hybrid park that mixes open public space with streams and wetlands informed by Māori cultural values.
Teed Street, Newmarket
Always bustling with activity Newmarket - Te Ti Tutahi is one of Auckland’s premier retail centres with boutique shopping and cafes and restaurants spilling outside onto the pavements offering tastes from around the world.
It’s also a beautiful public streetscape with pedestrian friendly and tree-lined footpaths and interactive play spaces.
Have you seen the brightly coloured egg-shaped ‘Knock Knocks’ on Teed Street? A series of nine colourful and interactive artworks by artist Seung Yul Oh, that extend onto Osborne Street, integrating street art into the design of the open street space.
Wynyard Quarter Playspace
Kids of all ages will enjoy multiple creative ways to play from balancing, climbing, spinning and swinging.
Explore your way through the interactive artworks, climb on giant sea eggs and shells, shoot some hoops at one of the most popular basketball courts in town, slide down from the seven-metre-high silo and freeride your scooter, bike or skateboard on the kerbless spaces.
This is where the city meets the sea with a sandy maritime-themed seafloor and a kelp forest for shade.
Get together this February
Check out OurAuckland for other great ideas on how you can get together with friends and family this February.
