A neoclassical temple on an old volcano, holding one of the world's great collections of Māori and Pacific treasures, set in the city's oldest park.
The Auckland War Memorial Museum, Tāmaki Paenga Hira, stands at the top of the Domain, the city's oldest park, which fills the crater and slopes of an ancient volcano. The building, opened in 1929, is also the city's war memorial.
Its ground floor holds an extraordinary collection of Māori and Pacific taonga: carved meeting houses and storehouses, cloaks, greenstone, and a 25-metre carved war canoe.
Upstairs, natural-history galleries tell the story of New Zealand's wildlife, from the giant moa to today's birds, and a volcanoes gallery explains the ground Auckland is built on.
Cultural performances of haka, song and poi run daily. Afterwards, walk down through the Domain to the glasshouses of the Wintergardens and the duck ponds.
Treasures, performance, then the park.
Walk into the carved meeting house and stand beside the great war canoe.
Masks, canoes and treasures from across Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.
Join a daily cultural performance, the best introduction to Māori culture in the city.
Meet the moa skeleton and feel the floor shake in the volcanoes gallery.
Walk down through the park to the glasshouses, fernery and ponds.
About 25 minutes' walk from the city centre, or a short bus ride; Grafton and Newmarket stations are close.
Allow half a day. Check the performance times when you arrive and plan around them.
Some taonga are sacred; follow signs about photography and respect the quiet of the memorial halls.
Auckland practical notes →Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences.
