As New Zealand's major gateway city, Auckland receives the bulk of international arrivals , a few disembarking from stately cruise ships at the dock by the Ferry Building, but the vast majority arriving by air.

Auckland International Airport (tel 09/275 0789) is located 20km south of the city centre in the suburb of Mangere. The international terminal is connected to two domestic terminals - one operated by Air NZ, the other by Ansett NZ - by a shuttle bus (every 15min) but if you've a light load it is only a ten-minute walk. Before leaving the international terminal you can grab a free shower (in most toilets; towels $5), and if you've got a few hours to kill there are even single and double day rooms ($30/40 for up to 4 hours, $40/50 for longer) with bed, shower, TV and tea and coffee making facilities. The well-stocked and helpful visitor centre (tel 09/275 6467) stays open for all international arrivals and will book you into a city hotel free of charge, or you can make use of the bank of courtesy phones nearby. There's also a branch of the BNZ bank which changes money at poor rates, and some duty-free shops , where inbound passengers can top up their quota.

A taxi into the city will set you back close to $40, but there are plenty of minibuses vying for trade after each arrival, and most offer discounts to backpackers in possession of a YHA or student card. The Airbus (every 20min 4.40am-8.30pm; $12 one-way, $20 return) follows a fixed route into the city (roughly 50min), stopping in Newmarket and Parnell. Other buses are more or less door-to-door services and charge around $18 for the first person to any one central destination and $6 for each accompanying person; for Devonport the rates start at around $35. Door-to-door services include Johnston's Shuttle Link (tel 09/275 1234 & 0800/727 747) and Super Shuttle (tel 09/307 5210).

InterCity and Newmans operate most of the long-distance bus services that use the Inter City Bus Termina l under Auckland's Sky City casino complex on Hobson Street. Northland's Northliner arrives at the Downtown Tourist Centre on Quay Street, opposite the Ferry Building, a site also used by many of the major tour bus operators and minor companies like The Little Kiwi who run services to Hamilton and Rotorua.

Trains pull in ten minutes' walk east of the centre of the city at the station on Beach Road.