In past blogs, we have given you guides to some of the most common places to visit in Auckland for first-time visitors, taken you to some of the best restaurants and walks outside of the city, and found the best way to save money on your visit. Our next guide to exploring the city will take you to some of the best-kept secrets in the inner city.
Academy Cinemas
If you want to treat yourself and your partner to a romantic night out that wraps up with a movie – but want to avoid the usual chain theatres, then look no further than Academy Cinemas. Located under ground beneath the Central City Library, this boutique cinema has only two screens, one classic full-sized one and a smaller sixteen seat theatre.
Academy chooses to skip the typical Hollywood blockbusters and instead showcases a diverse selection of indie films from both domestic and local distributors, and if you time your visit right, you might even be able to catch one of their famous and much-loved movie marathons. Hot tip – visit on a Wednesday for a five-dollar film.
Hard-To-Find Books
Truly an iconic Auckland favourite and a must visit for all bookworms is the legendary hard-to-find bookshop. Located off the main streets in a renovated old Victorian brick home, this bookstore takes a bit of adventuring to find, but once found, you’ll be glad you went. This book shop is not only called hard-to-find because of its location, but also for the collection it contains over one hundred and twenty thousand books, some of which are extremely rare – and you guessed it – hard to find. Well worth sacrificing a couple of hours to explore and for the friendly and well educated service, its well worth a visit to this Auckland institution.
Freida Margolis
Located in a historic building that was once a butchery for over one hundred years Frida Margolis is now transformed into a secret little wine bar located in the heart of Grey Lynn. You’ll fall in love with this the exposed brick walls, wooden European-esque seats and quirky paintings adorning the bar. Drinks include boutique wines, craft beers and mulled wine in the winter.
The Kimchi Project
How does the sound of delouse Asian-fusion eats in a spacious, covered courtyard tucked away in the heart of the CBD? Well we have the place for you – The Kimchi project offers everything from kimchi dumplings and pulled pork waffles to soft-shell bao and beef bulogogi stew. Worth a visits as it is located in high street, the small one way street located just off Queen street that hides a series of off-shoots and paths containing some well-renowned boutique shops and restaurants making it one of Auckland’s most popular secrets.
