Devonport is a historic seaside village on the northern shores of Auckland City. It’s only 15 minutes by ferry and 30 minutes by car on a quiet day from Auckland City centre.
Devonport has a unique heritage, a wide range of restaurants, cafes, art galleries and beaches. Enjoy the spectacular views of Auckland city and gulf from North Head and Mt Victoria. Step back in time and walk the narrow streets and admire the colonial architecture and scented gardens.
If you’re short on time and want to pack in seeing Devonport and it’s two volcano’s, then take the one and only bus tour, it’s 1 hour 15 mins and starts right from the ferry building.
When you walk off the Devonport wharf, you can either walk straight ahead in to the shopping centre and stock up with goodies for lunch this will take you 5 mins, or turn right and follow the waterfront around to North Head.
North Head 1.5 km – 25 minutes. The waterfront walk will lead you on to Edward Parade. Walking along Edward Parade can be a very interesting walk. There are a couple of nic knack shops worth a look, cafes and lots of old boats sitting on the beaches waiting for a little tender loving care.
When you reach Torpedo Bay, look for Cheltenham Rd, over to the left. Turn left in to Cheltenham Rd, take the second street on the right, Takarunga St. The park starts at the end of this street.
From here, you have two options. Follow the sealed road up to the top, or turn right and walk up hill by following one of the many tracks. Half way up the volcano is where most of the points of interest are. And the grand view is from the top.
Find a great spot on the top, so you can sit down and take in the fantastic view of Auckland city and the gulf while you enjoy your picnic lunch. A couple of the gun emplacements are open to the public, so walk around and look at them. If the wind picks up while you are there, don’t worry, there are plenty of places to hide.
Cheltenham beach and back to the ferry, if you only want a short walk. On the gulf side of North Head, there is a short well used path leading down to the beach, this will only take you a few minutes. From here walk along the beach till you just pass the restaurant. Walk past the restaurant and you are back on to Cheltenham Rd. Now you can double back to Devonport ferry building, a 35 minute walk. But keep going for the full walk.
Mt Victoria 1.4 km – 40 minutes away. Mt Victoria being a lot closer to Auckland is a good place to snap off a few photos of Auckland city. If you wait long enough, a ship or two might pass you by.
From Cheltenham beach walk back along Cheltenham Rd to Takarunga Road where you turned up to North Head. The park on the opposite side of Takarunga Rd is Devonport Domain. Cut across the domain keeping to the left. And watch out for the mad cricket players, they are a species of their own.
You are now on Cambridge Terrace. Look across Cambridge St to the left for Domain St. Walk up this street for 230m till you reach Vauxhall Rd, turn left walk 20m on to Church St, look across Church St to Kerr St. Walk up Kerr for 330 m, on the right is the road running up to the top of Mt Victoria.
Back to the ferry 1.4 km – 25 minutes easy, down hill all the way. Double back to the road you walked up to the top, but keep to the right and past the school entrance, cross the road and walk through a walkway and you are in downtown Devonport.
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2 Responses
I can’t see how to access the map for this walk; can you help?
Hi Hilary, this walk doesn’t have a map to download as the instructions are in the details above. However, I’ve made a map and added it to the page. Hope this is helpful.
Thanks, Sandra