Most people fly in to Auckland, stay a day — if that — and fly right out to see other parts of New Zealand. It’s understandable: The country isn’t famous for its urban attractions. But New Zealand’s underrated largest city has a surprising amount of green space, beaches that are 10 minutes away from downtown and rich and numerous cultural opportunities. We spent four days there and had a tremendous time exploring it. Here are a few of my favorite ways to get to know the city better. The Travel Office can plan and book a full itinerary to New Zealand that includes any (or all) of the excursions described here.

Auckland Bike Tour

I’ve taken bike tours in cities around the world, and Auckland’s Power to the Pedal was one of the best I’ve experienced. Before heading off, we received a 30-minute e-bike tutorial and practiced operating the powerful throttle. Our guide, Carson, took us from the North Wharf to the Westhaven Marina — the largest yacht marina in the Southern Hemisphere — through the Ponsonby neighborhood to Victoria Park. Going over the 2,800-foot Light Path bikeway, we accelerated to full speed while Carson snapped pictures of us flying by. From there, we passed through the hip Kingsland neighborhood, rode up to the Mount Eden volcano, circled down to the beautiful Domain Wintergardens, designed in the early 1900s, and stopped in front of the Auckland War Memorial Museum to discuss New Zealand’s role in World War II. We covered almost 17 miles in three and a half hours. At the end, Carson gave us restaurant suggestions and later provided a URL link showing our route, interspersed with pictures he’d taken of us along the way.

Waiheke Island Day Trip

No trip to Auckland is complete without a day trip to scenic Waiheke Island, a 45-minute ferry ride away. To see as much as possible of what Vogue called the “Hamptons of New Zealand,” we rented e-bikes from eRide Waiheke, conveniently located at the Matiatia Ferry Terminal. The company fit us for bikes and helmets and gave us a link to a Google map for the Five Bays Ride, which covers 15 to 20 miles. (For those who are in good shape and have more time, the Man O’ War Adventure takes riders to the far reaches of the island and the Man O’ War Vineyards.) Waiheke is the most populated island in the Hauraki Gulf, and it features over 30 vineyards. Along our self-guided tour, which took us about four hours, we made stops at white-sand beaches, winery cellar doors and bustling cafés. I suggest having a Mediterranean-inspired lunch at the buzzy Casita Miro, overlooking the vineyards (see my full review here). We followed our meal with a tasting at Tantalus Estate, which makes wines good enough to warrant the installation of a helipad at the winery. There’s enough to see and do on Waiheke Island that spending the night wouldn’t be a bad idea. While I highly recommend this bike trip, take note: Riders should be experienced, as some sections of road are busy and involve shared lanes with cars and buses; the maps could be a little confusing to follow; and sluggish throttles on the e-bikes meant that we had to manually pedal on occasion.