VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Waterfront houses on Harbor Island in Newport Harbor, Newport Beach
Newport BeachWaterfront houses on Harbor Island in Newport Harbor

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Newport Beach by Don Ramey Logan, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Auckland or Newport Beach?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Auckland for

  • culture and sights
  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Auckland’s own page.

Choose Newport Beach for

  • shopping
  • day trips
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Newport Beach’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Auckland 68, Newport Beach 70: Newport Beach leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Newport Beach 50: Auckland leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Newport Beach 20: Auckland leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Newport Beach 33: Auckland leads by 9 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Newport Beach 66: Auckland leads by 17 points.
Day trips. Auckland 55, Newport Beach 70: Newport Beach leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Newport Beach 80: Newport Beach leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Newport Beach 20: Auckland leads by 22 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Newport Beach 62: Newport Beach leads by 17 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Newport Beach 15: Auckland leads by 17 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland 45, Newport Beach 46: Newport Beach leads by 1 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Newport Beach 44: Auckland leads by 1 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Newport Beach.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on culture and sights and getting around with your weighting.

Newport Beach
48match

Wins on shopping and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Auckland in July

14 °Cdaytime high
7 °Cnight-time low
135 mmrain in the month
14 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Newport Beach in July

26 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
20 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandNewport Beach

Where the figures come from

Auckland's station stands 189 m below the city centre, so the centre is likely a little cooler than the figures say.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Auckland: 1961-1990 normals, Auckland Aerodrome Aws (17 km from centre). Newport Beach: 1991-2020 (rainfall 1981-2010) normals, Santa Ana / Paularino (7.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandNewport Beach
Official languageEnglish, New Zealand Sign Language, Māori-
CurrencyNew Zealand Dollar (NZD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+12, UTC+13 in summerUTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m3 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsJohn Wayne Orange County International Airport (SNA)7 km from centre53 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandNewport Beach
City population1,470,10085,239
People per km²2,630622
Museums within 10 km154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 monthNone

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Newport Beach somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-02. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.