VacationSelector
The Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour, Auckland
AucklandThe Auckland skyline and Sky Tower from the Waitematā Harbour
Whitehall, Henry Flagler's mansion, now the Flagler Museum, Palm Beach
Palm BeachWhitehall, Henry Flagler's mansion, now the Flagler Museum

Photos: Auckland by Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain; Palm Beach by Khowald, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Auckland or Palm 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

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • food and drink

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

Choose Palm Beach for

  • shopping
  • beaches
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Palm 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, Palm Beach 82: Palm Beach leads by 14 points.
Food & drink. Auckland 62, Palm Beach 47: Auckland leads by 15 points.
Culture & sights. Auckland 44, Palm Beach 45: Palm Beach leads by 1 points.
Nightlife. Auckland 42, Palm Beach 32: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Nature & outdoors. Auckland 83, Palm Beach 58: Auckland leads by 25 points.
Day trips. Auckland and Palm Beach are level on 55.
Good for families. Auckland 70, Palm Beach 62: Auckland leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Auckland 42, Palm Beach 32: Auckland leads by 10 points.
Shopping & style. Auckland 45, Palm Beach 66: Palm Beach leads by 21 points.
Affordability. Auckland 32, Palm Beach 12: Auckland leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Auckland and Palm Beach are level on 45.
Wellness & relaxation. Auckland 45, Palm Beach 55: Palm Beach leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Auckland and Palm Beach.

Your match

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

Auckland
Best match
53match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and prices with your weighting.

Palm Beach
49match

Wins on shopping and beaches 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

Palm Beach in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
145 mmrain in the month
29 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AucklandPalm 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). Palm Beach: 1991-2020 normals, Palm Beach International (6.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAucklandPalm 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-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number111911
Elevation196 m2 m
Main airportAuckland International Airport (AKL)18 km from centre63 non-stop destinationsPresident Donald J. Trump International Airport (DJT)6 km from centre42 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAucklandPalm Beach
City population1,470,1009,245
People per km²2,630322
Museums within 10 km154
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C1 month12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Auckland or Palm 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.