Auckland Self Guided Audio Tour

traveller77722

19 Mar, 2023

Absolutely ridiculous that they are charging 30$ per person for a self guided audio tour. A lot of the prison is inaccessible and either just closed off or being repaired. It’s a mess and there is no organisation at all. It’s run down and definitely not worth paying to visit, it should be free until they are finished whatever they are doing.

Sightseer30402256910

15 Jan, 2023

I rarely feel ripped off or scammed but that is exactly how I felt after we spent $120 for four people. The place is in complete disrepair, not old and interesting but filthy dirty and falling down. Much of the prison was fenced off and inaccessible due to scaffolding all over the place. There was no clear sense of an exhibition with some cells just used as junk rooms. What signage was there was falling down and faded. The audio commentary was difficult to hear and the story telling not only hard to hear but repeated some of the signage around. The toilets are a disgrace, at the end of an old cell and were filthy dirty with little privacy. The most shocking thing to me was the disarray of the memorial garden built by teens in 2005. Two of these kids died not long after but there is no respect in maintaining it in their honour. We were so disgusted with this place that on the way back down the hill we warned off three different groups of visitors. It was our only way of dealing with our anger at this ‘attraction’.

157melaniea

25 Dec, 2022

The grotiest place to visit No way us it worth $30 I would not recommend this tour at all The buildings need to be demolused Znd the staff are just weird

N178XYbusinesstravel

29 Nov, 2022

The prison has a really interesting story, but the experience is really badly done. It’s very cheap and shoddy. $30 gets you a handheld audio speaker with a very limited history of the prison. It would have been nice to have been able to learn about the social history, the life stories of some of the prisoners, the construction of the prison, the experience of the prisoners during and after the earthquake etc. none of this is covered at all. The information boards also have only a small amount of detail and large areas of the prison are barricaded off with builders fences making the experience a bit like walking around a dilapidated building site. It was a shame as it could have been so much more. Certainly not worth the admission charge. They also offered a “ghost tour” and an escape room experience. I think the owners need to decide what they are trying to be and do it properly.

Helly P

29 Jul, 2022

This was super fun and… bonus, a bit creepy! We did the self guided history tour with audio guide which was great. Loved the run down historic nature of the place. So much history! Don’t forget to do an escape room while you’re there (book ahead) family fun - yay!