Auckland named 'greatest coastal city'

Auckland was praised for its two harbours and thousands of beaches. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The City of Sails has been named the greatest coastal city in the world by an overseas cruise line.

Chicago Line Cruises has ranked 25 of the world's greatest coastal cities, with Auckland taking out the top spot, followed by Barcelona, Vancouver, Copenhagen and Singapore.

Sydney, Tokyo and Dubai also made the top 25.

The rankings were generated by looking at how the cities fared in the Mercer Quality of Life Ranking, the Euromonitor Ranking and the Numbeo Basket of Goods database - which measures the cost of a typical "basket of goods" in various cities.

Arts and architecture, music, nature, sports and dining were taken into consideration.

Auckland was praised for its two harbours, beaches and Lord of the Rings sight-seeing opportunities.

Auckland Art Gallery and its collection of more than 15,000 artworks were also given a mention.

The results follow a recent "sin index" ranking, which revealed that Auckland was the third-most expensive city in the world to smoke and drink in.

- nzherald.co.nz