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Day Tour Hobbiton + Rotorua from Auckland in Luxury Minibus

Auckland Central, New Zealand

From US$244.67

Select Date and Travelers

Free cancellation
Up to 24 hours in advance.
Auckland Tours
All Auckland Tours
Audio Guides
Likely To Sell Out
Private and Luxury
Unique Experiences
  • 13 hours (approx.)
  • Pickup offered
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Overview

Explore the Shire and Middle-Earth on this full-day Hobbiton and Rotorua tour from Auckland. Travel through Waikato with a guide and admire panoramic views over the Hauraki Plains. Enjoy a guided tour of Hobbiton — made famous in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ movies. Learn how the set was created, and discover sites you love including the Hobbit holes, Green Dragon Inn and the Mill. After lunch in Te Puia, head into the geothermal Te Whakarewarewa Valley where shooting geysers, bubbling mud pools and steaming hot springs await.
  • Full-day tour of Hobbiton and Rotorua from Auckland
  • Take a guided tour of Hobbiton and see famous landmarks from the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' movies
  • Head through the Waikato region with a guide and admire the beauty of the Hauraki Plains
  • Discover fascinating geothermal activity in the Te Whakarewarewa Valley
  • Gain insight into the region’s traditional Kiwi arts and crafts
  • Tour includes pickup and drop-off from your Auckland hotel

What's Included

  • Cafe or buffet lunch (dependent on availability) vegetarian and gluten free options available
  • Live commentary on board
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off and other meeting points by arrangement including private addresses in the central metropolitan area
  • Transport by air-conditioned minivan
  • Local taxes
  • Please note that because of the amount of travel time this tour is not suitable for children under 2 years, as part of the group - It can be booked as a private group tour - please ask TripAdvisor/Viator to contact us for the custom price
  • Food and drinks unless specified
  • Personal expenses and gratuities
  • Please note that because of the amount of travel time this tour is not suitable for children under 2 years, as part of the group - It can be booked as a private group tour - please ask TripAdvisor/Viator to contact us for the custom price

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

We pick up all customers using several vehicles. You will not be driven around the city from hotel to hotel for hours before we leave Auckland WE HAVE BEEN FORCED TO TEMPORARILY SUSPEND OUR POLICY “We guarantee to travel for one person” due to low numbers and sustained losses caused by Covid19. Until further notice we will need a minimum of 4 people (or price equivalent) to run tours We promise quality and personal service in spacious vehicles We pickup for free at all Central Auckland accommodation, hotels, apartments, etc. We only go to the hotels/accommodation which are booked for that day. We also offer a subsidized shuttle service for people staying our of the city centre to bring them to meet the tour coach. Please liaise with us re where you are to be picked up. It is essential you get in contact with this information as soon as possible

What To Expect

Hobbiton Movie Set

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Te Puia

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Lake Rotorua

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult - chldren under tour cannot travel on group tour - We can arrange private tours for families travelling with children under 2
  • Infant seats are required by law in NZ in private vehicles for children under 7 years. We recommend the same standard be applied for your child's safety and have them available in all vehicles for a small optional gratuity for the use of seat and child restraint for the day
  • Not wheelchair accessible
  • Infant seats available
  • Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
  • minimum 4 people required for tour to depart - we build groups - do not worry of you are travelling alone or as a couple
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

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Reviews

4.5
32 reviews
Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews
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Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 32 reviews
Chaotic, rushed, not a fun trip
Andrea_B, Mar 2023
Part of the tour— Hobbiton—was fine. The tour there was handled by professional guides who did a great job. The rest was a giant miss. The pick up was fine, the van a bit tight but relatively comfortable. There was minimal commentary, a short bit of background at the beginning. Once Hobbiton ended, and we got to Rotorua, it was a mess. A new driver joined the tour and while pleasant he really was clueless about the schedule. The tour broke into several different activities and time was spent retrieving them from their different locations. With so much travel time, that added to the time in the bus and made the time at the attractions shorter. Regarding the attractions, as I said, Hobbiton was great (and I’m not a LOTR’s fan), the Māori Arts School was also interesting. The rest was mediocre. Not worth the money and definitely not worth 12 plus hours. Do a Hobbiton tour and skip the rest. There are better ways to get Māori cultural info than this chaotic, rushed tour.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
I am not sure why you are one of very few people who was not happy - Our vans are very spacious with one less row of seats than factory standard and only 3 seats across the back instead of 4 we have a lot more room available per person than most - I can only assume you are reviewing one of the other companies and accidentally posting it under flexitours. You just have to read the 100's of other reviews to know this person does not seem to be reviewing the same company On our Hobbiton and Rotorua tour everyone does the same thing and all have a buffet lunch at Te Puia, followed by the guided tour at Te Puia including the Māori Arts and crafts institute and then as a group we look around Rotorua, so what you are describing is not what happens on our tours
A tour that went above and beyond!
Jeff_W, Nov 2022
What a great day. When you pay for a tour for the entire day, you hope to be taken care of -- and were impressed beyond our expectation of how the day went. From our tour guide, Mata, and all his great info along the way, to the comfortable minibus, to arriving to Hobbiton early and his ability to get us on an earlier tour... to the amazing details and details of Hobbiton (which is done by a seperate specific "Hobbiton" guide - but was just as wonderful). We weren't sure how our buffet lunch would be (as that can go either way), but we were quite impressed as the food and choices were great. We made a seemless switch to a new guide (Billy) for the second part of our day, who got us to our tour of the Te Puia and the geysers, kiwi birds, amazing crafts - and then drove us to some other wonderful local sites. I could not recommend FlexiToursNZ more highly. They went ABOVE and BEYOND what was expected, the personal touch and communication was beyond belief. If you want to be taken care of and see the sights of Auckland... this trip was worth every dollar spent.
Response from Host, Nov 2022
Thankyou for your comments. We want to offer tours that are different and inspire of the travel time offer something truly memorable
Everything you want in a small group day trip to Hobbiton and Rotorua
Kathryn_Z, Mar 2020
What a wonderful tour - really, everything you want: a nice early start to get to Hobbiton before the big crowds arrive, terrific lunch at Te Puia and LOTS to do and see there: the thermal pools and geysers, Maori crafts institute, and don’t miss seeing live kiwi birds! Well organized tour, and if you can, go with driver/guide Darryl, who is super knowledgeable, good natured, patient, and can tell you which side of the Hobbiton bus to sit on to get the best view coming into the movie set! Thanks so much for a great day!
Response from Host, Mar 2020
Thankyou for your great review! I’m glad you enjoyed your day with us. Our aim is to ensure you have the best day possible! Thankyou for your kind words about Darryl I will let him know. We look forward to having you travel with us again in the future. Kind regards, Serhan
overall it is very nice , and more than expectation
Xin_X, Sept 2019
after two times of cancellation of my hobbition and rotorua trip booking , this one is telling me they NEVER cancel and booking and I feel " previlige " and impressed. even only by myself during the whole trip , they still start the trip for ME only, exclusive for me. really appreciate for driver and guide Vic entertain me the whole trip. He is awesome!
Response from Host, Sept 2019
We have a policy we do not cancel. On the day of your tour 2 other people did not arrive in the morning but we will NOT cancel. We treat you like we would like to be treated on holiday. We know you have limited time. We believe the companies that accept a booking and cancel because they have low numbers do not deserve to be in business. Once we accept a booking we will run. I am glad you found us, a professional company who do what we promise. We very seldom have to take only one person but our policy is the customer comes first and on the rare occasion there is only one person we will run. It is low season and there are not many tourists around right now i am happy that you had a good day on tour
Amazing day-tour !
Elisabeth_N, Aug 2018
The coach picked me up in advance in front of my hotel and the car ride was approximately 2 hours to go to Hobbiton. It was super sunny for a winter day and got so lucky. Hobbiton is a great thing to do while in Auckland, whether you are a huge Tolkien fan or not. The guided tour was very instructive and complete. It takes 1 hour to go from Hobbiton to Rotorua. I had only booked the guided tour of Rotorua and was very happy with it ! Our guide Carla was amazing, giving us so many details about the site and the maori culture she belongs to. I would recommend this tour to anyone who would like to see quite some of the country in just one day. Moreover, the drivers were great and showed us a lot of sites during our journey !
Had a great time with this full day...
Michael_N, Jul 2018
Had a great time with this full day tour. We only had a couple of days in NZ and we're glad we booked this tour.
It was an amazing trip to the...
Teena B, Oct 2017
It was an amazing trip to the Hobbiton movie sets and we enjoyed every bit of it. Thr rotorua trip was good but felt like we could see more. It was too short and not worth the money. The coach drivers were very kind and good. Will definetly recommend the Hobbiton tour.
It was amazing! Everything was...
Bruno A, Aug 2017
It was amazing! Everything was beatiful! The only negative thing is that they say you can enter in one of the houses, but its not really the inside of a house as you thing. Its just a small dig up they made so you can take a picture on the inside of a window, to pretend you are inside of a house. AMazing as it is, they shouldnt say you can enter a house or they should build the interior of one and say you can enter.
Long Day bus rides 8 hours. Rained...
Roger_H, Mar 2017
Long Day bus rides 8 hours. Rained all day but Hobbiton was great-Green Dragon Inn with fire to dry out. Geysers were worth the visi. Overall well organized and value for money
Makes a great day tour combination...
Barbara_S, Jan 2017
Makes a great day tour combination from Auckland. The tour company provides transport from Auckland and ticket purchase, the tours are then provided by on site guides at Hobbiton and Rotorua who were great Stunned at how magnificently maintained Hobbiton is and the efficient way they ran tours and the Maori guide at Rotorua was terrific as was our Hangi lunch. Tour company Bus driver was not great - she could well do to keep her opinions of immigrants, Asians and her negative comments about staff at the sites to herself. This was a real turn off for me.
hobbiton and rotorua were great...
belinda_A, Aug 2016
hobbiton and rotorua were great , what's not is by 3pm we were finished and had to wait for the people who went to waitomo caves, we also had to drop off a couple at a hotel. We were literally waiting in a parking lot for a total of 1 hr doing nothing and an additional 30-40 mins going around town checking some lakes etc but obviously it's to burn time so we don't have to wait longer at the parking lot. If you can't amend this then I suggest you add wine tasting or some other activity. I keep thinking we could have been back in the hotel by 6pm but instead we got home 8pm super tired!
Thanks to our tour guide Mike, it...
yk_a, Jul 2016
Thanks to our tour guide Mike, it was a very good experince. Hobbitton is like a wonderland : However we wait on the bus by wasting time for 2 hours as some other customers were on Caves Tour. It is unacceptable:
It was an amazing day full of...
Romina S, Jul 2016
It was an amazing day full of emotions! Started very early in the morning but worth every penny! From Hobbiton set to Rotorua it's a trip you can't miss!
This tour is well worth the full day...
Elsa C, Jun 2016
This tour is well worth the full day adventure. You will enjoy the journey outside of Auckland to see all the lush green landscape. Hobbiton is beautiful and magical. Rotorua is beautiful and insightful.
the driver hardly spoke it was too...
Maxine_k, Jun 2016
the driver hardly spoke it was too far no toilet stops on the way to hobbiton and at Rotorua we had to drive across to the caves to pick up people which took and extra 1hr or so it meant we were on the road longer. With no toilets to stop at all !!! cruel to do this to us not good try other tours
It's very fund and...
Hyunjin L, Jan 2016
It's very fund and convenient. The minivan was very clean and our driver and guider was very nice. It was long time driving but pleasant.
This was a great trip that I...
Gjermund Å, Dec 2015
This was a great trip that I recommend. Guide on Hobbiton was super. We got a lot of information about how movies were made, and lots of behind the scene information. Exciting. The Hobbiton is made with incredible lot of detail. Fun to see in reality. Rotorua is also a fascinating place with geyser and bubbling mud pool. Boiling water. Interesting to see. We also got to learn a little more about Maori culture. I come from the other side of the planet and thought it was interesting. The drivers are also very good to tell about NZ history. We visited a redwood forest.

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