The Hobbiton movie set and the Waitomo glow-worm caves are two of the most popular attractions on New Zealand’s North Island. Visit both in one day and enjoy a more personalized experience on this small-group tour. Discover behind-the-scenes of the legendary LOTR films during a guided tour of Hobbiton, then cruise the underground river of the Waitomo Caves, beneath a glittering canopy of glow worms.

Guided Hobbiton walking tour: see original LOTR props and sets
Delicious buffet lunch in the party marquee at Hobbiton
Spot glow worms as you cruise through Waitomo Cave
Hassle-free pickup and drop-off at your Auckland hotel

What's Included

Buffet Lunch in Green Dragon Marquee
GST (Goods and Services Tax)
Admission to Hobbiton Movie Set & tour
Admission to Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Air-conditioned vehicle
Shopping voucher at Hobbiton Gift Shop
Carbon-zero certified vehicle and tour company

Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Meeting point

SkyCity Auckland
Corner Victoria and, Federal Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
If you have not confirmed an inner city hotel pick up time with us then our central meeting point is SkyCity Hotel entrance. If you are meeting here will need to be confirmed with us. Please call to confirm the night prior - 0800 423 224

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

07:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

Pick up from inner city Auckland accommodation included

What To Expect

FirePot Cafe

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Hobbiton Movie Set

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

The Green Dragon Inn

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Waitomo Glowworm Caves

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Infant seats available
This tour requires a minimum of TWO adults to run.
Please wear comfortable walking shoes and suitable outdoor clothing
Pick up and drop off from inner city Auckland accommodation included

Please reconfirm your pick up time 24 hours before the tours departure
Please note the tours at Hobbiton and Waitomo are walks - including stairs
Most travelers can participate
Not recommended for travellers with walking difficulties
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 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.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Traveler Tips

Unless your a Hobbiton expert, the guide is very important in order to get a lot more from this site visit than just walking around on your own.

As a life long Tolkien fan, a trip to Hobbiton was a must.

Reviews

5.0

45 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 45 reviews

Excellent tour!

Peggy_M, May 2023

Had a wonderful tour today. Damian was an excellent tour guide. Very knowledgeable and professional. Would highly recommend this tour.

Murray in a hurry.

KatharineGreen, May 2023

Murray was our guide, great bloke. Was my birthday and I had a awesome time, Hoobbit and caves worth the long day. 5 stars to Murray, best guide and driver, funny and made our day fun.

Great Experience!

Natalie_R, Apr 2023

Our day guide, Murray, was great and organized everything perfectly! We had absolutely zero problems getting from Auckland, to Hobbiton, to Waitomo, and back to Auckland despite it being quite a busy day. Thank you!

HOBBITON and Glow worm tour

John_R, Feb 2023

Excellent tour, our tour guide Wayne was great! Highly recommend this tour despite the rainy weather!

Fantastic Experience!

Gary_C, Feb 2023

Fantastic experience! Our driver, Wayne was a hoot and very knowledgeable. Very fun and informative tour!

Great Excursion with Not-to-be-missed stops

Christen_B, Jan 2023

Murray was an excellent guide and all of our stops were timed perfectly! Highly recommended. Don’t miss this one.

Well-paced day of activity

Rebecca_S, Jan 2023

Alan and Michelle were our drivers. They were both lovely. Our group loved Michelle's commentary and her recommendations at each stop. Very helpful! Hobbiton was fun and lunch was varied and delicious buffet.

Awesome experience!!

Roberta_A, Jan 2023

Awesome experience!! We were a small group of 8 and learned a lot whioe we were on the way to b9th destinations, plus the driver was very nice, friendly and funny. It was my first solo trip amongst other tourists and I can say it was a really nice experience! I haven't read nor watched either of the movies, but even so, I have to say Hobbiton was truly amazing and I'm so happy I've seen it! Everything puts you in a fairytale world and the beer and lunch was also really good! And to finish finish with the beautiful Waitomo was just the cherry on top! Absolutely amazing experience! Thank you!

I felt like I was in a...

ANGELA_K, Jan 2023

I felt like I was in a fairytale at Hobbiton. A truly magical place. The landscape was stunning on the journey to both Hobbiton and Waitomo. The underground caves was like entering a new world. I loved seeing the glow worms light up the cave like stars in the night sky. It was an incredible and memorable experience. The buffet lunch was very impressive and included a range of delicious food. Not to mention that our tour guide Damien was fantastic and very knowledgeable. I would highly recommend this tour.

Long Day but worth it.

Sandra_D, Jan 2023

This was an excellent tour from start to finish. Damian our driver was very knowledgeable and gave us a good insight into New Zealand life. Hobbiton was excellent and plenty time to stop and take pictures, the lunch was really good too and enjoyed by everyone. The Waitomo Caves were also an excellent experience with the tour guide there being very knowledgeable. Damian also stopped and bought us all a “Hokey Cokey”on the way home which was appreciated by all! All in all this was a great day out and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the trip.

Incredible first day in New Zealand!

Judy_J, Jan 2023

Our guide, Damian, was wonderful! So many interesting facts shared so generously. He obviously loves his country and sharing it with others. The two main destinations were very different but each was beautiful and fascinating.

This experience set the bar high for all other tours.

Sandra_R, Jan 2023

Hobbiton and the Waitome cave were an amazing experience. But, Damian, our driver gave us memorable information about these local. Damian’s knowledge is extraordinary. He was able to keep us entertained and informed for the 2 hour ride. He was able to relate to each passenger.

Fantastic tour!

Liz_F, Nov 2022

Not only were the visits to Hobbiton and the Glow Worm Caves amazing, seeing the beauty of New Zealand on the drivr there and back was fantastic! Our driver told us a lot about the country as he drove—the history, culture, language and sites. I would definitely recommend this tour!

Awesome trip

Concepcion_O, Nov 2022

Michelle our driver was awesome, she drove very careful, she gave us enough time for bathrooms and shopping, she knew all the history of the places, she made sure we all went on the bus.

Loved the day

Roslyn_J, Oct 2022

Our van driver, Michelle, was superb. Her knowledge of the background of Hobbiton added a lot to the experience. She knew about the geography of the ares through which we drove. She even added to the information we received at the Glowworm cave.

Hobbit, caves and glow worms - oh my!

William_T, Mar 2020

Hobbiton was amazing for the Tolkien fan. A full sized Shire with 42 Hobbit holes including Bags End and the Green Dragon! The Waitomo Cave & glow worm experience was super cool. It's a one-of-a-kind adventure that you'll talk about long after.

Great day out at Hobbiton

PaulHM, Mar 2020

As a life long Tolkien fan, a trip to Hobbiton was a must. It didn’t disappoint. It was great to walk around the places that I had seen on screen and the attention to detail takes your breath away. I’m glad I added the trip to the Waitomo caves too. The boat trip around the cave was a highlight and helps you appreciate the beauty in the world that living in a big city (London) you often miss. The organisation for the trips was great. We had two drivers but both were very informative and great hosts.

Very good small group Hobbiton / Waitomo day tour - long day due to driving distances

E B, Jan 2020

Kiwi Segway Tour of the combo Hobbiton / Waitomo is a small group tour...there were only 9 of us and the driver in the comfortable van. The driver was very good in providing commentary and answering questions while driving, which was good, as there is a fair bit of driving time from Auckland to get to these two interesting, and yet very different locations in one day. Even if your not into Hobbiton / Lord of the Rings, the tour was very interesting due to the tour guide explanations. Unless your a Hobbiton expert, the guide is very important in order to get a lot more from this site visit than just walking around on your own. The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves was a definite highlight. Again the expert guide (who was a Maori), let us understand a lot about the caves / history and the Glow Worms. These are both very very popular sites, so book well in advance to ensure good tours and times, especially if a day before a cruise ship departs Auckland, or arrives in Auckland, as the numbers from a cruise ship will both take up lots of of tour space, and also make these locations very busy. Small group tours enables both getting to the locations quicker and helping avoid peak times.

Super cool day - even if your not a crazy hobbit fan!

nomorefakes00, Jan 2020

I was thinking a loooong time about booking this tour or not doing it, because I thought it is pretty expensive for a one day tour. That's what I still think, and thats the only negative point in my review. But I really have to say if your not a backpacker like me and you don't have to watch every dollar, this is an absolutely awesome daytour! The pickup worked very good, I even got a call one day before to double check when and where they gonna pick me up. Our driver was super nice and during the tour he told us a lot of interesting things about Auckland, Newzealand in total, history and the areas we were driving through. I'm not a fan of Lord of the rings, I don't even remember the movies, but I still enjoyed hobbiton. Super cool to see and a lot of interesting informations about making of and the movies in total. We had a very cool tour guide there as well, the lunchbuffet was very good and even enough to eat for me as a vegetarian! Didn't expect that! After Hobbiton we went to the Caves, everyone fell asleep on that way, and the caves were super cool as well. Definetly worth a visit. So at all, I still think the price could be less, but I really enjoyed the day, everything was super super well organised and the tourdriver was just a very nice guy. You will not regret to book it!