Spend a day off your cruise ship and get out of the city on this day trip to two popular North Island attractions, Whakarewarewa and Hobbiton. Save time hiring a car and getting used to New Zealand roads; your guide meets you at the port and heads straight into the heartland. Visit Whakarewarewa, a bubbling geothermal landscape and home to the local Māori iwi (tribe), then head across the Kaimai Ranges to Hobbiton, an authentic movie set from the Lord of the Rings.

Marvel at a kapa haka performance, full of song and dance, by the local iwi
Have a drink on the house at the Green Dragon Inn in The Shire
All entrance fees are covered, so you only have to bring money for lunch
Quick departures only: book in advance to make sure you don’t miss out

What's Included

Tauranga port pick up - Pre-booked tour for cruise ship passengers only
Te Puia Valley Geothermal Valley entrance fees
The Hobbiton Movie set tour with official guide
Air-conditioned vehicle

Meeting And Pickup

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

Meeting point

2 Salisbury Avenue
2 Salisbury Avenue, Mount Maunganui 3116, New Zealand
Please walk along the wharf (there is only one way to walk) Go through the Port gates, where you will see a representative with a name board with " NEW ZEALAND DISCOVERY TOURS" & your name on It! Please allow time for boarding your vehicle! As the tour leaves at the allocated time!

Pickup point

Tauranga Port

Start time

08:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

Please walk along the wharf (there is only one way to walk) Go through the Port gates, where you will see a representative with a name board with " NEW ZEALAND DISCOVERY TOURS" & your name on It! Please allow time for boarding your vehicle! As the tour leaves at the allocated time!

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
No sales on the day of the tour ensuring a quick departure for you!
All vehicles are modern vehicles with duel air-conditioning uv protection glass and meeting the highest safety standards.
If needed we will adjust the tour time dependent on arrival time and departure time of your ship
Pick up is from the port gates and dependent upon time of arrival of your cruise ship

Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 19 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

Even if you rent your own car, you'd be hard pressed to cover both places.

Draw backs, not suitable for elderly people, or being there in a bad rainy day.

If you like to wander around on your own and shop, it might be not for you ( we were given only 20 min or so in both places), but I LOVED it!!

Reviews

4.5

62 reviews

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

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 62 reviews

Two Fun Experiences

Welch, Mar 2020

Visited two great highlights of the Tauranga area. The local Maori guide was very cordial and informative. Enjoyed the Maori dance presentation and sampling of sweet corn cooked in the thermal waters. The Hobbiton movie set tour was so much fun with lots of photo ops and complimentary drink at the Green Dragon Inn. Our tour guide, Ray, was very organized and personable. We even made a quick stop at a kiwi orchard.

Hobbiton great, Rotorua poor

Bill_Z, Mar 2020

As great at Hobbiton was, Rotorua was a huge disappointment. If you are any kind of LoTR, you MUST visit Hobbiton. But Rotorua felt like a fake Disneyland-like experience only not as good.

Great time

James_G, Feb 2020

Well organized & extremely informative! Enjoyed the ride, the Maori village & hobbitown! Guides very knowledgeable.

Ring followers must go

KwokChuWilson_Y, Feb 2020

Absolutely the funniest trip for the Ring followers. Well organized and a good chance in knowing how a magnificent film was made. Draw backs, not suitable for elderly people, or being there in a bad rainy day.

GREAT DAY

Stephanie_M, Feb 2020

The tour was incredibly informative, Andrew our tour guide was lovely and very accommodating. The places we went were incredible and we will hold onto these memories fondly.

Geothermal living and Hollywood memories

Stephen_M, Feb 2020

The tour was interesting and had a lot of variety. The Maori village was very enlightening. They live on a geothermal spring. The tour of Hobbiton was also wonderful, but the hills were tough for some of us. The story about why it exists is truly amazing.

Combo is the way to go!!!!

arinakuznetsova, Feb 2020

Great excursion! Very dynamic. Great option for those who would like to see both Thermal Village and Hobbiton in the same day. If you like to wander around on your own and shop... it might be not for you ( we were given only 20 min or so in both places), but I LOVED it!!!

bad itinerary, te puia valley is better then wakarewarewa

Yulia_N, Jan 2020

very nice driver and guide - friendly and helpful, but the itinerary is bad (too much time just waiting for nothing after tour in Hobbiton - better spend this hour walking around in Rotorua) and the village in Rotorua is so touristic, the tour there is really disappointing. They claim it to be maori village, more authentic and "true" but today it's really too touristic, you drive so long, have just an hour for the tour and the guide there is just talking about nothing for 15 minutes teaching people to pronounce the name of village (what for??) instead of showing the beauty of geothermal area. They even don't show the main viewpoint of geyser. And the main problem - the viewpoint of geysers in this village is very far from them - in Te puia people can come much closer to all of them. Also they claim the main geyser Pohutu to be errupting every 45-60 minutes - I was waiting for 1 hour and 40 minutes and it didn't erupt. Of cause it doesn't have the strict timetable - it's a nature thing, but it seems that they lie about the frequency. So the chance to see the main geyser erupting is quite low.

Response from Host, Jan 2020

Hello 5858936 I was very surprised by your review so much so I have read and made notes of how you have reviewed our tour! The first is bad itinerary ? so your itinerary was pickup 7:15 drive to hobbiton arrive at 8:15 your hobbiton tour was 8:40 (tour takes 2 hours) free time for coffee and sandwich (as it was an early start) leave hobbiton at 11:15 (after 35 minutes of free time) 60 minute drive to Maori village arrive at 12:15pm Guide for 1 hour then free time then culture show at 2pm (show last for 30 minutes) 2:45pm leave village travel back to Ship (60 minutes drive) The itinerary is set so you are relaxed have free time and guides?? Its interesting you say Te Puia is better when you didn't experience it? and also the village you experienced dates back hundreds of years so much so it dates back to before europeans arrived in New Zealand! Te Puia on the other hand has just built a new restaurant of glass so you missed seeing the shinny new restaurant at Te Puia, and the replica homes that where built 20 years ago (3 small dwellings). The reason for the Maori guide talking to you before you enter the village is because the guide is explaining about their culture and history, where they come from and what defines them today as a people such as the the name of their village! "Tewhakarewarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiiao" some of guide's break down the word to explain all the meanings and cultural significant in relevance to their village which by the way is truly there home and where once the tourist leave at 5pm it returns as their home! living and utilising the geothermal for every day living, for instance bathing in the waters as they have done for hundreds of years! I am sorry the drive between venues was to long for you 60 minutes each drive, but we do try to talk and educate along the way sometimes pointing out interest along the way! (guiding) I can only guess that you didn't read your map as there is a viewing platform that you can walk to that is 30 meters from the geyser same distance as the Te Puia's bridge to the geyser! As for the geyser there is no valve to open and it is not induced but usually erupts within the hour! I can only surmise that maybe it was just bad luck that it erupted while you was watching the Cultural show? So I apologise that the natural geyser didn't wait for you to arrive in time! Out of all the review what upsets me the most is that you say we lie to you!!! We do not lie to you and the frequency of the geyser changes over years and at the time of writing this reply (just weeks after your visit) its frequency is approximately every 60 minutes! I thank you for your views, comments and points of view as always I will take this on board and continue to strive to providing the very best tour we can do, we truly want you to have the very best tour you have ever experienced, so Sorry we could not please you on this occasion! Oh by the way You spelt Whakarewarewa wrong the word the guide talked for 15 minutes about!

rotarian and hobbiton

Richard_D, Dec 2019

our driver buddy was both informative and friendly both tours were excellent but hobbiton was the the best i would highly recommend this toir

Very good excursion

Jimmy P, Apr 2019

Everything was very nice but not enough time at either place. Highlight of the day was Hobbiton. Rotorua was just ok. Interesting.

Hobbitron

Cruiser09366701588, Apr 2019

We enjoyed the site of the Hobbit movies and inspired us to rewatch the movies and reread the books.

Tauranga Shore Excursion: Hobbiton Lord Of The Rings Movie Set and Rotorua Geothermal Geyser Combo Tour was exceptional!

Sarah_I, Mar 2019

This tour was amazing! The tour operators, Natalie and Andrew's directions on how to meet them were great - better than some tours booked independently which are hard to find in port. Natalie was waiting with a sign with our name on it. The Vans hold a max of 15 and there were only 6 of us so it was much better than a 40-60 person cruise tour on a big bus. Andrew, our driver, was friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and entertaining! The Rotorua Geothermal Geyser tour was of a real Maori Village on the Geysers! We really appreciate Andrew and Natalie arranging this private tour and tour guide and that the Guide lived in the village and was very friendly, knowledgeable, and entertaining! Hobbiton is the most beautiful piece of property and gardens we have ever seen! Whether or not you are a fan of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies this is well worth a visit and even includes a stop at the Green Dragon Tavern for a locally brewed beer or ginger beer. The tour says it takes 7.5 hours but it went about an hour longer. Although Viator guarantees getting you back to the sip on time or to the next port, all of us were on the cruise and were pretty anxious about getting back on time - which we did. Just be mindful of the hours in port if you schedule this wonderful tour!

Magic

Louise_W, Feb 2019

Awesome place fantastic guide overall wonderful day.Highly recommend a visit here if you are a hobbit or lord of the rings fan.Loved it

Inappropriate comments

Robert_G, Nov 2018

The visit to both Hobbitin and Rotorua were great very interesting , however bus driver tour guide originally from Bolton spoke completely inappropriately about his teenage daughter (14 to 16) out shooting and skinning animals and dead cows and sheep being left at front door to butcher totally unnecessary and nothing to do with the trip spoilt the experience completely

Response from Host, Sept 2019

It really is disappointing when a client feels that some point of the tour is not agreeable to them selves, and on this day I had a number of other clients asking about hunting in New Zealand! Which by the way is culturaly a deeply routed part of every day life in New Zealand, This is why some people are very interested to see the differences that the country they are visiting is different (if so) to the country that they live in! This is why most people like to travel, to experience and learn about different cultures on their travels. One passenger had seen hunters returning to their vehicle and asked is this usual? At which point others on board the vehicle started asking questions as they where hunters in their own country! On the day you shouted (voiced your opinion that you was vegan and did not want to hear about hunting) at which point I and other passengers apologised and we moved on to other conversations, This however does not mean you can say lies in your review on this platform, We do not butcher cows and sheep on our decks of our houses this is done the same as in most countries in abattoirs. You would and did not talk to me from this point on and further in the day you was very rude to one of the other passengers traveling on the tour, When I tried to apologise further to you at the end of the day you simply pushed past and strutted off to your ship. This is not how we wish our tours to perform and lessons are learned from each and every day, There fore we have issued guide line's to all our drivers not to talk about certain aspects of the culture and life style of how they live there every day life, myself included. I completely respect everybody's choices in life to how they wish to live there lives, and I do understand how this could be upsetting for you, However I do not appreciate you trying to make it sound worse by saying we butcher cows and sheep on our doorsteps!!!!!! Overall I am glad you enjoyed the two venues including the make believe world of Hobbiton, Most did so on the day! People who traveled on the day really sharing & showing their pleasure in the day they had just experienced.

Fantastic day with knowledgeable tour...

twchew, Mar 2018

Fantastic day with knowledgeable tour guide. The tour went as advertised. Thanks

The visit to the Hobbiton set was...

Ian B, Mar 2018

The visit to the Hobbiton set was highly enjoyable - even better than anticipated. Our guide was particularly good producing lots of fascinating facts as we wandered around the Hobbit holes. Although it seemed busy at no time did we feel pressured to rush. On a very warm day, the complimentary drink at the inn was particularly welcome! The visit to the Maori village was another matter. When we booked the Rotarua visit it was under the impression we would be spending a good proportion of our time seeing geysers and bubbling mud pools rather than wandering round a village and watching Maori dances. We think the actual content of the Rotarua visit should have been made more explicit in the promotional material. However, it was the only disappointment it what was a very memorable day

Of all my tours in NZ, this was my...

JUDYI_T, Mar 2018

Of all my tours in NZ, this was my favorite! Combined with blue skies and white fluffy clouds, butterflies, bees, and flowers, Hobbiton exceeded my expectations! It was a bit of a drive from Tauranga to Rotorua longer than I anticipated. The Geothermal tour was unique--a few geysers and pools nestled in a small Maori village. Maori guides were there to enlighten and entertain us, and served corn on the cob cooked in a thermal pool!

This was one of the best tours we...

Frederick_K, Mar 2018

This was one of the best tours we have ever been on! It is a family run tour with people who care about providing an excellent experience. If you are interested in the itinerary, use this tour!!!

A very enjoyable day with Pet Peter...

Aharon_K, Feb 2018

A very enjoyable day with Pet Peter. He was a pleasure to be with, a careful driver, well organized tour. Expensive, but worth it.

This was spectacular. We traveled...

Linda_J, Feb 2018

This was spectacular. We traveled thru some beautiful scenery to reach a magical place. Loved hearing the way it was developed and many stories from the beginning of the filming to the end. It was a real delight.