2 days (Approx.)
Offered in: English
Keeping you safe during COVID-19
What you can expect during your visit
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Regularly sanitized high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitized between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitized
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
Overview
Discover the otherworldly beauty of New Zealand’s North Island, from Rotorua’s geothermal pools and the Waitomo Glowworm Caves to the Shire at the Hobbiton Movie Set. On this 2-day coach tour from Auckland, you’ll experience ancient Maori traditions with a ‘hangi’ dinner, the filmmaking history of ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ a duck tour and a visit to the Agrodome. Enjoy standard (3 star hotel) or superior (4 star hotel) overnight accommodation in Rotorua.
- 2-day tour of Waitomo Caves, Hobbiton and Rotorua from Auckland
- Visit the famous Waitomo Caves and learn how the glowworms radiate a magical luminescent light
- Discover Rotorua's cultural heritage and geothermal activity on a relaxing duck tour by amphibious vehicle!
- Experience real Maori culture at Tamaki Village with rituals, ceremonies, performances, storytelling and a traditional feast
- Admire Te Puia with its thermal mud pools and impressive geysers
- Enjoy a scenic drive across the Kaimai Ranges before you head to the Shire and Middle-earth on a Hobbiton Movie Set tour
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Day 1: Auckland – Waitomo – Rotorua (L, D)Following hotel pickup, depart Auckland aboard your air-conditioned coach, heading south to the North Island’s renowned Waitomo Glowworm Caves. Enter the otherworldly limestone labyrinth with your guide, observing the stalactite formations and phosphorescent shimmer of tiny glowworms during a tour of the caves.
After you emerge from this subterranean marvel, re-board the coach for a boxed lunch served while you are driven east to Rotorua. Enjoy free time to explore before a duck tour of Rotorua’s scenic lakes by amphibious vehicle.
Discover New Zealand’s Maori heritage during a cultural evening including a traditional Maori hangi — a feast of meat and vegetables cooked in an earth oven — before retiring at your hotel for the night.
Overnight: Standard or superior hotel accommodation in Rotorua
Day 2: Rotorua – Hobbiton – Auckland (B)After breakfast, head to Te Puia for an otherworldly geothermal experience. Stroll the walkway past bubbling mud pools and spouting geysers on display before you enjoy more cultural performances by the local Maori people.
Next, your guide takes you to Rainbow Springs Nature Park for a rare glimpse of the kiwi, New Zealand’s signature bird. Then stop at the Agrodome, a working farm, to watch sheepdogs and sheep-shearing in action.
Continue on with a scenic coach drive across the Kaimai Range to a farm near Matamata. Here, you’ll explore the fairytale landscape of the Shire featured in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. During your Hobbiton Movie Set tour, stop for photo ops in front of Bilbo Baggins’ house and other hobbit holes, and visit the Green Dragon Inn.
Your tour concludes in the early evening, with the option to be dropped off in Auckland or Rotorua.
After you emerge from this subterranean marvel, re-board the coach for a boxed lunch served while you are driven east to Rotorua. Enjoy free time to explore before a duck tour of Rotorua’s scenic lakes by amphibious vehicle.
Discover New Zealand’s Maori heritage during a cultural evening including a traditional Maori hangi — a feast of meat and vegetables cooked in an earth oven — before retiring at your hotel for the night.
Overnight: Standard or superior hotel accommodation in Rotorua
Day 2: Rotorua – Hobbiton – Auckland (B)After breakfast, head to Te Puia for an otherworldly geothermal experience. Stroll the walkway past bubbling mud pools and spouting geysers on display before you enjoy more cultural performances by the local Maori people.
Next, your guide takes you to Rainbow Springs Nature Park for a rare glimpse of the kiwi, New Zealand’s signature bird. Then stop at the Agrodome, a working farm, to watch sheepdogs and sheep-shearing in action.
Continue on with a scenic coach drive across the Kaimai Range to a farm near Matamata. Here, you’ll explore the fairytale landscape of the Shire featured in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. During your Hobbiton Movie Set tour, stop for photo ops in front of Bilbo Baggins’ house and other hobbit holes, and visit the Green Dragon Inn.
Your tour concludes in the early evening, with the option to be dropped off in Auckland or Rotorua.
Itinerary
Day 1
Depart Auckland for Waitomo and Rotorua followed by Rotorua Duck Tours and a Maori Cultural Experience
4 Stops
Leaving Auckland, you’ll travel south to visit the world-famous limestone formations of Waitomo Caves. Enter the subterranean labyrinth of caves to admire a magical world of stalactites and stalagmites, eerily lit by the luminescent gleam of tiny glowworms.
Duration: 2 hours
Admission Ticket Included
After your tour of the Waitomo Caves, a picnic lunch is served on board the coach as you are driven east across the North Island to Rotorua. There’s time to check in at your Rotorua accommodation before boarding an amphibious ‘duck’ vehicle for a tour of Rotorua’s picturesque lakes.
Duration: 3 hours
Admission Ticket Included
Accommodation:
You have the choice of a 3-star or 4-star hotelMeals:
Lunch Dinner Day 2
Rotorua to Auckland including Rotorua Sights and Hobbiton Movie Set Tour
5 Stops
Your tour continues with a scenic drive across the Kaimai Ranges to the farm near Matamata that was transformed into Hobbiton for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie set. Enjoy a guided tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set, where you’ll see the fairy tale landscapes of the Shire, including the hobbit holes, and visit the Green Dragon Inn and Mill.
Duration: 3 hours
Admission Ticket Included
Accommodation:
Not IncludedMeals:
Not IncludedTraveler Tips
- "It is a very full on tour with very little down time except for waiting for fellow travellers who do not respect that the tour has to be at specific places at specific times." See review
- "The tours were arranged well, and all the sites were worth visiting." See review
Reviews
Questions?
Product code: 2105_202
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