Hobbiton & Rotorua including Te Puia Day Tour from Auckland
Description
Experience the world-famous Lord of The Rings Hobbiton Movie Set and the geothermal and Maori cultural wonders of Te Puia all in one day. This unforgettable combo tour takes you to two of the top tourist attractions in the North Island. Highlights: • Hobbiton & Alexander Family Sheep Farm • Te Puia Geothermal Park & Pohutu • Maori Cultural Village and Arts School • Rotorua City Highlights While the destinations you will be visiting are truly spectacular, Cheeky Kiwi Travel believe it is our small groups, our guides, the journey and the little details that set our tours well apart. Secret stops, wildlife viewings, specially designed vehicles and many other pleasant surprises ensure our tours are an experience to remember. Our tours are led by our famously passionate tour guides, notorious for bringing your journey to life by sharing their stories and rich background knowledge, and run in a modern, comfortable minibuses packed with extras ensuring your comfort and safety.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your tour starts in New Zealand’s largest city. As we drive out of the city your guide will not only set the scene for your adventure today but also point out and guide you past some of the city’s top highlights.
Exiting Auckland we travel south through the stunning Waikato countryside, the most extensive farming area in the world, encountering beautiful scenery, mighty rivers, great photo opportunities, impressive mountains and a variety of farm animals along the way.
Arriving at the first feature attraction ‘Hobbiton’ you will board one of the big green Hobbiton buses and depart on a two & a half hour fully guided tour of this amazing 12 acre movie set, with a professional Hobbiton guide to ensure you get the most out of your visit. During your tour step into the lush pastures of the Shire, visit 44 hobbit holes, see amazing gardens, hear the secrets and stories about the making of the movies and enjoy a cold complimentary beverage at the famous Hobbiton pub ‘The Green Dragon Inn’.
Departing for Rotorua we pass through Tirau on our adventure. Dubbed the 'Corrugated Iron Capital of the World' because of the many unique corrugated iron sculptures and buildings, this town never fails to get a look and a laugh and our guides will point out all the main highlights on the way through.
Arriving at our second feature destination, Te Puia, you will receive a fully guided tour to best experience the geothermal and Maori cultural wonders including: Pōhutu Geyser, Māori Architecture, The National Māori Arts School, geothermal craters, geothermal events and even the chance to view a Kiwi bird in the Kiwi viewing house.
To finish off our Rotorua experience we do a guided driving tour seeing the most famous sites in Rotorua city including: Lake Rotorua, Rotorua Museum, Government Gardens, Whangapipiro (Rachel Spring) & the Blue Baths.
Sadly we must start to head north again but your day is not over with a fully guided return trip to Auckland including secret stops along the way.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
*If no pickup is selected at time of booking, you will be allocated our default meeting point (SkyCity Hotel). You are welcome to update this at any time. If your location isn’t listed, please choose your nearest available option & meet us there. *Pick-ups can begin up to 20 minutes before the tour departure time, depending on location. To ensure a smooth start, please be ready and waiting outside 5 minutes prior to your specific pickup time. *Pick-up locations are carefully planned for each tour and may vary by day. If your pick-up location changes, kindly inform us in advance. *Our guides make multiple stops and may arrive within a 10-minute window. We are unable to wait for late guests.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
- Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities or using a wheelchair.
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
- The legal drinking age is 18, and ID may be required
- Not recommended for travelers with severe mobility difficulties - A moderate amount of walking is involved.
Reviews(215)
Jeoff was fantastic! He gave us such a great tour, and whenever he could tell we were getting tired, he put on his playlist (which, I have to say, was excellent!) and let us catch up on some rest. Hobbiton and Rotorua are absolute must-sees! There’s so much to learn and experience, and the whole day was both fun and fascinating. We came away with so much insight and plenty of great memories! Overall, it was an amazing day - I’d highly recommend it! 🧝♂️🪵
Very good Tour with excellent Guide Grant. Hobbiton: Bit steep, but very good tour and premises Te Puia: Good insight into Maori, geyser was too shy but still impressive
Grant was amazing and I would highly recommend
Thank you for the lovely review, Carina! Grant will be so pleased to hear your kind words. We are thrilled you had such a wonderful experience on the Hobbiton and Rotorua tour. Thank you for booking with Cheeky Kiwi Travel and we hope to welcome you back on another New Zealand adventure very soon!
We loved this tour. It's a long day but so worth it. Both Hobbiton and Te Puia were very special places to visit. The tour at Hobbiton was exceptionally run and beyond amazing!!! Rotorua has to be visited, it's geothermal properties are incredible. The Maori art and education centre along with its geothermal Park are well run, informative and mind blowing. And we saw kiwi birds! Hanoz was a brilliant guide. He is professional, friendly and made our day special. He even took a detour so we could see the Blue Water Springs. He made us laugh, and was very informative, providing great insight. A trip to Lake Rotorua was a nice addition, and the ice cream stop at the end. Thanks Hanoz!
Hobbiton is magical and we enjoyed the geothermal features in Te Puia. Jimmy is fun and a great driver. It was such a fun day for us.
Yesterday was a check off the bucket list for me! I had an exceptional time at Hobbiton and Te Puia. I could not stop taking pictures and videos because I wanted to have every moment commited to memory. The trip on the bus was long but our driver John went above and beyond to ensure our small group was entertained, informed, and well-provided for. He was a critical part in making our journey memorable and engaging as it was! Next time I’m come back to NZ I will absolutely be booking with Cheeky Kiwi again 💜
What a wonderful review — a bucket list experience ticked off, that's the best kind! We're so glad John and the team made your journey to Hobbiton and Te Puia truly unforgettable. Thank you for choosing Cheeky Kiwi Travel, and we'd love to have you back next time you visit New Zealand!
Our driver for the day, Simon, was fantastic. Incredibly personable and made the day a delight. Visiting Hobbiton and Rotorua for the first time was brilliant - I’m so glad I was a part of it all!
Excellent tour... the admin team responded quickly to my questions since there were limited spots. I read the reviews, and it totally made sense to book directly with you. We had a beautiful day. The weather was perfect. Ben gave us time to rest but also educated us. The music was awesome. It followed the flow of the tour. Hobbiton is a must, even if you're not a big fan. You probably need to be ready by 5:40 am, but in the end, it’s worth it because after we finished our tour, there were so many people for the 11-plus tour. It was a long drive, but Ben was always very attentive and ready to check on all of us. It was also nice to have a small group. And no part of the tour gets 5 stars quite like the Kiwi music we listened to throughout the entire trip. It was just what we needed.
Went with cheeky kiwi tours! Pearl was our guide and could not rate her high enough! She was absolutely fantastic, very informative, great sense of humour, and very helpful.
Had a wonderful day even in the pouring rain. Vicki was a great guide and was so informative. Would definitely recommend Cheeky Kiwi!
