What‘s Included

Reviews

• Don’t bother….

  Todd C,

  Feb 2, 2025

  3.0

  Disappointed….. Excursion was to have had a limit of 17 people so we were surprised at 21 on the tour, that doesn’t sound like a bunch except it meant not a small bus where all were together but 2 vans of people. That might have been acceptable but the driver of our vehicle was absolutely not knowledgeable about Lord of The Rings and provided zero add. She was no more than a primary school bus driver on a field trip. The other van had the true guide. You will be let down to know there are no buildings or props left from filming so mostly you see a tree here or there where filming was done. Again, for true die hard fans that’s great but you will undoubtedly be amongst people who have no real knowledge of the trilogy or stories. There is at least one stop where you will be walking a steep incline up and back-be prepared. WETA was great but 90 min is too long for this tour. It can be done in an hour and be sure you ask the guide to speak up as you can’t here from the noose of other groups. They left us 10 min to go through the gift shop but cut that short when non fans decided they were done. We were picked up at 8:45am, had 1 bathroom break, no food or water until nearly 3pm. Gave us 30 min for lunch and then rushed us back to the ship. As a true fan-this was incredibly disappointing. Our driver turns out owns the vans that are rented to the tour company so no training or idea about JRR Tolkien or the filming of any movies and relied heavily on Lester the actual guide in the other van. So recommend if you get Nicola as your guide, just cancel. Save your money and just book WETA on your own, take an UBER and spend quality time there. What a waste of a day and money. The tour gets 3 stars ONLY because Lester was extremely knowledgeable. Otherwise 1 star for sure.

• Unforgettable LOR experience!

  Robert G,

  Jan 15, 2025

  5.0

  Our guide Lester was extremely knowledgeable about the Lord of the Rings history and his enthusiasm was contagious. Everywhere he took us he could describe every detail as he tries to take us back in time to the creation of the films..he assisted in helping us make photos of some of the sites and heaven took us to a wonderful bakery to grab some lunch.A totally wonderful experience!

• Insightful Experience

  Carol S,

  Jan 13, 2025

  5.0

  Our guide Mitchell was extremely knowledgeable not only about The Lord of The Rings but the local history as well. He answered all our questions qnd pointed great insights to the film making. Process. The Wetq workshop was fscinqting and a fun interactive experience.

• So much fun

  krupali n,

  Jan 6, 2025

  4.0

  Had a wonderful time with Mitch. He was great at explaining / Showing the places and had a very good sense of humor.

• Amazing experience!

  Nicole S,

  Dec 29, 2024

  5.0

  We had a wonderful tour with our tour guide Lester. He did an amazing job. He was very knowledgeable not just about the LOTR locations and movies/books but also about Wellington and the local flora and fauna. He was also great about building in photo opportunities. We saw so many filming locations and the Weta workshop was great! It was a long day but went by really fast. I recommend bringing snacks and water though. There’s not much time for breaks to grab these. Also, if you have dietary restrictions it was a little difficult to find a place for lunch if you the tour is on a Sunday around a holiday so you may want to bring your own food. We had 2 people with Celiac’s and could not find an open restaurant that had decent gluten free options because we went on the Sunday after Christmas.