Hobbiton & Rotorua including Te Puia Small Group Tour from Auckland
Overview
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Hobbiton & Rotorua Te Puia Tour, this small group, fully guided day trip combines two of the top attractions in the North Island. It also brings together nature and Maori culture plus allows you to see the highlights of Rotorua City all in one day. 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.
Description
Please be aware that while lunch is not provided on this tour, there will be several opportunities for you to purchase food along the way.
Highlights:
- Hobbiton & Alexander Family Sheep Farm
- Te Puia Geothermal Park & Pohutu
- Maori Cultural Village and Arts School
- Rotorua City Highlights
Itinerary:
1. Auckland - 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.
2. Waikato - 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.
3. Hobbiton Movie Set – 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’.
4. Tirau – 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.
5. Te Puia Geothermal Park – 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.
6. Rotorua City Highlights – 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.
7. Auckland – 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.
Cancellation Policy
Terms: Tours will only run if at least 5 people have booked on the tour, we reserves the right to alter the tour due to weather or operational needs.
A full refund will be issued for cancellations made a minimum of 10 days prior to the scheduled departure time.
What‘s Included
Small Group Tour
Fully Guided
Entry Tickets
Water available & snacks provided
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
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Reviews
473 reviews
Comfortable bus and Great service
Wander32330630629,Apr 4, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Arahia is excellent. She is very knowledgeable and helpful. Also the bus is very comfortable. Our family enjoyed the trip a lot. Thanks Arahia.
Just do a Hobbiton tour (skip the Rotorua portion)
Shahin M,Apr 4, 2026
- Review from Viator
4.00This was a 13 hour tour that started very early in the morning. If you are the last pickup expect for the tour guide to be 10-15 minutes late. This is the 2nd tour we've done with Cheeky Kiwi and in both cases we were the last or second to last pick-up and the bus was late 10-15 minutes each time. Our tour guide Liam was very accommodating and pleasant. We did have one family of 8 or so with an infant and the infant decided to cry for an hour non-stop. I'm not sure what Cheeky Travel knew about this family travelling with an infant, but if they were aware, shame on them for not setting up a private tour for them and not expose us to an hour of a screaming baby. As for the tour itself, the Hobbiton portion was fantastic and as advertised. I would give that portion a 5. The Rotorua portion probably was a 3. The drive to Rotorua was long and it was very underwhelming, unless you are a diehard geothermal fan. I recommend you looking for a Hobbiton tour alone and enjoy the rest of your afternoon in Auckland.
Great tour
tripAdvTraveler,Apr 3, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00The tour was great. The length allocated for each place is about right. There was no time for lunch but we had plenty of break time to get breakfast and snacks for lunch so it's ok. We"d rather use the time for sight seeing.
Save some time and just visit Hobbiton
Passport07097043887,Apr 3, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
4.00The first part of the tour (Hobbiton) is a 5 and the second part (Rotorua) is a 3. Honestly, if you can just find a Hobbiton tour, stick with it and skip the Rotorua portion. The Hobbiton portion was exactly as advertised. Beautiful scenery and lots of opportunities for photos. The Rotorua portion was nice if you really want to see geothermal pools, but it was very underwhelming to me and certainly not worth the extra hours of travel. Our tour guide Liam was very nice and accommodating.
Ale was a friendly tour...
Chittem V,Mar 26, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Ale was a friendly tour guide and clicked some wonderful photos of us. The Hobbiton tour was worth it. It would have been nice if we had an extra thirty minutes to complete all the three walks in Waiotapu.
A tour worth the cost
Subba1972,Mar 24, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had a friendly and knowledgeable guide cum driver Mr Alexandro. The pick up, drive and drop were comfortable and on time. Highly recommended.
The shire
William B,Mar 14, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Hobbiton was so beautiful! Learning about "forced perspective" gave a glimpse into movie magic. Rotorura was such a contrast as to be shocking
Precious adventure!!
Tammy C,Mar 14, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Hobbiton is a must see and so much fun!! Trent was a great driver and guide. The stop at wai-o-taup was reminiscent of Yellowstone.
The flowers at Hobbiton are amazing, as a true fan would expect.
Leo S,Mar 8, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Understand the itinerary and know what you are getting into. These sites are a long way from Auckland, so be prepared for a long day on the bus with short stops at the sites (the Hobbiton tour part is only 2 hours). I was told by another on the tour that the Hobbits are very proud of and competitive about their gardens, and it shows here because the plants are amazing, the pumpkins and gourds are gigantic. The sulphur smell at the volcanic pools is quite strong. There are 3 walks to choose from, ranging from 30 to 90 minutes. We did the middle one, which was 50 minutes and sufficient to get a real take of the place.
An adventure
143mitchd,Mar 7, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Very fun and interesting Full of humor and ice cream
From A$359.83
Auckland, New Zealand
- Free cancellation
Reserve Now & Pay Later - available
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