Hobbiton & Rotorua including Te Puia Small Group Tour from Auckland
Overview
Available languages
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.
What‘s Included
Small Group Tour
Fully Guided
Entry Tickets
Water available & snacks provided
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
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.
Reviews
488 reviews
Had a magnificent day!...
Mark J,Jun 4, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Had a magnificent day! Our driver Grant was friendly, gave interesting information about various locations on our drive, and had humorous stories to tell. Hobbiton was surreal and incredible. We were free to be as nerdy as we wanted and were encouraged by our tour guide. The geothermal location was a fascinating and scientific experience, but the smell of the sulfur and other fumes in the water made us wish to return to the Shire. Overall a wonderful day, highly recommend overall!
Great tour and guide
alderj2026,Jun 4, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Cam was a fantastic guide! Super friendly, informative and knowledgeable. We had a great time chatting and learning about New Zealand from him. Hobbiton and Waiotapu were amazing to see. Pickup and drop off were super easy and the whole day went very smoothly. :)
Worth visiting
Sharon M,May 30, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Had a wonderful and smooth tour
Fantastic
bessieq2026,May 30, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Couldn’t believe the attention to detail on the set. Definitely an amazing experience.
Hobbiton and Geothermal Park
P193PFering,May 30, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00My guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. I would recommend this tour group to others. The tour van/bus was also modern and spacious.
pure excitement from start to finish
Garnis H,May 22, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00curated adventurous journey but still gave me plenty of space to experience things the way i wanted. hurry slowly, yet everything in pace (hello from last minute guest). still can't move on from roadtrip sceneries across places i can't even pronounce, but surely will be back for more i'm still picky about foods, but each year my palate found a few new favorites. thanks hanoz for introducing me to this whole new culinary library, maori taste atlas thru his handy hints. never a boring convos with him, great music taste, absolute best! +love the extra stop to watch live stream, admire the doggy toilet facades and sunset scoops
Great way to spend a day!
Abby H,May 20, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Amazing day!! Our driver and guide, Mike, was exceptional. He was everything you'd want in a guide- fun, entertaining, interesting, kind, helpful, and knowledgeable. He explained everything ahead of time very well, so we all knew what to expect and where to be and when. He shared great insights along the drive as well. Hobbiton was awesome and such a cool, immersive experience. Waiotapu was fascinating and fun to walk thru the park. Would highly recommend this tour.
Hobbiton Tour A+++
ndmom11,May 15, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We absolutely loved the Hobbiton Tour with Cheeky Kiwi! The pickup at our hotel was on time and our driver, Colin, was great. The van was comfortable and we appreciated the stops for food/restrooms. Our favorite part of the day was absolutely the Hobbiton tour. It was a seamless transition from the Cheeky Kiwi guide to the Hobbiton staff. He made sure we knew what the tour would entail, provided time to shop at the gift store and gave us some tips to make the day even better. Wear shoes with good grips, especially if it's sprinkling/raining. There are umbrellas provided by Hobbiton throughout the tour so no need to bring your own. In hindsight I wish we would have booked the Hobbiton only tour with Cheeky Kiwi as we did not enjoy Waiotapu as much as I thought we would have - this was 100% a personal preference and absolutely nothing that Cheeky Kiwi did wrong. We were at the end of our 2 weeks in NZ and were probably more tired than we realized. Also, as part of the natural environment from the geothermal activity, Rotorua and Waiotapu are very stinky (sulfur smell). The drive back to Auckland was very relaxing and we stopped for Tip Top ice cream and enjoyed a movie to pass the time. This was our 2nd tour with Cheeky Kiwi and I highly recommend their tours!
Excellent Hobbiton and Rotorua tour
sandisW9500QZ,May 11, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Excellent Tour. Our driver, Michael was brilliant, very knowledgeable and made sure everyone was comfortable. Rob, the guide at Hobbiton was excellent and kept everyone engaged
Cheeky Kiwi
Sandra S,May 11, 2026
- Review from Viator
5.00Excellent tour. Our driver Michael was absolutely brilliant, very knowledgeable and made everyone feel comfortable. Rob at Hobbiton was an excellent guide and totally engaged his audience.
Secure Checkout
