Rotorua City Tour and 'The Lord of the Rings' Hobbiton Movie Set
Rotorua, New Zealand
Rating: 
Trip Type: Day Trips
Duration: Varies
Experience Maori culture, see the wildlife and natural wonders of New Zealand, and explore the magic setting for the 'Lord Of The Rings' movie trilogy on this action-packed full-day tour from Rotorua. In the morning, tour three of Rotorua's top attractions: Te Puia Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, Rainbow Springs wildlife park, and a working sheep farm called the Agrodome. Then travel to Hobbiton for a guided tour through the Shire, stopping at hobbit holes including Bilbo Baggins’ home and many other famous locations!
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Experience Maori culture, see the wildlife and natural wonders of New Zealand, and explore the magic setting for the 'Lord Of The Rings' movie trilogy on this action-packed full-day tour from Rotorua. In the morning, tour three of Rotorua's top attractions: Te Puia Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, Rainbow Springs wildlife park, and a working sheep farm called the Agrodome. Then travel to Hobbiton for a guided tour through the Shire, stopping at hobbit holes including Bilbo Baggins’ home and many other famous locations!
Meet your guide and coach in Rotorua, then buzz over to the nearby cultural center at Te Puia, which covers nearly 150 acres (60 hectare) in a geothermal valley. See massive geysers and bubbling mud pools as well as demonstrations of Maori traditions and crafts.
Next, a short drive brings you to Rainbow Springs, the nation’s largest kiwi conservation park, which features New Zealand’s national bird along with other native wildlife. As you walk through the park, check out free-flight aviaries that house 16 breeds of native birds, streams with huge wild trout, and the tuatara, a prehistoric lizard-like reptile that is also referred to as a dragon or living dinosaur.
After seeing wild critters at Rainbow Springs, head to the Agrodome to learn about farm life, specifically sheep and sheep dogs. Watch an entertaining sheep-shearing demonstration and marvel at the smarts of the sheep dogs as they work with their masters to herd sheep.
Once you have experienced life on the farm, you’ll have an hour to eat lunch (own expense). After lunch, your guide transfers you to the Hobbiton Movie Set coach tour. Take a scenic 1-hour drive over the Kaimai mountain range to arrive at the 1,250 acre farm where scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit were filmed.
Enter the world of The Shire as your guide explains how this working sheep farm became the movie set for Middle-Earth. Snap photos in front of Hobbit holes, Bilbo Baggins’ house, the Green Dragon Inn, the double-arch bridge and the mill, plus other structures from the films.
When your Hobbiton set tour wraps, reboard the coach for your return to Rotorua. You also have the option to continue by coach to Auckland, approximately a 2-hour drive, instead of returning to Rotorua.
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