Itinerary
Day 1: Pick up, Auckland City Highlights & Hobbiton Movie Set Tour
Pass By: Auckland & Beyond Tours, Auckland Central, Auckland New Zealand
Pick up will be arranged from anywhere in Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua or Tauranga. (Itinerary is customizable)
Stop At: Bastion Point, Hapimana Street, Mission Bay, Auckland 1071 New Zealand
Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitematā Harbour. The area is significant in New Zealand history as the site of protests by Māori against forced land alienation by pākehā in the late 1970s.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie), 670 Manukau Road Epsom, Auckland Central, Auckland 1023 New Zealand
Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill is a 182-metre volcanic peak in Auckland, New Zealand. It is an important memorial place for both Māori and other New Zealanders.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Winter Garden Auckland Domain, 20 Park Road, Auckland Central, Auckland 1023 New Zealand
The Domain Wintergardens is a complex of gardens located within the Auckland Domain. It is registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I historic place.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Mt Smart Stadium Auckland New Zealand, 5A Beasley Avenue Penrose, Auckland Central, Auckland 1061 New Zealand
Achilles Point (Te Pane o Horoiwi – The head of Horoiwi) is a rocky point on the headland at the eastern end of the small sandy beach named Ladies Bay, Auckland, New Zealand. The name 'Te Pane o Horoiwi' can also sometimes refer to the whole headland between St Heliers and Tamaki River estuary. Achilles Point is named after a ship called HMNZS Achilles (70) which defeated the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in 1939. The headland, from the point round to the Tamaki heads, was previously known as Te Pane o Horoiwi, named after Horoiwi who arrived in New Zealand on the Tainui canoe (waka).
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Hobbiton Movie Set, 501 Buckland Road Matamata, Hinuera 3472 New Zealand
Experience the real Middle-earth with a visit to the Hobbiton Movie Set, featured in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films.
Your guided tour starts with a drive through our picturesque 1,250 acre sheep farm with spectacular views across to the Kaimai Ranges.
Take a look at Bag End, where Frodo and Bilbo’s adventures began. Get lost among the hobbit holes and visit the Green Dragon Inn, the mill and the Party Tree. Listen to spell-binding tales of how Hobbiton came to be.
Duration: 2 hours
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Overnight in Rotorua
Day 2: Tour of Rotorua, Waitomo Caves & Kiwi bird park.
Stop At: Rotorua, Rotorua, Rotorua District, Bay of Plenty Region, North Island
Explore otherworldly geothermal parks, experience rejuvenating spa and wellness therapies, wander through and around beautiful Whakarewarewa Forest and many of our 18 lakes. Enjoy thrilling adventures and create family memories, immerse yourself in the Māori culture. Of course, we’ve also got you covered for resting and refuelling, with accommodation options and award-winning cafés and restaurants appealing to all tastes and budgets.
Duration: 3 hours
Stop At: Te Puia, Hemo Road, Rotorua New Zealand
Explore Te Puia Geothermal Valley where you can watch live Kiwi Birds, Smell the beautiful Manuka Flower, Watch the Puhotu Geyser Eruption (the Largest geyser in the southern hemisphere), You'll have a glimpse of the Maori Cultural Performance and you will see how the great Maori carvings are made at the National Carving Institute inside Te Puia.
Duration: 3 hours
Stop At: Lake Rotorua, Rotorua New Zealand
This beautifully peaceful lake has a violent history. One of several large volcanoes in the Rotorua region, its underlying magma chamber collapsed after a massive eruption around 200,000 years ago. The collapse created a circular caldera about 16 kilometres wide, which filled with water to form the North Island's second largest lake.
Geothermal activity continues below and around Lake Rotorua. Clouds of steam drift around the shore and the water has a high sulphur content, resulting in a magical green-blue colouration.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Government Gardens, Queens Dr 9 Queens Dr, Rotorua New Zealand
Explore historic gardens that surround a Tudor-style spa bath house and an ornate Mediterranean-style public swimming pool. Peer through the steam into ancient bubbling geothermal pools.
Originally known as Paepaekumana, the Government Gardens are situated on the lake's edge in downtown Rotorua.
This site is of legendary and historical importance to local Maori people, for here many significant battles have taken place.In the late 1800s, the Maori people gifted 50 acres of this land to the crown "for the benefit of the people of the world". The land was a scrub-covered geothermal area with several therapeutic pools. The scrub was cleared and formal gardens planted. Several large trees remain from those early days, including multi-trunked Japanese firs and an unusual Californian weeping redwood. Realising the opportunity to create a South Pacific spa attraction, in 1908 the New Zealand government opened a large and elaborate bath house.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Waitomo Glowworm Caves, 39 Waitomo Village Road, Waitomo Caves 3943 New Zealand
Be amazed by the thousands of magical glowworms above, as you glide silently by boat in the world famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves. Guided since the late 1880s, this is the original, iconic New Zealand attraction.
The Waitomo region is home to unforgettable sightseeing attractions. Enjoy the world famous boat ride under thousands of magical glowworms and become a part of over 125 years of cultural and natural history. Our expert guides will draw you into this awesome environment, sharing the Caves' historical and geological significance.
World renowned and a magnet for both local and overseas visitors, the Waitomo Glowworm Caves occupy a high placing in the New Zealand vacation wish-list.
More than 30 million years ago, the legend of Waitomo began with the creation of limestone at the bottom of the ocean. Now these limestone formations stand as one of New Zealand's most inspiring natural wonders and a must-see destination.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Otorohanga Kiwi House & Native Bird Park, 25 Alex Telfer Drive, Otorohanga 3900 New Zealand
The Otorohanga Kiwi House & Native Bird Park has been breeding Kiwi since 1971. The not-for-profit wildlife and conservation centre displays Kiwi birds all day in specialised moonlit nocturnal houses complete with burrow cameras. And it breeds rare native New Zealand wildlife for release to the wild.
The family-friendly Park offers close up viewing of NZ's national bird, the Kiwi. There are also ponds, wetland areas and walk-through aviaries including a giant dome aviary. Open daily, except Christmas Day. Informative Keeper talks at 10.30am, 1.30pm & 3.30pm (kiwi) plus 11am (native parrots: kea & kaka) 12pm (kakariki) and 2.30pm (long fin eels & blue ducks). All ticket sales are reinvested in the Park's wildlife & conservation work.
Duration: 2 hours
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Overnight in Hamilton
Day 3: Tour of Hamilton Gardens and drop off
Stop At: Hamilton Gardens, Hungerford Crescent Cobham Drive, Hamilton 3216 New Zealand
Hamilton Gardens is a 58-hectare world of horticultural skill and imagination.
One of the Waikato region's most visited attractions, Hamilton Gardens hasn't been developed in the manner of conventional botanic gardens. Instead, it explores the relationships between people and plants, telling the story of gardens through different civilisations, in five garden collections that are spread over 58 hectares.
Hamilton Gardens is home to Te Parapara - New Zealand's first traditional Maori garden. It showcases traditional practices, materials and ceremonies relating to food production and storage, drawn from the knowledge of local Maori which has been passed down the generations.
The Paradise Garden Collection includes gardens that represent China, England, Japan, America, Italy and India. Each garden is highly individual with a totally different design philosophy. Highlights include the Indian Char Bagh Garden, Italian Renaissance Garden, Chinese Scholars’ Garden and more.
Duration: 4 hours
Pass By: Auckland, Auckland, North Island
Drop off can be anywhere in Auckland.
Pass By: Tauranga, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty Region, North Island
Drop off can be anywhere in Tauranga
Pass By: Hamilton, Hamilton, Waikato Region, North Island
Drop off can be anywhere in Hamilton
No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.