Traveler Reviews

• Kim_h 21-Aug-2023

  Excellent day trip, the bus driver Rachele was excellent very informative and engaged with us all. Hobbitan movie set is just brilliant

• Dinesh_p 20-Aug-2023

  we took Hobbiton Movie Set and Waitomo Caves Full Day Tour Full day tour with family (2 kids+2 adults) but not value for money paid. Waitomo cave was ok and Lunch for Hobbiton was good.

• Mary_m 18-Aug-2023

  Great tour. Rachel was a great tour guide - great info of New Zealand’s history, funny and friendly. Hobbiton experience was great - scenery and the food was awesome!!! My daughter has food allergies and the staff was super friendly in giving her a dessert plate that looked so delicious everybody went looking for what she got 😂. Highly recommend. The glowing worms were also amazing!!

• Dawn_b 17-Aug-2023

  Wonderful trip to get a peak outside of Auckland. Our time was short in NZ and we didn’t plan to rent a car. This tour was a perfect day trip out to see the countryside. Rachel was a great driver/host.

• Johnsony601 16-Aug-2023

  The scenery was perfect, the tour guides did an awesome job. Though the bus-driver's commentary was a bit hypnotizing, it made everyone doze off, which was a good thing. The Hobbiton tour guide was absolutely wonderful, she was very energetic and friendly, explained a lot of filming-of-lotr-and-the-hobbit related details. The bus-driver gave us very specific insructions for the resting spots thus we arrived&departed exactly on time. He even gave us tips to order in the Cafe first and then go to the washrooms so we wouldn't be stuck in queue, also gave us extra time in the end of the tour of the souvenir shops. The glowworms weren't as spectacular as we expected they would be, only saw a cluster of small lights and the tour ended. (At least that's what we saw on our trip, and does not apply to everyone since seasons change and they grow differently) But there was another guide for the chamber caves (not the glowworm caves, they are two separate caves in the same trip and location) and he was amazing too, very good sense of humor and explained the history of the chamber caves very well. (The chamber caves were an amazing experience too, in my opinion better than the glowworm caves) Overall it was an lovely trip and I quite enjoyed it. (To clarify I'm a big fan of Tolkien myself, so seeing Hobbiton was an especially special experience, and I might be a little biased. To the people who haven't watched The Lord Of The Rings or The Hobbit, I recommend to watch them before going)

• Alex_s 16-Aug-2023

  Fun and worth the money. I definitely recommend bundling the two experiences (Hobbiton and Waitomo caves) if you have the time. It is quite a drive from the city.

• Jeanne_p 15-Aug-2023

  The glow worms and Bag End. Great food at Hobbiton. I can’t wait to come back to see the walk through hobbit homes

• William_h 13-Aug-2023

  For ease of understanding, going to split review into two parts: 1) the bus is super comfortable, plenty of leg room, and wifi is decent. The bus driver/guide is AMAZING and quite honestly was one of the best parts of the trip. On the way to Hobbiton and Glow Worms, he provided super insightful details about the geography, the country, the people, all with a great sense of wit! Seriously, ignore any of the other reviews that mention “politics.” It’s a sad state of affairs that people can’t understand the difference between someone talking about their culture versus “politics”. The driver was fabulous and taught me more about New Zealand in a few hours than I thought possible! I would give him the highest grade possible! 2) Hobbiton and Glowworms: this was a nice day away from the city, especially as we had the best weather we have had all trip. I am glad we picked this company because you eat lunch at the Hobbiton. Let me tell you, gourmet eats—this was best meal we had all trip!! Other companies have you eat elsewhere (don’t do it!). With that in mind, if we didn’t eat at Hobbiton, would have felt like it wasn’t worth it. It is BEAUTIFUL! But, it’s really far from Auckland and the tour itself is short. So, if nothing else, choose this tour for the meal that is included! As for the Glowworms: my daughter thought it was super cool. As an adult, just felt kind of underwhelming. Again, it is a short tour and the boat ride takes you to a part of the cave that is about 20ft by 20ft. The guides were lovely and funny! But I am glad this was added on to the Hobbiton tour and we didn’t just do the Glowworms alone—-that would have been disappointing since the tour is short and the cave is about 3 hours away from Auckland. All in all, this was money well spent. Beautiful countryside, quality time with my daughter, and an amazing driver he was beyond safe!

• Jake_t 10-Aug-2023

  Viator sold me tickets (was charged to my card), and I had copies of the tickets on my phone. Then when I showed up for the tour, they said I wasn't on the list, and Viator could not fix the issue. Ruined an entire day for me and my family. Even though I had confirmation and a ticket and was billed, they said the tour was overbooked. I was only in town for a limited time and they couldn't fix the issue.

• Malachi_n 09-Aug-2023

  Driver's background stories helped passing the long bus drive. Hobbiton is a well run turist must see and the glow worms cave woth the visit. Nice to see the local Maari being the guilds.