Wellington's Full Day Lord Of The Rings Tour Including Lunch

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Tour Information

Key Details

  • Mobile Voucher Accepted
  • Hotel pickup Available
  • Free Cancellation
  • Instant Confirmation
  • Lowest Price Guaranteed
  • Duration: 8 Hrs
  • Language:
    English
  • Departure Time :
    8:30 AM Hotel pickups commence prior to this time, you must contact the local service provider to verify your exact pickup time.
  • Return Details :
    Pick-ups may be slightly later than the advertised start time depending on how many bookings we have. If joining from the cruise terminal, please be ready 15mins before the scheduled departure time... read more
  • Cancellation Policy :
    For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience. Tours booked using discount coupon codes will be non refundable.

Overview

Explore Middle-earth on this 'Lord of the Rings' location tour. Re-create scenes from 'The Lord of the Rings' book and movies, and see how Middle-earth was created in the beautiful countryside outside Wellington. Go behind the scenes on a visit to the Weta Studios, where 'The Lord of the Rings' movies were produced, and see famous movie locations including the Greenbelt, the Hutt Valley and the gorgeous native forest park that re-created Rivendell. Enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' lunch and hear insider gossip on how the movies were made on this 'Lord of the Rings' tour in Wellington.

Know More about this tour


Delve into the heart of Wellywood and visit the Weta Workshop, a physical effects workshop who created all the props, armour, weapons, costumes, miniatures and prosthetics for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.Learn the secrets of movie magic on a behind-the-scenes tour by a Weta employee, who will explain the creative process behind bringing these films to life.You'll also have chance to take photos with various characters and weapons, as well as treating yourself to a souvenir or two, if desired.
Enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the harbour and city from the Mt Victoria lookout. Your guide will talk about the landmarks you can see from the top and help you take photos.Mt Victoria is always on the list of things to do in Wellington, so we thought we'd save you the trouble of walking up the hill to get there!
Drive past the Embassy Theatre that was used to host two world premieres of the Middle-earth movies - The Return of the King and An Unexpected Journey. Your guide will share stories and pictures of how Wellington was transformed literally into the middle of Middle-earth.
Descend into the forested slopes of the nearby Outer Shire, where our expert guides will explain the process of film making and entertain you with stories of how the Lord of the Rings movies were brought to life. You will follow in the footsteps of Frodo and the Hobbits as they began their quest to destroy the One Ring. You will see the "shortcut to mushrooms", "get off the road" and hide from the Black Riders before fleeing to the Buckleberry Ferry. You will have the chance to recreate some of the most famous scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring and make your social media streams go crazy!
Enjoy a feast fit for a Hobbit to recharge your batteries for more film locations in the afternoon
See a section of the Great River Anduin as the Fellowship make their way to Parth Galen
Harcourt Park aka The Gardens of Isengard. Here you will see how this normal, everyday park was transformed into the scenes where Gandalf rode to Saruman seeking council and the wizards walked through the gardens discussing their situation. This is also where the orcs began felling the trees once it was revealed Saruman had turned to the dark side...
Kaitoke Regional Park, a stunning, thousand year old, temperate rain forest. This was used as the location for the beautiful Rivendell, the last homely house east of the sea. Here you will immerse yourself in the magical setting and learn how the area was transformed into Elrond's house, Frodo's bedroom and the bridge where Arwen and Aragorn share a kiss. You can release your inner Elf and snap a photo reenacting a famous Legolas image and then recreate the scene where Frodo leads the newly formed Fellowship towards Mordor by posing in front of the Rivendell gate tower which is the only Lord of the Rings replica structure in the whole of New Zealand outside of Hobbiton.You will also see a scene from the Fords of Isen, where Eomund was found by Eomer at the start of The Two Towers, and have a chance to cross a swing bridge and visit a giant 800-year-old native Rimu tree and learn something of New Zealand's flora and fauna.

Itinerary:


Delve into the heart of Wellywood and visit the Weta Workshop, a physical effects workshop who created all the props, armour, weapons, costumes, miniatures and prosthetics for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. Learn the secrets of movie magic on a behind-the-scenes tour by a Weta employee, who will explain the creative process behind bringing these films to life. You'll also have chance to take photos with various characters and weapons, as well as treating yourself to a souvenir or two, if desired.
Enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the harbour and city from the Mt Victoria lookout. Your guide will talk about the landmarks you can see from the top and help you take photos. Mt Victoria is always on the list of things to do in Wellington, so we thought we'd save you the trouble of walking up the hill to get there!
Drive past the Embassy Theatre that was used to host two world premieres of the Middle-earth movies - The Return of the King and An Unexpected Journey. Your guide will share stories and pictures of how Wellington was transformed literally into the middle of Middle-earth.
Descend into the forested slopes of the nearby Outer Shire, where our expert guides will explain the process of film making and entertain you with stories of how the Lord of the Rings movies were brought to life. You will follow in the footsteps of Frodo and the Hobbits as they began their quest to destroy the One Ring. You will see the "shortcut to mushrooms", "get off the road" and hide from the Black Riders before fleeing to the Buckleberry Ferry. You will have the chance to recreate some of the most famous scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring and make your social media streams go crazy!
Enjoy a feast fit for a Hobbit to recharge your batteries for more film locations in the afternoon
See a section of the Great River Anduin as the Fellowship make their way to Parth Galen
Harcourt Park aka The Gardens of Isengard. Here you will see how this normal, everyday park was transformed into the scenes where Gandalf rode to Saruman seeking council and the wizards walked through the gardens discussing their situation. This is also where the orcs began felling the trees once it was revealed Saruman had turned to the dark side...
Kaitoke Regional Park, a stunning, thousand year old, temperate rain forest. This was used as the location for the beautiful Rivendell, the last homely house east of the sea. Here you will immerse yourself in the magical setting and learn how the area was transformed into Elrond's house, Frodo's bedroom and the bridge where Arwen and Aragorn share a kiss. You can release your inner Elf and snap a photo reenacting a famous Legolas image and then recreate the scene where Frodo leads the newly formed Fellowship towards Mordor by posing in front of the Rivendell gate tower which is the only Lord of the Rings replica structure in the whole of New Zealand outside of Hobbiton. You will also see a scene from the Fords of Isen, where Eomund was found by Eomer at the start of The Two Towers, and have a chance to cross a swing bridge and visit a giant 800-year-old native Rimu tree and learn something of New Zealand's flora and fauna.

Inclusions

  • Lord of the Rings' themed lunch
  • Weta Workshop behind-the-scenes tour
  • Visit the best LOTR movie locations
  • Local and professional guide
  • Native forest walk
  • Pick up and drop off in central Wellington or the cruise terminal. Please advise at time of booking

Exclusions

  • Gratuities

Additional Info

Public transportation options are available nearby

Specialized infant seats are available

Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

Not recommended for participants with walkers or limited mobility

Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking

Traveler Reviews

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  • 25-Feb-2020

    This was a fantastic day, the tour guide, Tim was knowledgeable about LOTR and we visited some amazing places. Weta was awesome, lunch was great.

  • 20-Jan-2020

    What a fantastic way to spend New Year’s Eve (and incidentally my birthday)! We were lucky enough to get Jack as our guide for the full day tour. He was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining with heaps of insider knowledge about the actors and Weta workshop. We had a blast posing with props at all of the locations and the workshop itself was super interesting. Our themed lunch was also great and they even catered for special dietary requirements. All in all, a brilliant day and one we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. Thanks Jack!

  • 14-Jan-2020

    This tour was fun- I loved our driver- he happened to be an extra for LOTR and has a history of hand modeling (Zoolander, anyone?). He was very easygoing and fun to talk to. We had another tour guide with us that was in training. It was very neat to have them both. Our tour was very small- only one other couple, so it felt like a private tour.

    It was neat to see the places that scenes were filmed and a lot of them so close to the city. You realize how much CGI was needed for certain scenes. I really loved how they had a picture of the scene from the movie so you could look and see the same tree or pond as in the scene rather than going off memory. It was nice that the tour offered muffins and drinks (I got to try L and P!) along the way, as well as umbrellas since it was a rainy day. They were very prepared.

    We had lunch at this neat B and B that is an old house and in the same town that the director James Cameron lives in. Very delicious lunch, but man the drive there was curvy (I don't get car sick and I was feeling it).

    The only part of this tour I was disappointed with, but it's not the tour's fault, is the Weta Cave Studio Tour. I have done the Harry Potter world in London and expected something similar but not as large. This was very tiny and disappointing with not that many props. It was cool that there was an area to touch different props to see the difference, but I was quite bored and it was very short. I wouldn't recommend it. However, we did see the studios where Peter Jackson works, and also the world's largest green screen- outdoors, with no security. As our tour guide stated- "Kiwis don't really care about celebrities- they're just people. And sitting outside of someone's house for a picture is considered stalking and that is illegal." I wish the US would catch onto this.

  • 13-Jan-2020

    The guide was easy to find. Very knowledgeable about the film locations. The props were helpful in explaining how shots were made. Lunch was at a pretty garden cafe.

  • 03-Jan-2020

    Our guide Leslie really made this experience a great one. She had so many great stories, and was really able to conjure up the views from the movies. She used both photos and fun tales from the filming. Great fun! We also liked the way the tour was structured with a few sites and WETA in the morning, and more sites after lunch. Lunch was also very good and the restaurant and location were perfect. And I have to admit (being a bit of a LOTR geek), being able to carry a replica Sting for an hour or so was an added thrill. Overall, fantastic tour, amazing guide and a perfect way to spend a day. Thanks again Leslie!

  • 11-Nov-2019

    This tour is a must of LOTR fans but those can enjoy it too, who would like to see something of the countryside around Wellington. As all my travel mates was LOTR fans our guide was keen to share with us as much detail of the shooting and the sites as possible. He even snapped photos for us at key sites. Definitely worth taking it and go for the whole-day tour as you will get to see everything, including the Weta Studios, where the movies are shot and animations made.

  • 11-Nov-2019

    We did the full day tour. I can't remember our guide’s name (maybe Elvik)? He actually looked a little like a hobbit which made the experience even better. The whole tour was well planned. You see quite a few site which was super well done. The guide showed us a location and then a photo from the movie for reference so you could see what it looked like in the movie. Which was so much better than just saying "here a spot where they did such and such." On top of that our guide was super knowledgeable and was full of fun facts about the movie, actors, and just interesting things about New Zealand. He also managed to find the right balance between talking and not over doing it. The whole experience was just magical.
    On top of that, one of the first things he did was point out where bathroom stops would be during the day. I always appreciate having that information.

    The lunch menu even had everything named in LOTR style -- Bacon Benedict Cumberbatch, Gandalf’s bowl of mixed goodness, ............ For lunch we went to Scotch O-Rama where the food was really good.

    So all in all, it was one of our highlights in New Zealand and we had a really great trip so that’s saying something.

  • 04-Oct-2019

    My husband and I were on our honeymoon and we are huge LOTR fans so this tour was a must for us. I must say, we both loved it and it was one of our fave tours of our whole trip. Our guide (sorry, blanking on his name) was great and had so much insider knowledge. He taught us things we didn't know about the series and pointed out every location, with pictures, that we visited. It was extremely awesome seeing a bunch of the places LOTR was shot, and to be in the same spots some of the actors were in once. Lunch was also pretty good and we got to eat at the cafe where the actors were regulars at during filming. Overall, it was an amazing day. Highly recommended!

  • 21-Aug-2019

    Fantastic day tour: our guide/driver Dave was wonderful and with 6 'tourists' on tour, it was a great mix of nationalities, personalities, ages and enthusiasts. We had great interaction with Dave re LOTR knowledge and trivia plus he took many photos of us, for us @ each location. Our lunch stop @ Scorch-o-Rama was brilliant and the tour of Weta Cave and Weta Workshop were awesome. Our film-location stops were great and the "photo's" showcasing the actual filmed sequence shot there, really enhanced the experience. A thoroughly enjoyable and very full day, loved every minute.

  • 02-Aug-2019

    We certainly enjoyed Grant, our faithful guide, for his enthusiasm and encouragement. The Weta Cave was a bonus and so informative.
    To real fans, the tour was nearly a spiritual experience!

See all reviews