Full Day Lord of the Rings Tour
Description
First stop, Dry Creek Quarry site of Helm’s Deep and Minas Tirith. Then River Anduin where the Fellowship travelled to Amon Hen, Gardens of Isengard -Gandalf met Saruman to discuss the Ring, where Saruman’s Orcs destroy the gardens. Rivendell home of the Elves, adventurous may cross swing bridge. Lunch stop provided, please be flexible as timings vary. (Cost of lunch not included in tour price). Weta Workshop seeing how props, weaponry are made, see artists at work and sets from Thunderbirds. Meet Gollum, Lurtz the Uruk-hai, Bilbo’s Trolls. Hobbiton Woods where trilogy began. Shortcut to Mushrooms scene; Sam & Frodo’s Second Breakfast; Hobbits hiding from the Black Rider (Get off the Road!); Race to the Buckleberry Ferry King Théoden’s Dunharrow Encampment. Mount Victoria Lookout to see views of Wellington. Back in the city Courtenay Place, the Embassy Picture Theatre which held two world premieres; The Return of the King (2003), first Hobbit movie An Unexpected Journey (2012).
Tour Options
Itinerary
First stop is Dry Creek Quarry site of Helm’s Deep and Minas Tirith
Then the River Anduin where the Fellowship travelled to Amon Hen, Gardens of Isengard -Gandalf met Saruman to discuss the Ring, where Saruman’s Orcs destroy the gardens.
Rivendell home of the Elves. More adventurous may cross swing bridge.
Tour of Weta workshop seeing how props and weaponry is made as well as sets from Thunderbirds
Hobbiton Woods where the trilogy began. Shortcut to Mushrooms scene; Sam & Frodo’s Second Breakfast; where Hobbits hid from the Black Rider (“Get off the Road!”); Race to the Buckleberry Ferry scene; King Théoden’s Dunharrow Encampment.
Mount Victoria Lookout to see views of Wellington.
Back into the city Courtenay Place, the Embassy Picture Theatre which held two world premieres; The Return of the King (2003), first Hobbit movie An Unexpected Journey (2012).
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
A PICKUP LOCATION MUST BE GIVEN AT TIME OF BOOKING If you are unsure, please select 'Wellington isite Visitor Information Centre' when booking. This can be amended later if required. DO NOT put 'I will select later'. ******CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS WILL BE COLLECTED FROM THE PORT IN THE DESIGNATED PICKUP AREA, YOU DO NOT NEED TO GO IN TO THE CITY****** Please select "Wellington Cruise Ship Port, Pipitea" option as your pickup location and enter your ship name in the additional booking details. Your pickup time will be 45 minutes after the ship has docked (even if your ship has been delayed or arrives early) with 8.45am being the earliest pickup time. For the convenience of other guests, please ensure you arrive at the tour area promptly as the tour may not wait for you. Look out for the Xplor Tours guides who will greet you. NON-CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER BOOKINGS: Pickup times may differ from tour start times if there are multiple guest pickup locations. We will contact you in advance of your tour with your estimated pickup time if this is the case.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Cruise Ship Passenger bookings should select the following option as their pickup location which is the Wellington Cruise Ship Port: Aotea Quay, Pipitea, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
- Cruise Ship Passenger bookings should add their ship name in special requirements field.
- PICKUP LOCATION MUST BE GIVEN AT TIME OF BOOKING: Default pickup location Wellington iSite Visitor Centre, if you do not know your hotel at time of booking. You can amend your pickup when you know your hotel, if it is located in the CBD pickup area.
Reviews(163)
Was a really great time. Our guide was very knowledgeable about LOTR as well as the native wildlife species. They ran the tour even though it was just two of us on it.
Went on the LOTR tour today. It was a lot of fun. We went to several filming locations and saw some beautiful scenery. The Weta workshop was also really cool. Our tour guide, STAN, was really knowledgeable, informative and friendly. It was a great day. I’d definitely recommend.
Amazing day! Stan our tour guide was just full of knowledge and stories about the LOTR movies, set and everyone involved! Of course New Zealand itself is such a beautiful place and the WETA workshop is a must see;
Great tour to areas where LOTR was filmed. There was more walking involved than we anticipated. We enjoyed the forest of several of the scenes we loved in LOTR. Weta workshop was really fun to!
Great to know you enjoyed your LOTR experience with us Sally. Thanks for the great review.
Stan was our guide and did an awesome job of sharing his knowledge with us. It was just us and 1 other young couple and we all had a great time listening and learning all about the various filming sites around Wellington. The Weta Workshop was very interesting and we learned a lot about the various filming sites”tricks of the trade” used during the filming.
Another great review for Stan the Man, and thank you for taking the time to post it.
Great experience - tour guide Stan was very knowledgeable and experienced
Thanks for leaving your 5 stars for Stan, and good to hear you enjoyed your LOTR experience with him.
We opted for a smaller non-cruise line operated tour, with two groups of 10 operating in tandem. Father and Son tour guides were fantastic with exceptional depth of knowledge and made sure the youngest was kept entertained despite not knowing what everything was about - carrying a "Sting" prop for the majority of the tour and playing on a swing set at the site of Isengard. If additional site tours were offered, I wouldn't hesitate to engage them again. Only downside, the "One Ring" purchased as a wedding band replacement is faulty and does not hide me from the kids as the movies suggest - still looks the business though. For an all day tour, the fee was a fraction of what the Cruise Line offered with a more personalised and genuine atmosphere.
Great post! Glad you enjoyed your tour with Stan and Jozef. They are both great LOTR guides in their own right. Thanks for leaving them this fabulous (and witty) review.
Just not good guide was rude and condescending
We are disappointed to read you did not enjoy your time with us. We rely on honest feedback to maintain our excellent rating, but we are unable to follow through with this one due to lack of tour date, your first name is not in our booking system, so we do not know which of our three excellent LOTR guides you had, all three of who consistently receive 5 star reviews, which includes the last week of tours. As we are unable to ask your guide for their side of the story, they have our full support.
Josef was a very knowledgeable and friendly tour guide. Very polite and mindful of safety. He told us not just LOTR things, but local flora and town history. Well done
A great review for Josef and thank you for posting it Tammy.
Had an absolutely fantastic time on this tour! My husband and I were the only ones who had signed up that day so we got a very personal experience. Really appreciated that our guide Richard was very well informed and had multiple photos to show us what we were looking at. Great way to see multiple filming locations and the Weta workshop all in one day!
Thanks for your lovely review. I also enjoyed hosting you on the tour - you were great company.
