Lord of the Rings Scenic Half Day Tour from Queenstown
Description
Awarded Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Top 10 of outdoor experiences Australasia and Top 1% of Experiences worldwide for 2026. Dress up as your favourite character & Feel the trilogy come to life as you visit the breathtaking and magical landscape that inspired Peter Jackson’s film locations from The Lord of the Rings movies. Ithilien, Isengard, Lothlórien Forest, Amon Hen! Travel in small groups with epic guides who have a real passion and knowledge of the area. Take in the diverse landscape of ancient beech forest, braided rivers and glacier carved valleys. We are a Local family owned company that offer the real experience. Operating since 2005! We are one of the few companies that hold Department of Conservation Concessionaire permits to access Mt Aspiring National park.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Tour as our guest from Queenstown on one of the Top 10 scenic drives in the world up the Glenorchcy road to visit epic scenery and Lord Of The Rings filming locations.
The most scenic lookout in New Zealand
Very relaxed nature walk to a LOTR filming location over 12 mile canyon foot bridge.
Take some free time to visit one of the most photographed sheds in New Zealand and walk out over the Wharf at the top of lake Wakatipu to spot Trout and Salmon swimming, Swans feeding and the amazing scenery across to the Humboldt ranges Enjoy our complementary picnic with assortment of sweet and savory snacks along with Tea Coffee and refreshments.
We are a Department of Conservation Concessionaire holder and our permits allow our Tours enter and stop in Mt Aspiring National Park to access this ancient forest and visit the actual filming locations from Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Xmen Origins Wolverene, Chronicles of Narnie and more. View up the Dart and Routeburn Valleys.
Stand in the Dart Valley and look at the stunning landscape that opened up thousands of years ago!!!20 years ago Peter Jackson choose this location for Isengard in the epic saga The Lord of the Rings.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- This tour is not suitable for children under 5 years of age.
- If you have mobility issues, such as requiring use of walking frame or stick, please contact us.
Reviews(1,461)
Incredible experience! Our guide Dan was both extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the tour. He took us all over, providing insights, trivia knowledge, offering to help with pictures, and answering any questions we had about the country as a whole. The sights were great, truly a highlight of our trip. We are big LoTR fans and pride ourselves on our knowledge of the films, but we learned so much! Thank you Dan we had a great time! This experience is a must for any LoTR fans or anyone who is just excited to experience the natural beauty of NZ!
I had the pleasure of going on this tour with Amy, who was an absolutely phenomenal guide. She was patient, funny, and kept us consistently engaged with NZ and LOTR-related trivia. The drive into Glenorchy and Mt. Aspiring National Park was breathtaking with many photo opportunities present in the tour. The afternoon tea was also a lovely touch. I highly recommend this tour to anyone with a couple hours to spare in Queenstown!
Great time had by all. Had a good group with a very knowledgeable guide. All the stops were well worth a visit and the dress-up within Lothlorien Forest was an obvious highlight.
Excellent tour, Dan was an excellent tour guide really knows his stuff, very knowledgeable, engaging, caring, funny, he couldn’t do enough for all of us on the tour. We visited some beautiful sites & Dan made us hot drinks & bought a selection of cookies & cakes for our break at Glenorchy . We had a chance to dress up & to use some amazing swords, daggers all to reenact some scenes it was brilliant. I had an amazing time in this tour I strongly recommend it. Dan is amazing
It was an awesome, fantastic and wholesome experience. Had a great tour group, and the best tour guide, Dan, since we have been over here on holiday. If we could give Dan a 10 star review, we would. He really brought the energy and nerdiness that matched us all haha. Highly recommend to all, especially LOTR fans.
My husband and I are Lord of the Rings fans and wanted to get out to some remote locations without doing our own driving. This was the perfect choice for us. We ended up being in with a large group so there were two vans and two guides. Dan and Joel were both great and we enjoyed chatting with them at the various stops. The tour length was perfect with enough time to take pictures at each stop and enjoy the scenery at Glenorchy. The books they put together with screenshots from the film were helpful to see the sets and the stories and facts shared were very interesting. I really loved the part where we got to dress up and handle their beautiful swords. The costume pieces made by their mothers were really cool and I loved that they are passionate about helping LOTR fans like me have an amazing experience in New Zealand. I highly recommend this tour - even for those who aren't LOTR fans since the scenery is incredible and they also share information about some other movies filmed in those areas.
Amy was absolutely amazing on our tour! She was so knowledgeable, engaging and passionate, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable. The trip was incredibly comfortable, and the locations we visited were absolutely stunning. This was the first activity we booked for our honeymoon, and it set the bar very high — it exceeded our expectations by far! We loved every minute, especially getting dressed up and, of course, getting to play with the swords! ⚔️ A huge thank you to Amy and the whole team for such a memorable experience. Your knowledge, enthusiasm and engaging tour made it something we’ll remember for a long time. Highly recommend! ❤️
Fun trip with interesting stories and insights about LOR films. Amy was the best guide, good knowledge, good storyteller and provided a fun experience.
Fun half day tour of beautiful scenery, narrated by our guide Amy, who was very knowledgeable of the Lord of the Rings filming sites and related facts. A highlight for my adult children was the stop in the woods where the Elven forest scenes were filmed - they were able to put on LOTR costumes and hold swords and take photos! We learned interesting behind the scenes information and enjoyed spending time with other LOTR fans!
Excellent tour. Amy the guide was easy to listen to and knowledgeable about the tour and NZ as well. Was a very worthwhile tour. The highlight of our trip.
