Arrive at Auckland International Airport and collect your bags before the transfer takes you to your hotel. After checking-in you will be able to spend the remainder of the day at leisure in Auckland.

Situated on a narrow stretch of land between two beautiful harbours, Auckland, the ‘city of sails’, is New Zealand’s largest city with a population of over one-million. Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, so aptly named by the Maoris as the ‘sea of sparkling waters’, has brought prosperity to the city.

Besides being New Zealand’s main shipping port, Auckland is also the main terminal for overseas traffic. The warm sunny climate, with its generous and evenly distributed rainfall is ideal and there are beautiful parklands and garden reserves throughout. The many miles of coastline provide Aucklanders with the means to enjoy their favourite sport of yachting.

Standard: Sudima Auckland

Deluxe: Fable Auckland

Collect your rental car this morning, depart Auckland, and journey through lush farming country to the rolling, grassy hills of Matamata for an unforgettable Middle Earth experience, included in your tour.

Enter the fantasy world known to readers and film-lovers as Middle Earth with a tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set featured in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings; the bucolic setting for he Shire where Frodo and Sam’s adventure began.

Your tour starts with a drive through the picturesque 1250 acre sheep farm with spectacular views across to the Kaimai Ranges where your guide will escort you through the ten acre site recounting fascinating details of how the Hobbiton set was created. After your tour, continue on to the bubbling belly of the North Island; geothermal, tempestuous Rotorua.

Auckland > Rotorua | 227 kms

Standard: Novotel Rotorua

Deluxe: Regent of Rotorua

Today spend time in Rotorua, New Zealand’s most distinctive North Island destination deep-rooted in Māori culture and home to beautiful woodlands and colourful lakes. Explore the geothermal landscapes shaped with bubbling mud pools, geysers and mineral hot springs.

Optional Experience:

• Te Puia, New Zealand Maori Arts & Crafts Institute: This is a place of gushing waters, steaming vents, boiling mud pools and spectacular geysers. Gain deeper understanding as to how the wonders of the earth work in harmony with the powerful traditions of Maui Culture at Te Pui Art and Crafts Institute.

The region is also a great area to explore the great outdoors. The Redwoods, or Whakarewarewa Forest, offers walking and cycling trails beneath towering Californian redwoods, while the surrounding lakes are popular for kayaking, paddleboarding and scenic cruises. For more adrenaline, there is ziplining, mountain biking, luge rides, white-water rafting, and other outdoor activities close to town.

Standard: Novotel Rotorua

Deluxe: Black Swan Lakeside Boutique Hotel

Travel from a peaceful wonderland of winding rivers, mirror-like lakes, and lush native forest into New Zealand’s desolate, tortured landscape of volcanic ash. Rising above it all, Mt Ngauruhoe is instantly recognisable as Mt Doom, while the rugged flanks of Mt Ruapehu conjure the dark, cinematic grandeur of Mordor.

Rotorua > Tongariro National Park | 151 kms

Standard: Plateau Lodge

Deluxe: Tongariro Suites at the Rocks

Travel via Waitarere Forest, Kapiti Coast and picture yourself in Osgiliath Wood and Trollshaw Forest. Enjoy the transformation of scenery through Otaki Gorge, reminiscent of the outer reaches of The Shire. You may choose to visit Queen Elizabeth Park, where some of the scenes of the battle of the Pelennor Fields were filmed, before arriving in Wellington, the base for Peter Jackson’s film studios and the Weta Workshop.

Tongariro National Park > Wellington | 333 kms

Standard: Rydges Wellington

Deluxe: QT Wellington

Today, discover the people and props behind the making of Middle Earth with an exclusive tour of the famous Weta Workshop in Wellington, already included in your tour itinerary.

Experience a behind-the-scenes look at the props, costumes, and special effects that brought your favourite Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogy characters to life. Get hands-on with iconic film pieces, see the artists at work, and learn all about the day-to-day making of films and history of the Weta Workshop.

Standard: Rydges Wellington

Deluxe: QT Wellington

This morning, board the Interislander ferry for one of New Zealand’s classic journeys, crossing the Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton on the South Island. Leaving behind Wellington’s lively harbour and steep, hilly cityscape, the route takes you across open water before entering the sheltered beauty of the Marlborough Sounds, where forested hills, quiet bays, and winding waterways create a memorable arrival into Picton. From here, continue by road towards Nelson, a sunny South Island city set beside Tasman Bay and surrounded by some of New Zealand’s most beautiful coastal and mountain scenery.

While in the area, you may wish to visit Jens Hansen Gold & Silversmith in Nelson, the workshop behind the film’s ring design used in The Lord of the Rings films, with one of the original-style rings on display.

Wellington > Nelson | 130 kms

Standard: The Rutherford

Deluxe: The Rutherford

Known for its artists, galleries, local food, craft drinks, and relaxed outdoor lifestyle, Nelson is a rewarding place to pause between journeys. Spend time exploring its waterfront, browsing independent shops and studios, or walking up to the Centre of New Zealand viewpoint for sweeping views across the city and bay.

Standard: The Rutherford

Deluxe: The Rutherford

Begin your drive along the west coast of the South Island, by making you way to Greymouth and then on to Hokitika.

En route you may like to stop at Punakaiki and visit the famous “Pancake Rocks”. These unique limestone rock formations date back 30 million years, and were part of the sea bed, and covered in mud and clay, until movement of the earth’s crust lifted them up.

Once checked into your hotel at Hokitika, you may like to take the short hike up to the gorge, where the river waters appear a bright turquoise due to the glacial sediment flowing down from up river.

Nelson > Hokitika | 340 kms

Standard: Beachfront Hotel

Deluxe: Rimu Lodge

Continue on down the West Coast home to the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, unique relics of the last ice age. Mighty rivers of solid white, tumbling down ice-hewn rock valleys, are classically beautiful in the glacial sense. Nowhere else in the world have glaciers advanced so close to the sea at this latitude.

Optional Experience:

• Franz Josef Glacier Helicopter Flight & Hike: View the epic ice flow from high above on a scenic helicopter flight followed by a guided hike on foot through the snowy terrain.

Hokitika > Fox Glacier | 157 kms

Standard: Bella Vista

Deluxe: Te Weheka Retreat

Enjoy waterfalls and beautifully scenic rivers and lakes as you head towards the lakeside town of Wanaka.

Any time of year is a great time to visit Wanaka; summer or winter. This area, situated between Mt Cook and Queenstown offers many diverse activities from passive recreation to action packed.

The summer is hot and dry, while winter is cold and clear. Abseiling, boating, golfing, gliding, mountaineering, paragliding, Nordic skiing, snowboarding, and wine tasting are only some of the activities available in the region.

Fox Glacier > Wanaka | 262 kms

Standard: Edgewater

Deluxe: Alpine Resort Wanaka

Today, take to the water with a half day jet boating adventure on the Matukituki River, deep in the spectacular alpine landscapes of the Wānaka region, included in your itinerary.

Speed along the clear, glacier-fed river past towering mountains, hanging glaciers, and stunning waterfalls of World Heritage Mount Aspiring National Park, looking out for locations used when filming The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Later, set off on a guided wilderness walk into native forestland in search of the stunning waterfall that marks the end of the walk.

Standard: Edgewater

Deluxe: Alpine Resort Wanaka

Journey south over the Clutha and Cardrona Rivers and via Lake Dunstan to Cromwell. Continue through the Kawarau Gorge before arriving at New Zealand’s adventure capital, Queenstown.

An alternative route is via the Crown Range Road which is New Zealand’s highest sealed highway. This route is shorter than the one via Cromwell, however travel time may take longer due to the winding nature of the road (note: this route is not recommended over winter).

Wanaka > Queenstown | 110 kms

Standard: Copthorne Lakefront

Deluxe: Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel

Today continue your journey through Middle Earth on a half day off-road adventure through The Lord of the Rings filming locations, included in your itnerary.

The four-wheel-drive adventure takes you into the heart of New Zealand’s high country, the embodiment of the Middle Earth of Tolkien’s imagination. Visit the stunning filming locations of Minas Tirith, Misty Mountains, the Pillars of the Kings (Argonath), the site of Isildur’s Fall, the Ford of Bruinen, and more.

Standard: Copthorne Lakefront

Deluxe: Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel

Enjoy the scenic journey to the quaint inland town of Twizel, located on New Zealand’s South Island, surrounded by impressive mountain ranges, long stretches of rolling terrain, peaceful lakes, and fishing canals. Marvel at the awesome sight of Mount Cook, feed fresh salmon at High Country Salmon, relax by the shores of Lake Ōhau, or stargaze beneath the southern night skies.

Queenstown > Twizel | 256 kms

Standard: Mackenzie Country Hotel

Deluxe: Matuka Lodge

Time is available this morning to explore Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak located in the heart of its most spectacular mountain region, the Southern Alps.

One of the most spectacular features of this area is the Tasman Glacier which is 30kms long. Also well worth seeing is the Hochstetter Ice Fall. There are a wide variety of walking trips available where mountain and glacier scenery are at their best.

Depart Mount Cook and drive over the farms, fields and braided rivers of the Canterbury Plains to Christchurch.

Twizel > Christchurch | 227 kms

Standard: Crowne Plaza

Deluxe: The Observatory

Today, embark on another exciting four-wheel-drive adventure with a short guided walk to breathtaking 360-degree views, included in your itinerary.

Your tour takes you deep into the remote and beautiful Mt Potts high country station, a dramatic landscape of wide-open valleys, rugged peaks and sweeping mountain views. This peaceful corner of New Zealand’s South Island was transformed into Edoras, the capital of Rohan, for The Lord of the Rings films. As you explore the filming location, your guide will point out the surrounding peaks that became the Misty Mountains on screen. You will also have the chance to handle replica movie props.

Standard: Crowne Plaza

Deluxe: The Observatory

Although it is time to check out of your hotel and return to the airport, you may still have time to visit the International Antarctic Centre that is conveniently adjacent to the airport.

When you are ready, return your car and check-in in time for your scheduled flight to continue your holiday or return home.