Auckland to Rotorua Return (Hobbiton Set and Waitomo Caves)

We booked this tour for the Hobbiton movie set and Waitomo Glow Worm caves and were thrilled with the results. Brian at Great Sights was fantastic as a driver and historian. The drives are long but the activities worth it. Hobbiton movie set is a must see- such a great experience. I had been before but had not done the one with the lunch included- which this had. The lunch was fantastic and very tasty. I wish i had more time there to enjoy it at my leisure. Oh, the ginger beer (nonalcoholic and no caffeine) is like ginger ale from the US. The glow worm cave tour was equally great and Brian played the Hobbit first movie on the drive back to help us pass the time. It is a long day as you leave at 800 and get back around 7pm but a fun time.

I wanted to Visit Hobbiton and noticed that several companies had an option to continue to Rotorua rather than return to Auckland. I chose intercity as it was significantly cheaper than others offering the same service. It is possible to do the journey using the public intercity buses but it was worth paying a bit extra to avoid the time waiting for connections, plus I would not have anything to do with luggage while at hobbiton. There were three options 1. Entrance plus Bus straight to/from hobbiton, 2. Entrance Ticket plus use the normal intercity buses to get to and from hobbiton(requiring transfer), 3. No entrance ticket just using normal intercity buses to get there. I chose the convieince of option one, which meant going straight to the hobbiton set without having to change buses in Matamata. Pick up was at 9.30am in Auckland. It was not really a small group as it was a coach (not full). Myself and two others were continuing to Rotorua while the others were returning to Auckland. Trip took two and a half hours. The driver was friendly and gave a commentary about New Zealand history. We arrived about one hour before the tour...time for lunch and to check out the gift shop. Was able to leave all my luggage on the coach and only take necessities on the tour (see my desperate review for hobbiton). After the tour we drove to Matamata where I was dropped off at the stop for the intercity coach to Rotorua. Only had to wait 15mins for the coach. That driver was also very friendly. Had a comfortable remainder of a journey (with free WiFi). Highly recommend intercity as one of the cheapest ways to travel to hobbiton.

We did hobbiton/glowworm from Auckland with driver Damian. He made the trip absolutely excellent! Everything ran according to plan and we had the most wonderful time! He even managed to add on lunch at hobbiton for us as we forgot to add on ourselves, and it was no hassle atall for him! His commentary on the bus journey was very informative, especially being a couple from the UK it was good to know some stuff about NZ!

The tour was well organized and did everything in a timely manner. The tour guide/driver was knowledgeable. Instead of talking about the sights he really explained to us the culture and history of NZ, which I found very interesting! Hobbiton and Waitomo were awesome destinations! A little touristy, but still a must do! Also, it was great that they gave an option to go directly to Rotorua. It made our trip way more convenient. Thank you Intercity! Would recommend you do this tour under this country!

I made a great decision booking this day tour with them, I'd like to commend our bus driver/tour guide, Tony, for being so informative and entertaining the whole trip, I learned a lot about the country. I will definitely recommend and will book again together with family and friends next time. The trip, the view, and everything else was amazing!