We did this cave as a combo with Waitomo cave. Waitomo is really focused on the glowworms and this…read morecave (while it has some glowworms as well) its highlights are the many rock formations. The ribbon or sheet formations were stunning. The white rock is so beautiful. The cave is fully accessible with no steps. The beginning walk down to the cave door reminds me of being in the sci film, The Silo. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the cave and the area. They encourage photos so we took a few. I really enjoyed this tour.

Came here with the grandparents and the kids and everyone loved it. Our guide, Jetta, was…read moreexcellent - she was knowledgable about the history of the place, some of the science behind the worms, and managed the tour from start to finish really well. The caves themselves are really impressive - with the Ruakuri cave you get both the glowworms (including fairly up close) and the stalactite and stalagmite formations on an accessible walking tour. Yes, it is also accessible with a wheelchair and it's great that it was a priority for the owners to make it that way. Definitely book in advance so that you know you have a spot. Also, to clarify this is actually a separate cave to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves where you take a boat - so if you are torn on which one to do you can do both without a lot of overlap.

I mainly wanted this glowworm tour because they allow pictures to be taken while in the cave. The…read moretour date I was looking at was fully booked but you can email them to be added to the waitlist. I asked to be added to the waitlist for 2 on October 12, and got off the waitlist on November 9, for a tour on December 28 so don't give up hope if it is originally fully booked! I did the spellbound explorer tour which included a walk through a cave as well as a boat ride through a cave for the glowworms. The tour guide was great and allowed pictures during the first back and forth on the boat ride and asked us to put away our phones during the second. This is because the first go-around allows for the eyes to adjust and see the glowworms better so the second go-around the glowworms are much brighter. The cave walk was also a nice add on for 20 NZD but if the tour with the cave walk is not available the regular boat ride is perfect on its own. I loved this tour as our tour guide took pictures for each group that wanted some with glowworms and also provided us with personal pictures of glowworms taken with a nicer camera with a longer shutter speed.

This was a really incredible experience for the whole family! Our guide even showed us a place…read morewhere we could feed eels in a stream. We took our nine month old and two year old in carriers. Would highly recommend! The morning is the best time as the glow worms are the brightest! This isn't too far from Hobbiton if you are planning a drive strategically to Auckland.

Lord of the Ring fans will definitely want to add this to their New Zealand vacation agenda. This…read morehilly farm site was extensively used in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The enthusiastic owner Suzie takes you on a wonderful 90 minute tour of all the exact filming locations on the farm. While the rocky, hilly and forested farm isn't the most ideal for sheep farming, the landscapes and scenery are incredibly enchanting...its no wonder Peter Jackson chose to film here. Suzie takes you through scene by scene, and even helps you stage photos to duplicate scenes from the movie, even with some props! The tours are small, limited to 9 people maximum, but as luck would have it my wife and I were the only ones, so we got a private tour! $60 isn't cheap, but for LOTR fans its totally worth it.

Our favorite LOTR/HOBBIT tour in NZ. A must, the location…read morewith the MOST screen time in the HOBBIT films! So many scenes were shot here! The land is utterly STUNNING, no joke. I want to live in the forest. Suzie was fantastic and told us all about the farm which is still active with sheep/cows and 12 hearding dogs! She owns the farmland/filming site with her husband and it has been in the family for generations. Gift shop here was excellent and better then the shop at Hobbiton. This place is very nice, super clean, we will be back with friends next time! AND there is an amazing waterfall and another GREAT nature walk very close!

This was an absolute stunning visit for us, fulfilling our lifelong dreams to go see where the…read morehobbits lived in the Shire. Of course, everything is to scale in real life, but it was an unbelievable experience walking on the paths shown in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. We had purchased our tickets beforehand online on their website. Upon arriving, it was easy to find parking and the check-in lines. There was a cafe and gift shop available to peruse through while we waited. An attendant checked our ticket times and allowed us to board a bus that took us to the grounds. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about everything we saw, heard, and touched. Anything that was within arm's reach, we could touch. Everything we saw was a real flower, plant, vegetable, or fruit. Nothing was plastic. Everything was made with raw materials as shown in the movies. Different places we walked past and through, the tour guide explained which scenes in the movies were shown. The tour guide was kind enough to take pictures for each group. Pictures and videos were encouraged. The tour itself lasted nearly 2 hours, which we thought was well worth our money spent. Near the end, a free beer was offered at the tavern and light snacks were sold. Any additional beer was extra. It was relaxing sitting inside the tavern as it was enjoying the cool outdoor summer of New Zealand. Hobbiton is a must-visit and we would love to come back if we can!

This review is for the behind the scene Tour…read more I am a huge fan of Lord of the rings. I watch it every year. So this was one of the bucket list that I want to check off while I was in New Zealand. They pick you up from the meeting area, where there is a plenty of parking spot for you, you meet up with your tour guide and at least 15-20 other people in your group. You start out with the main part of the hobbit area where you'll see many many hobbit doors, and almost to the end you get to go inside of the hobbit house where it is all decorated with kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, so it's really fun to check that part out. This was my favorite part of the Tour. After that, they take you to the green dragon inn, where you're able to get one free drink that could be cider, nonalcoholic or beer. I really like their cider and you get to kind of chill till this massive dinner that they have planned for you. You go to this separated VIP area where they have a huge table full of food for you to enjoy. Food was amazing. I have zero complaint which is saying a lot. They were able to accommodate to people who had dietary restriction, which is amazing as well. And then the actual behind the scene part of it starts. You go on another bus ride to this more like a warehouse area. Where they show you the sketches of The Hobbit and the little model of the hobbiton as well. However, I felt that this portion could have been much better. I felt that it wasn't much of a behind a scene Tour. You got to walk around another part of Hobbiton area and they offer another snacks with cheese and wine. Honestly, without all this fantastic food, I felt that it probably would not have been worth the behind the scene portion of the tour. If I would go back or recommended to others, I would recommend just going to do the regular tour.

My wife and I really enjoyed this tour. We had a fantastic guide who was very knowledgable about…read morethe caves, the history, as well as knowledge of the surrounding Waitomo area. On top of a great tour, the advantage of Caveworld is that you can take photographs. This is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that you can (with the right settings and perhaps a tripod) get some amazing photographs of the glowworms and their bioluminescence. Challenge is, most people don't have the right settings and often get results that leave a bit to be desired. Also, you'll see lot's of flashes going off throughout the tour so if you are put off by this, you might consider another "no photography" tour. Ultimately lots of people have great pictures of stalactites and stalagmites but few of the actual glowworms. As I appreciated the option to try to photographs these caves and their inhabitants, I really would recommend Caveworld.

We purchased a tour for 10am cave tubing to see the glowworms with Caveworld. The tour guides were…read morevery friendly and knowledgeable and provided a fun filled tour for our group. Definitely do not hesitate to book this tour as it the more adventurous way to see the glowworms. You go underneath the caves with your headlights and tubes. They provide all the gear including life jacket suits. You go through a slide and jump off mini waterfalls while admiring the glowworms inside the caves. It was such a memorable experience for us!

Visiting Hobbiton was easily one of the highlights of our trip to the north island. The experience…read morebegan with a scenic bus ride across a working sheep farm, during which we learned about how the location was discovered and transformed into the iconic film set that it is today. Once we arrived, we were taken on a guided walking tour through the beautifully preserved set. Along the way, we saw some of the most memorable spots from the films, including the famous hillside where Frodo sets off on his adventure. One of my favorite parts came toward the end of the tour, when we were able to step inside a hobbit hole. The interiors were meticulously decorated, making it easy to imagine what life in the Shire might actually feel like! At the end of the tour, we stopped by Green Dragon Inn, where we enjoyed a complimentary drink (there's both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options available). Overall, this was such a magical experience! Be sure to book ahead, as the popular tour times tend to get booked out pretty far in advance during peak season.

Hobbiton was such a neat experience! Mira was so welcoming and had much to share. She weaved the…read moredetails together so perfectly. Enjoying the feast with new friends was a great time and made the experience. The bulgar wheat and beef were tasty and the apple cider beer was very flavorful. We were so elated to dodge the storm and make it here on our anniversary! 13/04/2026

If I could...I would give this place a 10 star review! It was just so much fun! First let me start…read moreoff by saying the owner Ann is incredibly kind. We finished the dinner banquet tour at Hobbiton and drove to Waitomo around 11pm. We had messaged her saying that she did not need to stay up for us. However, as soon as we pulled into the driveway she was there to help direct us and show us to our room! We woke up and she had our breakfast ready. Eggs, toast, fruit, yogurt and so much more! It was delicious and just what we needed before we our early morning glow worm cave experience. After the glow worm caves we came back and she gave us a wonderful tour of her farm. She had llamas, alpacas, miniature horses that you could pet. But the coolest animals were the ostriches! You could walk with them and pet them. They were huge but very friendly. Even my wife who is afraid of birds enjoyed hanging out with them. We booked through air bnb. Do yourself a favor and book it before the spots get taken up!

If you're a huge Lord of the Rings/Hobbit fan, you HAVE to visit this Hobbiton set! It's a little…read morecozy country hideaway and is just a quick drive from Auckland.We booked our visit with InterCity and that was very cost effective, as it included the tour and transportation roundtrip from Auckland. You'll first stop in Matamata and head into the iSITE station, as that is where your shuttle will pick you up for your adventure. If you get to Matamata with a bit of time to spare before your tour, you can dine at Redoubt - the Lord of the Rings themed pub/restaurant right by the ISITE station, that has great heart food and excellent theming. They definitely know where they are at and lean into it!We visited in April and the weather was nice and warm but there are some pretty rainy days in that season. But we got very lucky that it rained the morning of our visit (just for the bus drive to Matamata from Auckland) but right when we arrived at Hobbiton in the afternoon, the clouds parted and we had a rainbow over the Shire and the whole place to ourselves! We were driven around by a great tour guide who told lots of fun stories about the books/movies and the filming location itself. We had a bite to eat (beef and ale pie!) and Hobbit beer at the Green Dragon Inn, and we even got to go behind the bar for some pictures! We also were able to go inside a few Hobbit holes/houses and spend more time there, which would usually be full of people on the nicer/busier days of the year, which was a big plus.I didn't want to leave this place, but they wouldn't let me move in for good! The farmland around the movie set is also beautiful and made for a pleasant ride back to Auckland, even as it started to rain again.If you're a big fan of the movies or books in the Lord of the Rings series, you absolutely should make this one day of your trip to the North Island. It is worth it and enjoyable, even for a casual fan!

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to,"…read more Visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand was like stepping straight into J.R.R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth. It's located on the Alexander Farm, and was the movie set for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Everywhere you look, you're greeted by charming hobbit houses with their bright round doors, whimsical and lush gardens, and fantastic little details. Our guide, Sal, made the experience even more special with his enthusiasm and storytelling. He shared fun tidbits about the set, such as how Peter Jackson discovered the Alexander Farm while scouting for the perfect Shire location by helicopter. The farm's rolling green hills and large pine tree (now known as the Party Tree) were perfect. One of the highlights was getting to step inside one of the hobbit houses--love! Though the interiors were filmed elsewhere, just being inside the cozy lil houses was like we were in the movie. The tour ended with a delicious buffet lunch. I could easily imagine myself living in a hobbit hole. Such an immersive experience. I very much enjoyed it!