There's something cool about a gondola ride, and the Skyline Gondola in Rotorua takes you high above the city for unparalleled views. You're above lush forests, treated to panoramas of Lake Rotorua, and the geothermal landscape. Once at the top, we took a nature walk on Mount Ngongotaha. The scenery was remarkable. The views seem to stretch forever. For anyone who loves being high up and surrounded by nature, this is for you. read more

Skyline - Active Life Near Me - Rotorua, BOP

When in Rotorua, this is a MUST do! Especially the Luge! I've been here many times, and every time it seems they've expanded and added new features. The Gondola is a great addition before the Luge rides. My kids enjoyed racing each other down the mountain, and the views are great too! So much fun! read more

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This was the top attraction that we wanted to do while we were in Rotorua. Skyline offered a host of different activities starting with just a round trip gondola ride, zip lines, luge, walking trails, mountain biking course and beautiful views of Rotorua. Due to our time constraints, we decided on the three ride luge and gondola ride. It was a perfect day. For the luge, we headed right after exiting the visitor center. We had to grab a helmet but we spent some time rummaging to find one that did not smell so bad. Staff scanned our ticket on each run and quickly went through the ride instructions before letting us choose our starting track. We rode three different tracks and enjoyed the speed and scenery. Our luge was easy to control and being early there was no one else on the tracks so we ride as fast or as slow as we wanted. At the bottom of the track, we got out of our cart and had to push it forward until it attached itself to the bottom of the chairlift. It took about 10 minutes or so to get back up to the top. Eventually more people showed up and kids as well as grandparents joined the luge ride down showing that any age could ride! read more

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When in New Zealand, you must visit this place! I had so much fun here! Imagine being surrounded by lush green mountains, free roaming sheep and crystal clear water. And then catching the skyline to the top of the mountain to view it all, jumping into a one seater cart and riding your hearts out down the luge! Talk about adventure in paradise!!! I purchased tickets as part as a cruise ship package. However, when you get to the luge, you can purchase more rides and activities on your own for a reasonable price. I ended up purchasing more rides down the luge and got to experience the more advanced course. Others from my cruise ship tried out their zip line. However if it's too much adrenaline for you, you can also sit in their wine tasting bar, shop in their gift shop or eat lunch while overlooking a breathtaking view. The luge is pretty safe, I've seen little kids, as well as elderly people walking with a cane fly down the luge..... this place is so much fun!!!!! read more

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Three stars for lack of instruction/assistance. This is a really cool mountain full of adventures but they could use more signs/directions all around! We got the gondola and scenic luge package. Got to the top of the gondola and didn't know where to go. There are no signs or persons to direct you when you get to the top. We almost got in a van that said luge shuttle on it. Luckily at that point the driver walked us up a bit and pointed to where we wanted to go. Helmets are sanitized daily but not between users in one day - kind of gross in my opinion! But you have to wear them so just don't think about it! The luge is amazing, but I was annoyed with all of the random people standing around the track. There was some mountain biking extreme race event going on while we were there so people watching the event were in odd places in the trees and walking next to the track. One guy put his hand out to tell me to stop while I was speeding down the hill - I slowed to a stop thinking he worked at The Skyline and needed me to stop for safety due to an obstacle below - and then he retracted his hand and said to the two people with him "see, it's funny." NOT FUNNY actually. But also nobody is there ensuring the safety along the track so there were no consequences for that stupid behavior. At the bottom I got out of my luge and the lady working there pointed to the chute. I was like oh I guess she wants me to get out of the way. Nope she was indicating I needed to push the sled into the chute. I bent down to push the cart and could not physically get it to move. She eventually rolled her eyes at me and just shoved it through with her foot. I could have done that if she used words to tell me to do so. I didn't want to use my foot to push the cart and risk getting yelled at prior to seeing her do it! All in all a cool experience - just expect there to be some confusion and lack of instruction/information. Less is definitely not more here! read more

Skyline - Skyline view - Active Life Near Me - Rotorua, BOP

My buddies and I last minute decided to make a quick trip to the skyline luge as a post meal thrill. It's impulse decisions like this that I try to seek, as the unexpected pleasures in life most often than not lead to memories that last forever. Our evening on the luge track will certainly be one of these memories. The skyline luge course is like Mario kart brought to life. Mind the safety though and be careful with the young ones. I took a turn a little too fast and flipped, walking away with a nasty road rash. Overall I loved my experience and plan on going another night. read more

It's been few years, and I can't get this place out of my mind! It's a piece of paradise! I went through multiple luge rides, from easy, medium to extreme, to a point that you'll drive alone in the woods early evening where there is no one around.. You'll feel fresh and clean air breeze, while fast driving through the forest, it's so peaceful and comforting..I wish I could go back and do it all over! If there are any tourists visiting Rotorua, this is a must and highly recommended! read more

This one goes out to the homie working the top of the luge at around 2pm today (13-11-24), had a long mullet, sunglasses, zip up hoody. Let me set the scene: We come off the gondola, go out the door by the skyswing, and go up and around so we didn't see the helmets. When we got over to the top of the luge we spents a few minutes looking for helmets, finally we gave up and got in line figuring they must hand em out or something, our mullet friend decided he would greet us with a joke "arnt you missing something?" he said, I said "ya the helmets, where are they?" he responded with "ding ding ding we have a winner." Now i will admit this hit me wrong. The jokes weren't funny. The only point of the jokes was to embarrass the customers. I get it he hates his job and has to try and spice things up a bit. But like I said, it hit me wrong, and i reacted a little harsher than I should have with a "ya, where are they?" Still, I really dont think i was very out of line here, but admittedly, I said it harsher than I should have. So mullet homie says you have to go back over there to get the helmets, I say alright and start to walk away when buddy says "wait no worries, since you being so nice, ive got some extra helmets right here." Now obviously that hit me wrong as well, but i understand, you hate me i hate you fine we both got our shots in and move on, but that wasnt good enough for ole boy no no, he had to say it 2 or 3 more times "since your being so nice!" Honestly bro, do u think that ur really that clever? Do you not realize the average person can understand sarcasm and that im going to understand exactly what ur saying to me? So he finishes his little talk about everything that we could have figured out on our own, and i manged to regreatably muster up a "thank you" to him, which he responded to by saying "ya all good buddy." Well no, its obviously not all good if ur gonna be insulting me to my face multiple times, ur not funny, ur not clever, and at the end of the day u were ruder then me and u were trying to be rude when i was just a bit frustrated. Later on, it was obvious that he made us wait longer in line then we actually needed to wait. In short this guy stinks. read more

Going to New Zealand, my friends that lived there said it was a must go and I'm so glad that we trusted them. After entering, we took a gondola ride to the top of the mountain. The ride up was really nice. It had beautiful views of the city and the lake. The first attraction we tackled here was the giant swing. I absolutely loved it! It fits 3 people at a time. The suspense built up as we slowly got lifted to the top. And what was new to us, is that my friend sitting in the middle had a lever that she needed to pull to release us (to begin the swing). When she let go it was a pretty good size drop and then we swung over a look out of Rotorua. Although you take a gondola ride up to the top, the views on that swing were breathtaking. They record your reaction to the ride and ours was too funny to not buy! Next, we decided to try the luge. IT WAS AWESOME!!! I'm from Hawai'i so we don't have anything like that back home. You sit on a little cart with a provided helmet. The cart sits in a lane on a cement track. When you go down the mountain, you'll go as fast as you want to. Being the little speed racer that I am, I went as fast as I could. I think it was going about 30+ mph. Considering that the only thing protecting you is your helmet, it was a rush. In the gift shop, they had cool jelly bean art. One was of Harry Potter, which I loved! This helped to make our trip to New Zealand a great one! read more

Skyline - My friends and I on the way up! - Active Life Near Me - Rotorua, BOP

Skyline Rotorua is a place that offers something for everyone! I like to think of it as a mountain resort, but without all of the bulky snowboard/ski equipment. There are two Skyline locations, one in Rotorua on the North Island, one is Queenstown on the South Island. Our group spent a few hours here. We first rode up the mountain on the Gondola. It's enclosed so don't worry about falling out. The views are beautiful, even in Winter. Lots of greenery, flowers... It's lovely. After our gondola ride, we had lunch. They have a buffet or you can grab something at the Food Market Kitchen. They have hot beverages, soups, pizzas. I had a veggie quiche and some water. It was pretty good and I really enjoyed the views. You can't go to the Skyline without checking out their famous Luge! It's like a go cart and toboggan, and totally fast-paced! They have a beginner (scenic), an intermediate, and then a more advanced track. Me being an old lady, I explored the scenic track with my amiga. It's a lot of fun and scary at the same time!!! You have to make sure you are paying attention and watch for other people who might bump into you. But it's truly a unique experience. If lugin' isn't your thing, they have a Jelly Belly store and the Volcanic Hills Winery. I enjoyed both, especially the winery. You can even take some local New Zealand wines back home with you! They package it up nice and tight. The wine bar is really cute too if you need some adult time from the kiddos. Skyline is a great place to spend the day with the family or to even celebrate a special occasion like a wedding. It's a nice venue with something for everyone. I'm not certain if they have lodging on site, but I'm sure they could arrange it for you. read more

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The family ticket also included plenty of rides. There are different courses from beginner to expert. You can go as fast or as slow as you like. One worrying aspect was that there was no real safety check, especially for kids to see if they knew how to use the brake and steer. Fortunately our lot survived. The downhill path is made a little more fun with fantasy gardens with dinosaurs. You return via an open chair lift. You really had to know what you were doing to get onto this chair as well. read more

Skyline - Luge and chairlift - Active Life Near Me - Rotorua, BOP

Not just for kids folks!! Do it ALL....you could easily spend the entire day at this business. The Luge has several tracks and are not a quick trip how the hill. They are long and can be as fast as you want. The Swing....what a rush. Don't be scared, it'll all be over quickly and you'll be thrilled!! Take a few moments to stop in and taste the wine at Volcano Hills Winery. They'll give you the full story and don't forget to taste the Tawny (not on the tasting list), you'll be happy you did. read more

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The luge track stole the day. Their catch phrase is "Once is not enough" and boy is that a fitting catch phrase. Our party ran down the hill 20 times while trying out each individual track (scenic, intermediate, and advanced) - advanced took the cake. We also did the zip line with short fall. We also had lunch at the restaurant - I am not much for a smorgasbord (buffet); but, this one was stacked! Food from every corner of the world and desserts to match - all surrounded with the amazing views of Rotorua. It was an expensive outing but certainly worth the price for this once in a vacation outing. read more

Had a great time. The luge is a blast and the whole set up is quite well done. There is much more to dot han jus tthe luge when you get up there. The lrdering process at the cafe is a bit odd because it's centralized so special requests can't be honored easily. Even simple ones like asking for an espresso shot in an iced beverage made in the same little spot as the espresso drinks. Small quirk, but otherwise will definitely return and highly recommend. read more

Skyline - Gondola surfing - Active Life Near Me - Rotorua, BOP

This review is solely based off the luge, since that's all we did. It was awesome! It felt like we were in mario kart racing down the hill. The gondola ride up gave you a great birds eye view of the landscape and we were able to see several deer and rabbits below us. Once at the top there were 3 different tracks to choose from. We rode the Scenic and Intermediate tracks. The Scenic was a longer track through a more wooded area with obviously more things to look at (dinosaurs, etc..). The Intermediate track was not as long, but it had obstacles to weave around and under, plus the turns were sharper, which at one turn had me on 2 wheels! The only thing that was a fail is that I brought my gopro and unfortunately wasn't able to use it. But this is completely on me and not Skyline. With the luge karts you have to use both hands to control it so having your gopro on a pole, which I did, is useless. They provide a limited amount of helmets with the sticky gopro attachment, but not the actual piece that attaches to your gopro to secure it to the helmet. So, my words of wisdom are to make sure to bring either a chest/head mount for your gopro or bring the clip in attachment for their helmets. read more

If you're in Rotorua you have to check this place out. It's so much fun and the views from the top is breathtaking. We came here for the alpine luge. I highly recommend doing this. It's so much fun and fun for all ages. There's also zip lining and mountain biking. There's two different launch points but from what I can tell, they use the same tracks going down. At the top, there's a split where you can choose the speed run or the scenic run. I chose the speed run every time and you can catch a ton of speed going down. There's a restaurant at the top but I think it's on the expensive side. We ended up eating in town. read more

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I wondered for a moment how many stars to give this place, but it's really no more of less than it claims to be, which is an awesome theme park with great views. I've been here a couple of times over the years and they've slowly expanded the track. You really want to avoid NZ school holidays if at all possible though (March and October are great times in general to visit NZ). The gondola up is nice enough, with some great views at the top. But the claim "once is never enough" for the luge is probably accurate. We got two rides each, but they ding you more at the top for extra rides of course. Suck it up and pay for 3 rides, one for each track, at the bottom. The luge itself is pretty awesome, and if you like going fast, then this is your thing. If you don't, go anyway, and drive slow. The only downside to the advanced tracks is that they're much more direct, and much shorter. After 3 rides though, you'll probably have had enough of riding the lift back up. The are a cafe and restaurant at the top. I didn't look closely at the menu, but like most places in NZ they don't look terribly vegan friendly. There's also, surprisingly, a Bay Area staple, a Jelly Belly store. Anyway, a must do on your Rotorua visit. read more

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We splurged and got the skyline halfday adventure pass: gondola, 5 luge rides, skyswing, zoom zipline and activity photo. The luge here has 3 tracks and were more fun than Queenstown. I really picked up the speed - YAHOO! The Skyswing was just ok and the zipline was definitely not worth it compared to a previous zipline experience in Idaho. This just had only one run. It is nice to have an activity photo, it's something I would have never paid for on my own volition. read more

I had been here before 12 years ago and have been wanting to go back since then. It's as fun if not even more fun than I remember it to be. I purchased the gondola ride with 4 luge rides but I recommend purchasing 5 or 6 luge rides because it never feels like enough. If you want to save money, book through Klook because the rates are significantly cheaper than purchasing it through Skyline luge. read more

Skyline is another one of Rotorua's fun tourist attractions. It's located along Motorway 5, next door to Rainbow Springs Kiwi Experience and very close to OGO. If you're visiting this city for the first time, you could easily hit all 3 places and call it a day! Skyline is most known for its gondola ride up the mountain, but once you're up there, there's a ton of things to do: you could zip-line, ride the Sky Swing, visit the Jelly Belly Store, dine in for lunch/dinner at the buffet of the gods (with a killer view for the gods!) at Stratosfare Restaurant, or hop into a luge and ride down the mountain a couple of times. Luging is all sorts of fun. You grab a helmet (you can easily strap on a GoPro to these, btw!), hop into a small cart, choose between the beginner/scenic, intermediate, or advanced track, then ride it all the way down. Be warned that the intermediate and advanced tracks can get a little intense: people floor it down these tracks, and I actually saw a crash occur that resulted in one guy flying off his cart and another guy with blood gushing down his hand. The curves of these tracks can be tricky to maneuver if you're not careful, too. Make sure to choose the track that's right for you and give way when faster luges want to pass you up. Once you get to end of the track, there's a chairlift waiting to bring you back up for your next ride. I definitely recommend purchasing the 1 Gondola + 3 Luge combo - 1 ride only takes about 3-5 minutes (10-15 including wait and chair ride), and 3 rides is enough to try all 3 tracks. I didn't have the guts to try zip-lining or the Sky Swing, so no comment on those. Dinner at Straosfare, however, was incredible! Look up my review on its own page for all the juicy deets! read more

Skyline - Going up! - Active Life Near Me - Rotorua, BOP

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We took the gondola up and did three luge rides. We really enjoyed them! I would suggest four or 5. They had long lines which were kind of slow, so a lot of time waiting in line which was a big downfall. It took 2&1/2 hours to do 3 luge rides. But the luge was a lot more fun than I expected, especially the advanced track. One of the highlights of our trip. read more

A great value for money, particularly the Luge tracks. We spent $100 NZD per person for gondola access, 7 luge rides each and a zipline/freefall. Pros: + A clean facility, not crowded and with some very entertaining options for day activities. + The Luge tracks are the best I've seen in the world. The scenic track is slower and relaxing, the intermediate track lets you push yourself with some intense turns, and the advanced track feels like racecar driving where you need to lean and really push the limits of the luge vehicles to keep up your momentum and move quickly. + The zipline is longer than competitors in the area at 380m, and includes a fun "freefall" bungee at the end where you step off a plank into a 13m fall which is slowed by an auto-brake system. + Friendly staff. + Some free nature trail walks around the park as well, with informative plaques teaching visitors about native plants and animals. Cons: - The cafe food is just OK - it's not expensive, but quality is not memorable either. read more

Take a ride on the gondola up the mountain to enjoy a fabulous view of Lake Rotorua and the town centre. Whilst at the top you can visit the Jelly Belly concept store, or do on the the bike trails back down the mountain, Or the Luge or the sky flyers, or visit their gift store. Basically, there is something to do up here for everyone. If the day is overcast like when we went we just bought some ice cream and sat and enjoyed the wonderful view. For 3 adults and 1 kid it came to around $94 NZ, which was pricey i thought. They also just recently renovated the buffet restaurant which has uninterrupted views of the Lake and Town. They have daily specials for lunch and dinner. read more

Probably the best attraction in Rotorua, especially because it is perfect for everyone. There is luging and the gondola carts for the whole family, a jellybean store, a really nice restaurant, a sky swing for those who like thrills, a souvenir shop for those memorable knick knacks and a winery for adults to enjoy and taste test some wine. Not only that, but it includes multiple BMX biking tracks. read more

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Myself plus two friends went here (all 24 years old) and had an awesome time! The Skyswing was terrifying, but so much fun! The Luge rides were also a blast, and zip lining is always a favorite! What they don't tell you: The advanced course for the Luge does not have any cameras, so if you want pictures, you will have to settle for the intermediate. But they do keep the photos all day. They also don't mention that they do zip lining at certain times. We caught the last zip line at 12:30, so be sure to check that out! read more

First the good things: the gondola ride is nice, and the views are wonderful. That's were the good ends, at least for my group. We didn't go to ride the luge, or dirt bike track, so I can't comment on those things. We wanted to go to the wine room, and then have dinner. We checked the hours of operation on line, and it stated they were opened until 10 PM. When we purchased our gondola tickets, we asked if the dinning room would be opened until 10, and were told yes. The ticket seller didn't elaborate at all. We arrived at the top at about 5:50 PM. We walked around, and enjoyed the views for a few minutes. We had to ask three different employees, one of whom, was quite rude, for directions to the wine room. When we finally found it, it closed at 6 PM. Nothing on the internet shows that the wine room closes at 6. We were disappointed, but decided to go to dinner. I'm not usually a buffet person, but this buffet looked awesome, and thought it was worth the 60.00 NZD, or so, per person. When we asked to be seated, we were told that with out a reservation, we couldn't be seated until 9 pm, and we should have been told that, when we purchased the gondola ticket. We weren't informed. We decided to go to the cafe instead. The cafe was basically closed, it was maybe 6:30 PM. The only thing available was fish and chips, and pork tacos. The beer and wine were warm, and when we complained about the warm beer, (because what goes better with fish and chips than beer?) the employee just shrugged. When we got to the bottom, we complained about the lack of information, and service, and were told that we should have known to ask if the wine room was opened,and we should have known to ask for a reservation for the dinning room. They didn't care about the apathetic, and sometimes rude, employees. They obviously were not interested in taking responsibility for anything. Overall, I would say skip this place! We spent numerous days in Rotorua, and two weeks in New Zealand, and this was the low point of our trip. The customer service here is horrible!! read more

As Americans visiting New Zealand, I can't say enough how amazing the luge track is. This sort of thing would never exist in the US because of the liabilities involved, but sometimes, bombing down a concrete track in a three-wheeled plastic kart with only a helmet for protection is just something you need to do. I wish we could have stayed all day! Everyone was very friendly, the views are amazing, and the food was pretty good as well. If you're near Rotorura, don't miss the Sklyline Luge. read more

Worth a few runs down the hill! Don't forget to stop at Volcanic Hills wine tasting room before you get on the gondola. Annie is awesome!

We went up here on a little miserable day that had a bit of rain in the sky, but which turned out a stunning rainbow afterwards!! The ride up to the top is as per the norm ,though it is good to see the deer grazing below. Our main reason for coming up was for the dinner buffet, never have done the luge or anything else that is up here. Have been up for dinner a couple of times now and have got to say this was the best time so far except for one little thing. The restaurant since our last visit has been renovated, and it is looking so good, the staff are as good as they were the last time being friendly and attentive to your needs and always asking if everything is okay without being too obtrusive and the food is outstanding. So much to choose from and all of it cooked as it should be. The choice is wide right through the courses, from salads( where you can make your own cesar salad ), through seafood , through the meat selection ( which you can pick more from a display cabinet and is cooked there on the spot . The charge for these meats is on top of the buffet cost) , through getting crepes made and to the deserts and cheese selection. We booked using a special deal on the internet about two hours before going up . And now about the little thing that let the place down a bit. When we got up there and in the restaurant they allocated us a table in the middle( we did not expect a window seat ) but for only five people. We had two children with us and what with them it made for a tight squeeze on the table. Initially my wife approached the staff and asked if there was a possibility of moving to which she was told that all the tables had been reserved and as they were expecting a few larger tour groups it was near impossible to move us. So a few minutes later I though I would give it a go and ask. I asked the same staff member and he promptly moved us to a larger table and by the window too!!! Thanks so much...to be moved to a bigger table was good but to a window seat even better!! Outstanding service. But why did it take us to ask twice to get moved , and by enquiring the same staff member. It has a good view too( but nowhere near as good as Queenstown's skyline!!) . Anyway overall, like I said before it was barring that little incident which was eventually sorted it was our best visit up there yet. read more

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This place is AWESOME! One of the greatest things I have ever done was the luge tracks at Skyline! I highly suggest at least doing 5 courses! read more

An epic Roto-Vegas experience! Don't let the crowds fool you, the lines move pretty quickly. If you've got kids, skip this attraction at your own peril. read more

Fantastic place to visit, especially if you have kids 7yo and up. Seems a bit pricey at first but you'll not regret it, but definitely go for as many luge rides as you can afford. We also did the zip wire, really fast and don't worry about it being too high as the trees make it seem less so. Altogether a brilliant day out and something different from the normal theme parks. We went midweek and the weather was perfect, I'm not so sure it would have been as good on a busy day in the rain but I guess that goes for most things out doors. I have read some bad reviews about the staff but our experience was that they were great. The whole team were really friendly and helpful, and great fun too! Definitely go if you can. read more