Auckland is where the day trip starts. The Shire is two hours south.
Which Hobbiton tour reaches the gate before the coaches. What the Waiheke ferry plus a vineyard lunch really costs. Whether Waitomo and Rotorua fit into the same day. Reviews of every tour you can book out of Auckland.
Four bookings that carry a first week in Auckland.
The film set, a ferry to the vineyards, dolphins in the gulf and the black sand west of the ranges. What each one costs and how long it takes.
01The long oneHobbiton & Waitomo Caves Day Trip with LunchHobbiton in the morning, the glowworm caves after lunch, back in the city for dinner. One bus, both headline sights.
02The island dayFerry & Hop-On Hop-Off Explorer Bus TicketsFerry from downtown plus the island loop bus. Get off at whichever cellar looks right and catch the next one.
03The gulf dayWhale and Dolphin Watching Half-Day Eco CruiseBryde’s whales and common dolphins live in the Hauraki Gulf all year. The boat leaves from the Viaduct and comes back mid-afternoon.
04The west coastAfternoon Piha Beach and Rainforest Tour from AucklandBlack iron sand, Lion Rock and a rainforest road over the Waitakere Ranges. Half a day, and the surf does the talking.
Auckland’s best days out are all two or three hours away.
The film set, the cave river and the geothermal valleys are day trips from the city, not places you have to move to. Here is what each run costs to board and how long it keeps you.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunch
The ShireGuided lap of the film set, then a half at the Green Dragon.
RotoruaSteam coming up through the pavement, a thermal valley, a hot pool at the end.
WaitomoA boat under a ceiling of larvae, in the dark, in silence.
Te Puia and Māori cultureCarving school, the Pōhutu geyser and a hāngī lifted out of the ground.
All 304 tours and day trips out of Auckland →
Six places within a day’s reach of Auckland.
A film set in the Waikato, the steam of Rotorua, a cave river lit by insects, an island of vineyards forty minutes off the wharf, surf beaches on black sand, and a chain of dead volcanoes inside the city itself.
The days out of Auckland that travellers take most.
Every Auckland review →The runs that fill up first over summer, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Ferry & Hop-On Hop-Off Explorer Bus Tickets
Take a return Fullers360 ferry from Auckland to Waiheke Island, then use the Explorer Bus for 16 stops. Choose wineries, beaches, galleries, villages, olive oil tastings, or forest walks. Guides such as Ruth, Aaron, Tilly, and Minnie add local color, while the bus tracker helps you plan your day.
From · $59
Read our review →
2
Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunch
from $229
3
Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Day Trip with Lunch
from $221
4
Auckland Dolphin and Whale Watching Eco-Safari Cruise
from $135
5
Hobbiton Movie Set Day Trip with Festive Lunch
from $182
6
Hobbiton Movie Set Small Group Tour from Auckland
from $183
7
Auckland Explorer: Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off Tour
from $43
8
Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Small-Group Tour W Lunch from Auckland
from $235
Waiheke is forty minutes from downtown and a different country.
The ferry goes from the same terminal as the commuter boats and lands you among olive groves and cliff-edge cellars. Most people come for lunch and a tasting; the island bus runs a loop, so three vineyards and the last boat home is a realistic afternoon.
Every Waiheke day →
Auckland sits between two harbours and calls itself the City of Sails.
Bryde’s whales and dolphins live inside the Hauraki Gulf all year, a racing yacht takes passengers out most afternoons, and the Rangitoto ferry lands you at the foot of a volcano that came out of the sea six hundred years ago.
What a day out of Auckland actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what you pay to get on board. The museum and the harbour ferry come in under the price of lunch; the Hobbiton and Waitomo double is the one you budget for.
Museum entry, the harbour ferry, city walks, the Sky Tower lift and the hop-on bus.
Waiheke wine loops, whale watching in the gulf, Piha and the ranges, half-day city runs.
The long hauls: Hobbiton with Waitomo, Rotorua with Wai-O-Tapu, small groups and private drivers.
Three things you can only do out of Auckland.
Vineyards and beaches turn up everywhere. A film set kept standing for twenty years, a cave river lit by insects, and an island of cellars reached on a commuter ferry do not.
The Shire, still standing
The set was built twice on the same sheep farm near Matamata, and the second time it was built to last. Forty-four hobbit holes sit in the hillside with their gardens planted and tended, right down to the moss glued to a fence post. Entry is by guided walk only, the groups move on a timetable, and the tour ends with a drink poured in the Green Dragon.
- 1Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,677 reviews
- 2Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Day Trip with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 2,505 reviews
- 3Hobbiton Movie Set Day Trip with Festive Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,431 reviews
A cave river lit by larvae
Arachnocampa luminosa lives nowhere else on earth. In the Waitomo caves the larvae hang fishing lines from the ceiling of a river passage and glow to draw insects in, and the boat runs the last stretch in complete silence because noise puts the light out. It is a fifteen minute drift and people come out of it quiet.
- 1Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,677 reviews
- 2Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Day Trip with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 2,505 reviews
- 3Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Small-Group Tour W Lunch from Auckland★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,117 reviews
An island planted with cellars
Waiheke grows syrah and bordeaux blends on north-facing slopes that catch more sun and less rain than the mainland, and almost every vineyard runs a restaurant with a view back over the gulf. Nobody drives, because nobody needs to: the ferry runs all day and the tour buses meet it at Matiatia wharf.
- 1Waiheke Island Premium Wine Tour with Tastings★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 504 reviews
- 2Taste of Waiheke Food and Wine Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 465 reviews
- 3Wine Tour & Lunch at Award Winning Venue★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 370 reviews
Four Auckland bookings that will not wait.
Most of this city can be sorted the night before over a beer on Ponsonby Road. These four run on timed entry, ferry timetables and performance schedules that take no interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunchYou cannot walk in. Entry is by guided departure with a fixed group size, and the summer slots go weeks ahead.
- 02Hobbiton & Waitomo Caves Guided Day Trip from Auckland incl lunchThe boat through the grotto holds a set number of people per departure, and the last one leaves in the middle of the afternoon.
- 03Ferry & Hop-On Hop-Off Explorer Bus TicketsThe whole day hangs off the ferry timetable, and the sailing back from Matiatia is the one that decides how long you get on the island.
- 04Waitomo Caves & Rotorua – Te Puia Small-Group Tour from AucklandThe carving school works to opening hours and the evening cultural performance runs once, on a schedule, with seats sold in advance.
Auckland weather turns in an afternoon. Have the wet plan ready.
The fronts come off the Tasman and arrive without much warning, and the west coast beaches go from glorious to hostile in half an hour. The answer is indoors and close to town: a workshop full of film props, the museum up on the Domain, a thermal pool, a table booked for a long lunch.
By place, working outwards from the wharf
By kind of day, on deck, on foot or underground
Auckland, Waiheke, Hobbiton, Waitomo, Rotorua: the week most people do first.
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