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Lake Wakatipu and the winding Glenorchy road below snow-capped mountains, with tussock grass in the foreground

Destination guide

New Zealand film location tours: Middle-earth on the map

Ten days from Auckland to Queenstown through the farms, volcanoes, forests and lakes that became Middle-earth, with a tour leader who lives in Wellington.

  • 1 tour
  • from $6,290 per person
  • Best months Jan to Apr, Nov to Dec
  • 5 filming locations
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Further afield

New Zealand on screen

Peter Jackson shot The Lord of the Rings in his home country between 1999 and 2000, and The Hobbit films a decade later, and he used almost every kind of landscape New Zealand has. A sheep farm in the Waikato became the Shire. A ski field on an active volcano became Mordor. A regional park outside Wellington became Rivendell, and the valleys at the head of Lake Wakatipu became Isengard and the borders of Gondor. Most of the sets were taken down after filming, so on most sites you are matching a real mountain, river or forest to the frame, which is exactly why people come: the landscapes were not invented.

Our New Zealand tour runs the length of the country in ten days, by road on the North Island and with one domestic flight from Wellington to Queenstown. We buy tickets for the public Hobbiton Movie Set tour and a Wētā Workshop tour like any other visitor; we have no link to the films or the studios. Kiri Walsh, who lives in Wellington and spent years on the ski patrol on Mount Ruapehu, leads every departure, and she keeps one eye on the mountain weather all trip long.

The filming locations below, on the map.Map: Esri, OpenStreetMap contributors

Filming locations

Where Middle-earth was filmed

Hobbit holes with round yellow, red and green doors at the Hobbiton Movie Set

01

Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata

The Hobbiton Movie Set sits on a working sheep and beef farm in the green hills outside Matamata, about two hours south of Auckland. The Shire of The Lord of the Rings was built here and mostly taken down after filming. For The Hobbit films (2012 to 2014) the village was rebuilt in permanent materials, and that is what you walk through today: 44 hobbit holes, some at hobbit scale and some large enough for an adult to step into, gardens tended as if someone lived there, the party field, the mill and the double-arched bridge, and the Green Dragon Inn, where the tour ends with a drink. You can only visit on the set's own guided tour, about two hours, and it books out weeks ahead in summer. We buy the tickets like any other visitor.

  • 44 hobbit holes and their gardens
  • The mill and the double-arched bridge
  • A drink at the Green Dragon Inn
Best time
Morning tours, November to April

Tours that visit Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata

Mount Ngauruhoe with snowy Mount Ruapehu behind, seen from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

02

Tongariro National Park

Tongariro is New Zealand's oldest national park, created in 1887, and a World Heritage Site both for its volcanoes and for what they mean to Māori. Three volcanoes stand in it: Tongariro, Ruapehu, and the young, almost perfect cone of Ngauruhoe, which played Mount Doom in the long shots of the trilogy. The Whakapapa ski field on the slopes of Ruapehu became Mordor, including the battle in the prologue where Isildur cuts the Ring from Sauron's hand, and Tawhai Falls near Whakapapa Village is one of the two waterfalls used for Gollum's Forbidden Pool. The summit of Ngauruhoe is sacred to the local iwi, who ask visitors not to climb it, so we look at Mount Doom from the trails. Strong walkers can add the full Tongariro Alpine Crossing, 12 miles.

  • Mount Ngauruhoe, the Mount Doom of the films
  • Tawhai Falls, the Forbidden Pool
  • The volcanic slopes of Whakapapa, used for Mordor
Best time
December to March, on a clear morning

Tours that visit Tongariro National Park

A pine-needle walking track under tall trees in Mount Victoria Park, Wellington

03

Mount Victoria and Miramar, Wellington

Wellington is where the films were made, and where filming began. Principal photography for The Lord of the Rings started in October 1999 in the pine woods of Mount Victoria, the green hill that rises behind the city center, and the scenes shot there include the four hobbits scrambling off the road to hide under a tree root from a Black Rider. The woods are a public town park ten minutes from downtown, laced with walking paths, and the lookout at the top shows you the whole harbor. Across the hill in the suburb of Miramar is Wētā Workshop, the company that made the weapons, armor, creatures and miniatures for the trilogy. Its Wētā Cave shop and small museum are free to visit, and the workshop runs its own paid public tours, for which we buy tickets.

  • The woods where the hobbits hid from the Black Rider
  • The harbor from the Mount Victoria lookout
  • A guided tour at Wētā Workshop in Miramar
Best time
Calm mornings, November to April

Tours that visit Mount Victoria and Miramar, Wellington

The clear green Hutt River curving between forested hills in Kaitoke Regional Park

04

Kaitoke Regional Park

Kaitoke Regional Park is a quiet stretch of river, native forest and picnic lawns in the hills north of Upper Hutt, about 45 minutes by road from Wellington. The production built Rivendell, the valley home of the elves, among the trees here. The buildings were sets, finished on screen with digital paintings, and none of them is left. What remains is the setting itself: the clear river, the tall forest and a signposted path to the filming spot, where the park has put up a replica elvish archway for photos. The park belongs to the regional council, entry is free, and the walks by the river and over a swing bridge make a fine hour before a picnic lunch. Your tour leader brings stills from the film so you can match the trees to the frame.

  • The signposted Rivendell filming spot
  • A replica elvish archway
  • River walks and a swing bridge
Best time
Late morning, November to April

Tours that visit Kaitoke Regional Park

The Dart River flats and mountains near Glenorchy, the valley used for Isengard

05

Glenorchy and the Dart valley

Glenorchy is a small settlement at the head of Lake Wakatipu, about 45 minutes from Queenstown along a lakeside road, and the country around it appears again and again in the trilogy. On the flats of the Dart River, near the bridge north of the village, the mountains in front of you are the backdrop of Isengard; the tower of Orthanc was added digitally on the open ground below them. Mount Earnslaw, the big snow peak above the village, appears in the opening sequence of The Two Towers. On the way back to Queenstown, a short walk at Twelve Mile Delta leads to the slope used for the Ithilien camp. We drive the road with photo stops, walk on the Dart River flats and have lunch in the village by the old red wharf shed.

  • The Isengard mountains from the Dart River flats
  • Mount Earnslaw from The Two Towers
  • The Ithilien camp slope at Twelve Mile Delta
Best time
Clear days, November to April; autumn color in April

Tours that visit Glenorchy and the Dart valley

New Zealand film location tours for 2026 and 2027

Price per person sharing a double room; day tours per person. Flights to the start city are not included.

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1 tour

Getting around

How our tours get around New Zealand

01

A van with a driver on the North Island

From Auckland to Wellington we travel in a 14-seat Mercedes Sprinter with a professional driver, about 400 miles in four days with stops every hour or two. The longest single drive, from Ohakune to Wellington, takes about four hours with a lunch break.

02

One domestic flight south

Instead of two long days of driving and a ferry, we fly from Wellington to Queenstown, a direct flight of about an hour and a half with the Southern Alps out of the window on a clear day. We book the flight and the checked bag for you.

03

Short walks to the spots

Most filming locations are a walk of 10 to 40 minutes from the road, on good tracks. The longest included walk is the Taranaki Falls loop in Tongariro, about 4 miles. Kiri sets the pace and there is always a shorter option.

04

Around Queenstown by road

In Queenstown the van takes us along the lake to Glenorchy and over to Arrowtown. Evenings are free for walking the lakefront, and the town center is small enough to cross on foot in ten minutes.

What is included

What our New Zealand tours include

In New Zealand

  • Tickets for the Hobbiton Movie Set guided tour, with a drink at the Green Dragon Inn
  • Tickets for a Wētā Workshop guided tour in Wellington
  • The domestic flight from Wellington to Queenstown with a checked bag
  • Kiri Walsh, our New Zealand tour leader, from Auckland to Queenstown
  • A van with a professional driver for every road day
  • The Skyline Gondola up Bob's Peak in Queenstown
  • Walks in Tongariro National Park, Kaitoke and on the Dart River flats

On every tour

  • Central hotels with daily breakfast on trips of two days or more
  • A named Scenes Found tour leader with the group from the first day to the last
  • Airport transfers on the first and last day of the tour
  • Hotel taxes, parking, park entry and local guide fees
  • Our 24/7 line while you travel, in every time zone

Not included: flights to the start city and home, meals not listed, drinks, tips and travel insurance. Each tour page lists exactly what is in the price.

Best time to go

Best time to visit New Zealand

New Zealand's seasons are the reverse of ours, so the best months for this trip are November to April, the southern spring, summer and early autumn. December to February is summer: 70 to 78 F by day in Auckland and Queenstown, long light evenings until after 9 p.m., and the best chance of clear views of the volcanoes. November is fresh and green, with snow still on Ruapehu. March and April are calmer and quieter, and in April the poplars and willows around Queenstown and Arrowtown turn gold. May to September is winter: the Whakapapa slopes are a ski field, mountain roads can close, and we do not run the tour.

  1. Jan: best months
  2. Feb: best months
  3. Mar: best months
  4. Apr: best months
  5. May: good months
  6. Jun: no departures
  7. Jul: no departures
  8. Aug: no departures
  9. Sep: no departures
  10. Oct: good months
  11. Nov: best months
  12. Dec: best months

Best monthsGood monthsNo departures

Practical

New Zealand at a glance

Best months
Jan to Apr, Nov to Dec
Airport
Arrive at Auckland (AKL), 30 to 45 minutes from the city; fly home from Queenstown (ZQN), 15 minutes from town, with connections via Auckland or Australia
Getting around
Our van and driver on the North Island and around Queenstown, one domestic flight from Wellington to Queenstown, and walks of up to 4 miles
Time zone
New Zealand is 16 to 18 hours ahead of New York depending on the date, 18 hours from November to early March. You lose a day flying out and get it back flying home.
Weather
Summer days of 70 to 78 F in Auckland and Queenstown; in Tongariro the weather can turn cold, wet and windy within an hour at any time of year
Filming today
Productions still shoot all over New Zealand, mostly on private land. Most of the trilogy's sets were removed after filming; Hobbiton is the one kept as a visitor attraction.
Location etiquette
Stay on marked tracks in the national parks, do not climb the sacred summit of Ngauruhoe, and carry all rubbish out with you
Book ahead
Hobbiton tours sell out weeks ahead in summer. We book Hobbiton, Wētā Workshop, the gondola and your domestic flight as soon as you confirm.
Tipping
Tipping is not expected in New Zealand and service is included in prices; tips for your tour leader and driver are at your discretion
Entry rules
US citizens need a passport valid for at least three months beyond the date they leave New Zealand, and an NZeTA, the electronic travel authority, requested online or in the official app before you fly. A tourism levy is paid with it. New Zealand is strict about biosecurity: declare all food on arrival and clean the soil off your hiking boots before you pack them.

FAQ

New Zealand tour FAQs

More on the FAQ page, or call +1 (323) 641-2870.

Do we go inside the hobbit holes?

Most hobbit holes are facades with a few feet of space behind the door, so there is nothing inside to see. The set's guides show you where you can step up to a door for a photo. Hobbiton runs the tour; we buy the tickets as any visitor does and have no special access.

Can we climb Mount Doom?

No, and we ask you not to. The summit of Ngauruhoe is sacred to Ngāti Tūwharetoa, the local iwi, who ask visitors to stay off it, and the scree slope is dangerous. You see it close up from the trails, and on the full Alpine Crossing you walk right past its base.

Are there any film sets left besides Hobbiton?

Very few. Rivendell, Edoras, Isengard and the rest were temporary sets on public or private land and were removed after filming, as the landowners and the conservation department required. What you see at those places is the real landscape, and that is what the camera saw too.

Why is the trip only from November to April?

Because those are the southern spring, summer and autumn. In winter, May to September, the Mordor slopes on Ruapehu are under snow and busy with skiers, some mountain roads close, and the days are short.

How long are the flights from the United States?

Nonstop flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Auckland take about 12 to 13 hours, and there are seasonal nonstops from some other cities. You book these yourself; we meet you at Auckland airport on day 1 and see you off at Queenstown airport on day 10.

Do I need to have seen the films?

It helps, but many travelers come for New Zealand itself and enjoy the stories. Kiri carries stills from all six films on a tablet, so you can see what was shot at each stop.

Is the tour suitable if I do not hike?

Yes. The included walks are short and on good tracks, apart from the optional Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which is a full day for fit walkers only. On the Tongariro day there is a shorter walk and a scenic drive as well.

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Locations

Planning a Lord of the Rings trip in New Zealand

Hobbiton, Mount Doom, Rivendell and Isengard: a tour leader who lives in Wellington on which locations are worth the drive, what is left of the sets, and when to come.

Kiri Walsh ·  · 5 min read

Planning New Zealand?

Tell us when you can travel, who is coming and the films and shows you love. A travel advisor replies within one business day with dates and prices.

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