Half Day Lord of the Rings Tour
Recommended by 91% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Wellington, New Zealand
- 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Travelers with limited time in Wellington can enjoy a half-day Lord of the Rings tour with hotel pickup and skip-the-line access. Visit Hobbiton Woods filming locations on Mt. Victoria, explore Weta Workshop's special effects exhibits, and see the theater that hosted the films' world premieres. This tour offers a convenient way to experience key filming sites and behind-the-scenes insights in the capital.
- Hotel pickup and drop-off included for convenience
- Skip-the-line access saves time at attractions
- Learn more about Wellington and the films from your guide
- Avoid self-driving hassles with guided transport
What's Included
- Driver/guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Live commentary on board
- Transport by air-conditioned minivan
- GST (Goods and Services Tax)
- Gratuities
- Bottled water
- Coffee and/or Tea
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
1
Mount Victoria
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Mount Victoria
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Wētā Workshop Group Space
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Infants must sit on laps
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Stroller accessible
- Wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- Cruise Ship Passenger bookings should select the following option as their pickup location which is the Wellington Cruise Ship Port: Aotea Quay, Pipitea, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
- Cruise Ship Passenger bookings should add their ship name in special requirements field.
- PICKUP LOCATION MUST BE GIVEN AT TIME OF BOOKING: Default pickup location Wellington iSite Visitor Centre, if you do not know your hotel at time of booking. You can amend your pickup when you know your hotel, if it is located in the CBD pickup area.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 136 reviews
Susan_J, Mar 2026
This day was absolutely fantastic..we had a great day. Stan is a really good guide with heaps of knowledge about the area. He went out of his way to make our day extremely enjoyable. Weta production studio was very interesting
Response from Host, Mar 2026
A great review for Stan and thank you for taking the time to post it for him Susan. Good to hear you enjoyed your tour with us in Wellington.
docbone555, Mar 2026
The tour included a trip to the WETA Studios, which was very informative and lots of fun and then went and visited some of the filming sites for Lord of the rings.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thanks for your great review for us, and glad you left Wellington withgood memories.
KenBeck_L, Mar 2026
Our tour guide/driver Josef was very nice and knowledgeable. My wife was not feeling well and had to be back to the cruise ship upon arriving at the movie studio. He was very kind to take her back to the ship while I was touring the studio. It was too bad that she was not with me to take photos each other with materials displayed at the studio. After visiting the studio, Josef took me and two other guests to the forest where several scenes in the movie Lord of the Rings (LOTR) were taken. Josef provided good explanation with humor how they were taken. He had a slow pace for me (79 years old) to handle steep hill.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
What a great review for Josef, and thank you for taking the time to post it for him. Also good to hear Josef went the extra mile. A well deserved 5 stars for him.
Grace_D, Mar 2026
An amazing experience, I had so much fun. Enthusiastic and very knowledgeable staff. The grounds are well cared for. I highly recommend!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thanks for your review and good to know you enjoyed your tour.
Matthew_D, Mar 2026
NIce … really nice. Josef was great, very knowledgeable. And the first stop, the park, certainly got you in the right frame of mind for WETA. That by itself made the trip worth it. When you add up the smaller group, Josef and the workshop tour, you get value.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thanks Matthew - sounds like Jozef delivered another of his great tours for us.
Cheryl_M, Feb 2026
Great for any LOTR fans and tour guide was full of knowledge and great for a bit of a laugh. Enjoyed it
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for your great review Cheryl. We appreciate you taking the time to post it and are glad you enjoyed your time with us.
MaryK_L, Feb 2026
That there is walking through the forest, which is beautiful but in some areas quite steep. But a wonderful day and the weather was excellent.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for your review Mary. Glad our guide gave you an enjoyable tour while you were in Wellington.
Maggie_M, Jan 2026
Great day with lots of LOTR places and scenes back story. Fascinating place. Always smart if possible to gather the first LOTR movie before coming. It makes the tour come alive. Our tour guide, Stan, was fabulous.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
A great review for Stan, and thank you for taking the time to post it for him Maggis.
Jim_L, Dec 2025
Had very knowledgeable and pleasant tour guide and driver. Tour of Wetta was quite remarkable.
Go for it!
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Good to know you enjoyed your time with us for your LOTR experience. Thanks for posting your review Jim.
martina_r, Nov 2025
Loved this experience, great guide in Wayne.
The Weta workshop is amazing and impressive especially if you love movies
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Sounds like Wayne delivered another of his great tours for us. Thanks for posting your great review for him Martin.
Ellen_A, Oct 2025
Our driver Wayne was great and the actual tour was a lot of fun. WETA is a super cool place to visit, especially if you're a LOTR geek! But even if you're not it's still pretty neat to see how everything is done - and they have their hands in so many other films!
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Great review Ellen, and thanks for posting. Glad you enjoyed your tour with Wayne.
Patty_H, Oct 2025
Great tour…the tag team LOTR/Hobbit pop quizzes thruout between us (mostly my hubby) and Lester was super entertaining…and we learned new book & film trivia from each other. We started our day with the Mt Victoria overlook…canNOT decide which way to look…stunningly beautiful. And the Mr Toad’s Wild Ride to the top! Rock solid driving skills! And I cannot say enough about the Wētā Workshop🤩 ahhmazing…recommend going to their website for full info on their tours and GO! Lester also very kindly managed personal reenactment photo sessions for all guests. Very patient and amenable. We loved it!
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Wonderful review for Lester, and thanks for posting it Patty. Glad you enjoyed your tour with Xplor.
Stephanie_K, Aug 2025
Fun day for two LOTR nerds! Stan was great tour guide and explained so much to us. The Weta workshop was amazing. Then Stan took us to filming sites. We liked it so much, we added another tour to our trip. The team was able to accommodate our request easily,
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thanks for leaving your great review Stephanie. Glad Stan delivered yet another of his great tours for Xplor for you.
Susan_R, Aug 2025
Weta Workshop was awesome and your guide was great taking us to scenes where movie was filmed. Great day
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Thanks for leaving your review Susan, much appreciated and glad you enjoyed your tour with Xplor.
Eva_S, Jul 2025
Great tour! Was just me, my hubby & our 8 month old. The driver was incredibly knowledgeable & accommodating for us. Great insights about Wellington & Weta Workshop in addition to LOTR. Would definitely recommend to anyone who has a family and can only do the 1/2 tour.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for your review Eva, good to hear you enjoyed your tour with us.
Margaret_K, Mar 2025
Very interesting and a lot of fun. The locations were gorgeous and the workshop was well done although slightly dull.
.
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Thanks for your review Margaret.
Sara_B, Mar 2025
I had a great time. Lester was enthusiastic and a wealth of info. He gave us some history of Wellington and did a fantastic job with quotes from LOTR! Weta Workshops was very interesting and creative. I am glad I chose this excursion!
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Sara, Lester is a wonderful guide for us. Glad you enjoyed your tour with him.
Olga_L, Mar 2025
The forest portion was very pretty. But if the tour guide didn't have the pictures, you couldn't tell that LOR was shot there. The tour guides were great! The Weta Workshop was very neat! We had a great time and much cheaper than the tour from our cruise ship.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Thanks for your review Olga. Glad our tour guide managed to bring life to the original scene settings with our unique filming photos.
Vicky_K, Mar 2025
Everything from the Guide that we had to the experiences that they took us to were really wonderful.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
What a lovely review Vicky, and thank you for posting it for us.
Ellen_S, Mar 2025
My husband and I are LOTR nerds and this excursion was great. Richard, our guide, did a wonderful job describing movie sites in the city and helping us to take photos recreating key moments in the film. Weta Workshop was interesting, but you don’t actually tour where people are creating props for upcoming movies. Everything was focused on past productions. Fortunately they focused on LOTR and The Hobbit which I appreciated.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Thanks for your review Ellen. I enjoyed being your guide on the day.
catham1, Mar 2025
We did a bit of useful general sightseeing of Wellington City on our way to the LOR rings sites included in this trip. The tour guide knew a lot about the filming of LOR and this made a huge difference to our experience. The second part of the trip was to WETA workshop, where the group was immersed in all the LOR trivia they could hope for! I even got a picture of me turned into a 4 ft hobbit complete with furry hobbit feet!
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Sounds like you left Wellington with great LOTR memories. That's what we strive to give. Thanks for leaving your great review.
Michelle_M, Feb 2025
This is tour is great; we were on a cruise & we really enjoyed it. Visiting the locations & recreating the scenes from the movies was great. Richard our guide was very informative & made the experience memorable. WETA studios were great our guide was excellent overall would highly recommend this tour. 5 stars.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thanks Michelle. So glad you had a good tour with us and left Wellington with great memories.
eandrrowden, Feb 2025
Extremely interesting. Weta was amazing. Also Gave a better concept of exhibits at the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum. Richard was most informative. Recommend this tour
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Good to know you enjoyed my tour. It was great having your company on the day too.
Mary_T, Feb 2025
Small group personalised and great for cruise ship passengers. Enjoyed the Banter with Tour guide Richard.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Glad I entertained you all on the day Mary. Thanks for leaving your great review.
Manfred_C, Jan 2025
Wellington (admittedly it was one its few wind free days) is one of the most beautiful cities i have visited. It was enhanced by an excellent Lord of the Rings tour and friendly tour guides.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thanks for your lovely review. Wellington can't be beaten on a good day. Glad you enjoyed your tour with us.
Shankar_S, Jan 2025
A really good tour. Our driver, Stan, was knowledgeable and a lot of fun. We learned a lot about the filming process and also the World Premiere of The Return of the King.
The Weta Workshop was excellent. Bianca, our guide, was terrific. It was awesome to see all the great work Weta has done for different movies, not just The Lord of the Rings.
Very enjoyable day.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Fabulous words for Stan. Glad you left Wellington with good memories of your tour with us. Thanks for posting your review.
Josh_G, Dec 2024
Weta was amazing! It was the pick up and drop off that concerned us. Our driver waited too long for another group and got lost looking for hotel pickups. We arrived at Weta with only 1 minute to spare before our tour time. We were very rushed. He spent more time talking about American Politics than the amazing Weta and city of Wellington. For others interested, just taxi to Weta and buy your own tour tickets. Much better on your time.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
As replied in your other review for the same tour, we are sorry your tour was so delayed in starting Josh. When other customers are late arriving for pickup it becomes very frustrating for everyone. We followed up with our guide on your tour, as he knows politics is off limits. His recollection is that two of the passengers began the discussion between themselves which quickly became heated. Our apologies your tour was marred by this also.
Interestingly your tour that day has received 5 star reviews from your fellow passengers for our guide.
jkrodriguez47, Dec 2024
Richard is the best tour guide. He took us to see beautiful sites. Plus extra Lord of the Ring sites. He was very helpful and friendly. I highly recommend this tour. My daughter and I enjoyed this tour very much.
Response from Host, Dec 2024
Thanks for leaving this great review. I enjoyed the tour time with you also.
Graham_B, Dec 2024
What a brilliant day. Lester was an absolutely excellent guide. I could not fault him - his knowledge of LOTR was good and it was so lovely to have his additional knowledge of his Maori hermitage. Definitely a recommendation from us!
Response from Host, Dec 2024
Brilliant day and a brilliant review! Thanks Graham, Lester is indeed a wonderful guide for us. Thank you for taking the time to post your review for him.
Belinda_W, Dec 2024
The Weta Museum tour was interesting but most of the tour was run by TV video link to the owners, they are passionate and very talented- guide at museum was knowledgeable and informative.
Our experience from the Viator guide was not great - spent a long time in a forest looking at trees with old tatty photos of film scenes. A forest walk which was not discussed and not suitable for persons with health concerns. We were rushed at the end to get back because the guide was only getting paid to a certain time - strongly encouraged to leave tour in the city so he didn’t have to drive back to ship terminal.
Not worth the cost of this tour at all… sorry guys
Response from Host, Dec 2024
We are sorry to hear this Belinda and also somewhat confused. Please can you advise what date you took your tour with us so we can look into this further and identify which of our guides is involved, as this is not up to our expectations in any way.
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