GreatSights
GreatSights
4.5
City ToursBoat ToursNature & Wildlife ToursBus Tours
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM
About
Founded in 1987, GreatSights New Zealand operates the most comprehensive range of premium day sightseeing tours in New Zealand. Our nationwide network provides luxury sightseeing tours to destinations throughout New Zealand. Day tours from Auckland include the Bay of Islands, Waitomo Caves, Rotorua and the Hobbiton Movie Set. Everything is taken care of when you travel with GreatSights. Entrance fees are included within the tour price and optional extras like lunches can be added if required. Complimentary hotel transfers are provided on most tours and our experienced local driver guides will keep you entertained with informative commentary throughout the tour.
Auckland Central, New Zealand

Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours and Tickets by GreatSights
Travellers talk about
(113 reviews)

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles987 reviews
Excellent
646
Very good
179
Average
67
Poor
43
Terrible
52

Linda B
13 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Couples
We were up early to get our coach from hotel in Rotorua, our tour guide was waiting with us. Our coach from Great Sights never turned up! Our tour guide was told that the trip was cancelled on 1st March but he wasn’t informed of that fact, we were booked to go on 3rd March.
Wish I could give no marks, as this coach company not worth booking, and heard of other people being disappointed with them.
Was really angry that the coach company cancelled our booking without our and tour guides knowledge, so never got to Hobbiton!
Written 16 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kia ora, We are sorry this happened. Can you please email our team with your booking details so we can investigate this further and see what happened with the communication? Kind regards, Anna and the team at GreatSights
Written 18 March 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Leandra C
5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Couples
Beautiful scenery and weather was amazing when we went. Not too warm and not too cold. I love that no cameras are allowed in the Waitomo caves so you could really just immerse in the experience. You can take some photos when the boat ride is slowly approaching out of the caves. You will first take a walk in the caves, guided by locals, and then a very short 3min ish boat ride that takes you under the glow worms. Btw, it gets really dark so if you’re afraid of the dark, be prepared!

The Hobbiton tour was super fun and interactive. Loved it, and it was so sunny. Bring a hat and take LOTS of amazing pics!
Written 5 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Casey
Auckland, New Zealand1 contribution
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
Lovely experience. The tour guide gave plenty of background knowledge of the life on set and the different tidbits. Plenty of photo opportunities and great history. My brother and I plan on going again with more of our family.
Written 2 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Christine A
Cedar Rapids, IA61 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
I'm not sure how yo divide this review. The Hobbiton staff were incredible. They were knowledgeable, kind, organized, and professional. Our lunch was amazing. This I would rate 10/10. I was in a wheel chair, having recently broken my leg. OLIVIA drove us around in a golf cart. She was perfect.
However, the company that provided the bus and the bus driver, city sights, was the worst organization I've ever used for travel. The bus driver was rude and embarrassed the vacationers. Comments made were personal and rude. No parking was available near the bus puck up, and when inquiries were made, no help was forthcoming.
All arrangements for handicapped accessibility were made directly with Hobbiton. In fact, I was told that by City Sights, that it was my problem, they offered no accessibility. I crawled onto the bus using what is called a bum shuffle to protect my leg that was in a cast.
Written 22 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lonnie L
20 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Great experience. Very large set and good guides. Bus driver Hana was exceptional. Highly recommend this for any Hobbit fans.
Written 12 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Henry V
3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Solo
Went on the 1st Feb 2024. Guide/driver was great. Provided commentary on the way to hobiton and found it interesting and funny. Guide was a chatacter and made the experience enjoyable. Also enoyed visiting the caves and hobiton. Would gp again
Written 7 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MemoriesHoarder
New York City, NY204 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Couples
Expensive but then I calculated the cost of the tickets --- Hobbiton is expensive!! Taking that into account, I guess it's not a bad deal. Their lunch isn't all that tasty. I would pack something also. Be prepared for a WHOLE lotta driving. If you're a LOR fan, this will be the ultimate experience. We only had 1 day on the North Island so we went for broke and decided to try and see 2 things in one day. Mission accomplished.
Written 30 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michelle S
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Family
Such a great day trip!

The tour guide where knowledgeable and engaging. Recommend a visit to Hobbiton during your NZ travels. I have seen glow worms and caves before, however I was blown away by these caves and the amount of glow worms and the cool little boat you take.

Hobbiton was exceptional! It was actually allot better then I was expecting. Unfortunately the second breakfast tour was booked out already on the day we went. I would have liked to have done this. I suggest making your bookings early so can include the experiences you want.

There is wifi on the bus, although it’s really just for social media / emails. Suggest you download something to watch in advance as the wifi isn’t fast enough to watch movies over. (Just in case you haven’t seen Lord of the Rings!)
Written 21 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jbm4075
Las Vegas, NV226 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Friends
Paid about NZ$350 for this, which sounds a bit punchy until you consider the Waitomo Cave would set you back $75 and Hobbiton $120 just on their own. When you break it down like that only paying $150 for being taken around for 12 hours. Also GreatSights is these attractions' biggest customer by a mile so you really get treated like VIPS, ie. there is no waiting at the attractions.

Honestly up until the night before going I was debating whether I wanted to be crammed in a big bus fully loaded with tourists for 12 hrs in peak season.

Reading Tripadvisor reviews didn’t help because I never know whether to trust reviews, particular those with hardly any reviews. Like who's this Racheal that everyone keeps talking about? Well FYI, Racheal is still around, and she is awesome if you’re lucky to get her (she works 4 days a week, only two of those on this tour).

With the best big bus tours you’re supposed to get a driver-guide, but a lot of times you get more driver than guide. With Rachael, you're getting amazing non-stop commentary the entire way to Waitomo & Hobbiton. I was amazed how she could go on non-stop.

In retrospect, some of the less positive reviews of Racheal are borne from intelligence-deficient tourists who just don't listen. Sorry to say it, but it’s true. "Rachael's Rules" include no hot foods or ice cream on the bus, because she doesn't want sticky messes or strong smells that will make others on the bus queasy. When you think about it, you can imagine how enormously difficult it is to shepherd a United Nations of tourists around and getting everyone to behave (and there are a lot of awful uncourteous people). I am amazed how Rachael kept everything in order and made sure we got back right on the dot. Kudos!

Before doing this tour I just really wanted to see Waitomo and I didn't even care to see Hobbiton, only had to go because it was packaged together. But now I think Hobbiton is a must see, and has reason to be NZ's #1 attraction, even if you don't care for the LOTR/Hobbit movies. Waitomo on the other hand, is nice... but probably like a 4 out of 5. This tour by GreatSights though, is a must-do and totally a 5/5, even as I was totally exhausted I got back to Auckland city.

The only disappoint was that when I booked this it was supposed to include a lunch at Hobbiton. They've since changed it to a takeout box catered by the Waitomo Caves cafeteria and to be eaten on the bus, and honestly that meal totally sucks.
Written 20 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

br14n_l
Perth, Australia24 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023 • Family
It's a must place you have to tick off on you're to-do list.
Great for families and adults alike.
The tour was great and easy walking and was a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Written 19 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 929

GREATSIGHTS (Auckland Central) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go