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Half Day in Middle Earth - Lord of the Rings Tour
5.0
35 Ratings
Queenstown
Embark on a half-day Lord of the Rings tour. Visit iconic film locations, enjoy scenic views, and immerse yourself in Middle Earth lore.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Skippers Canyon - We head to the Skippers Canyon Lookout to view New Zealand’s “Most Dangerous Road”. Not only a spectacular view but also a Lord of the Rings Filming location located further within the Canyon. We stop afterwards at the nearby Coronet Viewpoint to taking in the surrounding views of the Wakatipu Basin and navigate our journeys plan from a birds eye perspective. (These stops are weather permitting) - Arrowtown - Awarded New Zealand’s ‘Most Beautiful Small Town’ award in 2020 and 2023. We learn about the gold rush history of this rustic yet charming village the seems to appear right out of the 1800’s. We explore 2 Lord of the Rings filming locations a short walk from town, followed by morning or afternoon tea in this quaint village. - Gibbston - Central Otago’s Premier Wine Region. Here we visit an epic Lord of the Rings filming location learning stories of the production along with the winegrowing history. Here we also witness dare devils jumping from the world’s first commercial bungee jump from the Historic Kawarau Bridge. - Lake Hayes - We head to this picturesque serene lake, with stunning views of the surrounding mountains right out of Middle Earth. We spend some time here soaking in the serenity and playing with our Authentic Replica Props. Dress up as you favourite LOTR characters and weild lifelike swords, daggers, axes and helmets from your favourite fantasy trilogy! - Lake Wakatipu - We head to the breathtaking Wakatipu Lookout where beneath the towering Remarkables Mountains we have one last look upon this spectacular landscape that inspired the filming of the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. We point out several filming locations and take photo’s from the locals best kept secret lookout, towering over the resort town of Queenstown.
What's Included
- Tea and coffee
- Photos with Authentic Props - largest selection of Authentic Licensed replica props
- Copies of original scripts and production call sheets
Additional Information
Epic Adventures to the Real Middle Earth and Back Again! Join our Lord of the Rings “Nerds” aka tour guides who have superior knowledge on all things “Rings”. We’ll take you to the original film locations and put YOU in the scene while narrating humorous and intriguing tales from the time of filming. Join us for your personalised journey through the real Middle Earth. Our scenic Half Day Tour includes visiting Skippers Canyon Lookout (weather permitting), Arrowtown, The Gibbston Valley and Lake Hayes. You will be able to enjoy Lord Of The Rings locations such as The Ford of Bruinen, The Gladden Fields, The Pillars of the Kings and More! This tour includes Morning or Afternoon Tea and Snacks, Photos with Authentic Props as we have the largest selection of Authentic Licensed replica props! We also have copies of the original scripts and production call sheets, adding so much more depth to your Middle Earth experience!
- Travel time between locations was included on the total tour duration.
- Not recommended for travelers who cannot walk more than 20mins on uneven ground. There is 1 walk where people unable to walk may have to wait for up to 20 mins.
Location
Coronet Peak & The Remarkables Snow Centre
Shotover Street
In front of the station building on the corner of Camp St and Shotover St. There are wooden benches for waiting right where the buses pull up.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(35 Ratings)
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Belinda_w
May 30, 2024
Best LOTR tour company - Southern Trails - Brilliant scenic tour in a loop around the Queenstown area, of course focusing on LOTR filming locations. Francisco was our guide and was so knowledgeable and super friendly and entertaining. The props and original script copies, all the behind the scenes stories, everything was amazing. Very impressive tour. Van was warm and comfy.
Review provided by Viator
Adventure33774722998
May 28, 2024
excellent tour - It’s an amazing Lord of the Rings Tour. We visited a lot of shooting scenes and other beautiful attractions. Our guide Shane is super nice and funny, introduced so much behind the scene stories and offered the swords to take cosplay photos. We had such a great time! Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sunci_b
May 27, 2024
Really fun experience for LOTR fans! - Tour was a fun experience. Shane was a great tour guide, telling stories and anecdotes the whole time we were on the bus. The scenery we passed by or stopped at was gorgeous, regardless if you're a lord of the rings fan or not. We got the chance to dress up and hold some of the weapons from the movies which was fun and cool. Shane also took the time to take photos for us which was really nice and a great memory. Thank you for a wonderful tour!
Review provided by Viator
Saduni_w
May 22, 2024
Great Experience - The tour was awesome! Was with two other friends who had not watched lotr before and they had a great time going to the different set locations. Francesco was such an amazing guide and would definitely recommend this tour to anyone.
Review provided by Viator
T1061yzbenjaminc
May 9, 2024
The best lord of the rings experience ever! - Shane was awesome! his knowledge of the lord of the rings was phenomenal especially behind the scenes information and created a very authentic experience whilst on the tour.
he also interacted with the group and made us feel like we were a part of the story.
The views were insane and could feel the presence of the energy and it was obvious why they chose these locations for the movies.
Having access to the original props and costumes was heaps of fun would definitely recommend it to anyone as Shane had a great way of including everyone no matter how big of a fan you are.
such an amazing way to see parts of the south island.
Looking forward to seeing the new locations mentioned on my next trip!
A big thanks to trails of middle earth for an authentic, adventurous and epic experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Spud9000
May 9, 2024
Great Tour for any Tolkien Fan - My Partner and I had an awesome half day tour guided by Francesco.
The tour took us to some amazing places with very interesting in-depth Information.
They have so much knowledge of the movie locations and scenes shot there and all things Middle Earth.
We had a great Tour with a friendly, knowledgable, Tolkien fan as a guide and absolutely recommend this to any Tolkien fan.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aditya
May 4, 2024
Speak friend and enter this amazing tour! - We did the half day tour from Queenstown. We lucked out with being the only two people on the tour so we ended up having a wonderful private tour with Shane!
Shane is a super passionate and knowledgeable LoTR fan! He shared his story of working hard to acquire the company recently and rebuilding it from scratch! ( that’s why please pay more attention to recent reviews).
We went to some iconic scenes sites and appreciated the explanations and pictures of the actual scenes. Shane took plenty of pictures and will indulge as much LoTR dialogue-ing as you like. An extra special mention to some of the original call sheets from the movie! We also had so much fun with the authentic LoTR swords, armor and re-enacting scenes and such!
Shane also gave us stellar recommendations for non- LoTR sight seeing in our future travels in New Zealand.
Overall, we highly highly highly recommend Shane’s company to do the LoTR tours. Just do it! It will be awesome!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Willie_d
May 1, 2024
Great Tour guide! Great views! - Shane was awesome! Doesn’t matter how into Lord of the Rings you are he’ll give a fantastic tour of Middle Earth in addition to speaking about the land and giving great recommendations for anything and everything to do in the area
Review provided by Viator
Felixbc4778jh
Apr 29, 2024
Our solo tour with Francesco - As a great Lord of the Rings fan an absolute must. Our guide Francesco knew a lot and we had a lot of fun together. However, we also had a private tour, as we were the only ones who had booked. With the associated props and scripts, it was an incredible experience. Thank you Francesco.
Absolutely recommendable.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nickhtravels
Apr 29, 2024
A beautiful day in Middle Earth - We had a great time as Francesco led us to various locations with gorgeous views. The stories/documents that were shared from the days of filming and the props were very interesting! The reference photos from the films at each location were also super helpful. We would easily recommend this tour for fans of the films and the scenery of Queenstown!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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