Rotorua Day Trip from Auckland with Options - Smaller groups

Posted By : Resort65363191998
We had an absolutely wonderful time on our trip to Rotorua. While the travel time was long, our guide, Louise, kept us thoroughly entertained with her expertise on local landmarks, Māori history and mythology, and current events in New Zealand. We couldn’t believe 3 hours had gone by when we arrived!

Once we arrived in Rotorua, Louise realized that our first planned activity to view the lake would not be best, as the lake was covered entirely in fog at the time. So instead, she changed our guided tour at Te Puia to an earlier time, allowing us the ability to view the lake later in the afternoon. We appreciated her quick thinking and flexibility to allow us the best possible experience! Of course, Te Puia itself was awesome, and we enjoyed the Māori cultural performance as our add-on activity.

We would highly recommend visiting Te Puia with FlexiTours NZ!
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Posted On : 2024-05-06 03:04:09

Posted By : parag2024
The day was fine. I think for the money I paid there should have been more activities included in the itinerary. We were taken to Whakarawarewa only. While the tour in there was good and informative, there was nothing planned after lunch. An Impromptu visit to Goverment Gardens was offerd to us in the afternoon.
I must say the lunch was very good and had many selections.
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Posted On : 2024-04-29 21:07:55

Posted By : MumbaiRiders
We were a total of 10 tourists of different nationalities,all families except for a young Japanese lady and myself travelling with "Flexi Tours NZ" to "Rotorua and Waitomo" caves. Our Driver/ Guide Mr Edson of Brazilian descent was hilarious and very informative throughout the 226 Km drive from Auckland CBD to Rotorua that began at 0645 hrs . Had booked the " Rotorua & Waitomo caves " tour costing NZ$ 455 at the "Flexi Tours NZ" office in Queens Arcade.At 0945 hrs we were finally at the entrance gate of "Te Puia ,Rotorua Geothermal park ".In a group tour everything is planned to the scheduled timing and our tour slot was allotted for 1000 hrs as prior booking is essential .Our guide took us on a walking tour and our first visit was to the "Kiwi Enclosure" where a pair of New Zealand's national bird the Kiwi are kept under "Nocturnal viewing " conditions. After the Kiwi enclosure visit our next stop was the "Mud Pools" having bubbling hot mud releasing Sulphuric fumes. Next was the amazing sight of the "POHUTU GEYSER" .The Geyser was spouting steam akin to a fountain and the surrounding ground was also emitting steam vapor in small quantities. After viewing the Pohutu Geyser from a distance we were transported by a toy train to the main entrance gate.Our next visit was to the building housing the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute an indigenous traditional art school.It operates the national schools of three major Māori art forms. After viewing the artisans at work we next had a "Buffet Lunch" in the grand dining hall of Te Puia ,Rotorua Geothermal park . After lunch we boarded our Mercedes Mini bus and headed to Waitomo Caves. On the way we stopped at Government Gardens.Originally known as Paepaekumana, the Government Gardens are situated on the lake Rotorua's edge in downtown Rotorua.At 1520 hrs reached the entrance gates of Waitomo caves. Again there was a large tourist crowd and our guided tour slot was at 1530 hrs.Our tour guide Ms Cheryl was a Maori descendant of the original discoverer's of these caves over a 100 years ago.This entire Waitomo caves is now owned by the Maori trust and the employees are descendants of the original founder's of this cave tourism.Photography inside the caves is strictly prohibited and before entering the cave a professional photographer takes a photo of each visitor, a common routine at most tourist sites across the Globe.Entering the caves we were transported into a different subterranean World.Beautiful Stalactites and Stalagmites and very well preserved.We finally came into a cave chamber called the " Cathedral" whose natural acoustics was excellent and a Maori lady sang a traditional Maori song in this chamber .We got our first glimpse of the " Glow Worms" in a corner of this chamber with the subterranean stream flowing below.We finally boarded the small boat and were rowed across the narrow channel inside the cave.The cave ceiling resembled a night sky with stars shining bright as the glow worms illuminated the cave ceiling with their glowing bodies.After the boat ride we began our long almost 3 hrs journey back to Auckland finally reaching Sky Tower in Auckland at 1945 hrs. End of a very expensive but thoroughly educative and scenic tour of the New Zealand countryside and Rotorua Thermal springs along with WAitomo caves.
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Posted On : 2024-04-22 02:06:47

Posted By : Tom_B
The day was long and ran late despite the first half the day being time pressured.
The geysers were great, loved it and a delicious lunch provided.
Polynesian Spa, now we have been we wouldn't pick it again, was very average. .
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Posted On : 2024-04-20 03:48:19

Posted By : Charles_H
Louise was an excellent van driver and tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and we had a great time not only visiting the the geothermal park and Maori Arts & Crafts Center, but also the New Zealand Redwood Forest and driving by the blue and green lakes.
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Posted On : 2024-04-18 17:26:55

Posted By : Avery_L
Door to door journey to two main attractions, Te Puia and Polynesian Spa, were well facilitated. A couple of spots of waiting time as a result of different groups heading off to different afternoon programmes. Tour bus was spacious although can afford more maintenance. Overall, journey was smooth and efficient. Subject to evening traffic, expect to reach into CBD after 715pm. Louise made special effort to accommodate comfort stops and reached into the city ahead of 730pm.
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Posted On : 2024-04-15 22:10:17

Posted By : Anonymous
In addition to the expected stops, Louise fitted in a visit to the Redwoods and Blue and Green Lakes, as well as getting off the high speed roadway to let us enjoy views of the countryside and smaller towns.
She also shared a lot of interesting information about Māori culture & NZ history. She was great!
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Posted On : 2024-04-13 23:24:12

Posted By : John_G
Our driver/guide Dirk was very knowledgeable and an excellent driver. Unfortunately there was a detour and we ended up spending 2 extra hours pounding over very bad roads to a dead end. Not Dirks fault although at some point it became clear to me that we were in a goat track and it couldn’t be the right road. We were the last ones on so we were at the back of the bus over the axle and it was extremely uncomfortable. He should have told folks that they didn’t own their seats and to move around.
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Posted On : 2024-04-07 15:31:45

Posted By : RicardoAntonio_L
Great experience and the excellent service. The driver ver kind and everything was good. That’s all I want to say
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Posted On : 2024-04-06 22:23:50

Posted By : Renata_D
We had an amazing time. Absolutely the best tour and driver. Mr. Edson was so helpful, informative, friendly, and funny. Highly recommended!
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Posted On : 2024-03-29 05:50:29