Check Availability

Waitomo Gloworm Caves, Sheep Farm and Maori Culture - From Auckland

Hotel Pick up included

Activity Schedule

  • When does it run?

    Daily

  • Duration

    9.5 hours

  • Start time

    7:30am
    Pick-ups from Auckland Hotels begin at 6:40am.

  • Meeting Point
    Your hotel in inner Auckland
    (Please mention your hotel details at the time of booking. If you do not have this information now, please contact the local activity operator 48 hours prior to the start of the tour with these details.)
    Alternate departure point:Sky City Travel Centre, 102 Hobson Street, Auckland.
  • Ending Point

    You will be dropped off at your Auckland hotel

Key Highlights

  • Explore the famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves with their fantastical rock formations
  • Take a spell-binding boat ride through a cavern lit by minute glowworms
  • Enjoy a tour of an organic farm in all-terrain vehicles
  • View an exciting Maori cultural performance

Overview

Discover the incredible natural and cultural treasures of North Island on an enchanting day tour.

Travel through attractive countryside to the world-famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves, where you’ll see scenes straight from fairyland. In the caverns, stalactites and stalagmites form fantastical shapes and the roof is lit with thousands of twinkling lights from tiny glowworms.

Enjoy an enthralling guided tour and boat ride through this natural wonderland before going on to a completely different type of adventure on an organic farm. Tour the farm in all-terrain vehicles, and watch sheep being sheared and sheep dogs in action.

Visit a top New Zealand cultural centre to enjoy Maori songs, dances and games before touring the bubbling mudpools and spouting geysers of the awesome Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley.

Itinerary

For your Waitomo and Rotorua Tour you will be picked up from your hotel in downtown Auckland at around 0730h (07:30am).

Leaving Auckland you will travel through the rich farmland of the Waikato and King Country regions. Your friendly driver/ guide will provide a commentary as you travel. Enjoy a morning snack as you drive past Rangiriri, the location of an historic Maori Land Wars site.

On arrival in the small town of Waitomo enjoy a guided tour through the world famous Glowworm Caves with their amazing stalactites, stalagmites and other limestone formations. Finish the tour with a boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto – a subterranean cavern lit up by thousands of glowworms, each one no bigger than a mosquito.

Leaving Waitomo, enjoy a delicious picnic style lunch on the way to Rotorua. Arriving at the Agrodome on the outskirts of Rotorua, you’ll take a tour of an organic working farm in an all-terrain vehicle. You can also watch a sheep being shorn and view a sheep dog trial.

Leaving the Agrodome you will continue to Te Puia, one of New Zealand's foremost cultural venues. At Te Puia's marae (meeting house) enjoy a Maori cultural performance where ancient and modern stories are told through song, dance, poi and stick games.

At the conclusion of the Maori cultural performance you will enjoy a guided tour of the bubbling mud-pools and active geysers of the Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley including the world renowned Pohutu geyser. The tour also includes a visit to Te Puia's woodcarving and weaving schools where apprentices are trained in these traditional skills by master carvers and weavers.

After the Te Puia experience you will return to Auckland. A delicious afternoon snack including traditional Maori rewana bread is enjoyed en route.

At the end of an exciting day out you will be dropped back at your hotel in Auckland.

Inclusions

  • Hotel pick-up and drop-off
  • Scenic coach tour with commentary.
  • Transportation in a coach
  • English-speaking driver/ guide
  • Morning and afternoon snacks
  • Light lunch: homemade gourmet chicken sandwich (vegetarian option on request), slice of cake, Danish pastry, piece of fruit and beverage
  • Entrance fees and guided tour through Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Additional info

The confirmation voucher includes the local activity operator’s contact details and local telephone numbers at the destination. They will happily answer any logistical questions you may have.

travel inspiration from guidebook

Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. To find out more, please read our Cookie Policy. Accept