Milford Sound is beautiful. There was no Lord of the Rings tour on our trip. We arrived early In Wellington and noticed there were tours you could do of some of the sites. It was filmed all over, there really is no one real place. We had no interest in doing it. I still recommend Zealandia there. https://www.visitzealandia.com/
The Rosenbergs - there have been some changes to this tour since we took it in 2019. Then, we stayed in Te Anau for two nights, and visited Milford Sound from there, an approximate 2 hour drive each direction. I looked at the new itinerary and see that in Queenstown you have your choice of Milford Sound or the 4 by 4 Lord of the Rings tour.
Milford Sound (there is a boat ride), and the scenic ride to and from, were beautiful, and we were lucky with good weather. I would not have wanted to miss it. It is, however, a longer trip by bus from Queenstown, and you can check with Tauck about the logistics.
We did not take a specific Lord of the Rings tour in either Wellington or Queenstown. However, we are fans, and in Wellington, during our free time visited Weta Studios. Interesting tour, focusing on props and special effects. We went to the Visitor Center, bought the timed entry tickets from the helpful staff, and they explained what public bus to take. We enjoyed the visit.
I suggest googling the 4 by 4 tours offered in Queenstown and reading descriptions and reviews. When driving to the jet boat river, you will see one of the rock formations used in the movies. When considering one of the tours in Wellington, I researched carefully and decided against the 4 by 4 tours in that City. Some people loved the tours, others not so much. The main complaint was that those tours consisted of locations only - no props or sets.
In retrospect, I wish we had stayed in Auckland one more day. I would have liked to take day tour to Hobbiton, which looks like a fairly elaborate movie set.
Folks on my tour were also disappointed with the Lord of the Rings tour. I vote for Milford Sound...just thinking about those Green-lipped mussels...yummy
We purposefully stayed over in Auckland at the end of the tour to take the Hobbiton movie set tour. I'm a huge fan, and I have to tell you, it was awesome!! We hired a small group van tour called Bush and Beach. It's a fair bit out of town (a long day), but just to say we've had pints at the Green Dragon, knocked on Bilbo's door, and saw the party tree... sigh... We learned about some of the movie effects, such as how they made the hobbit hole doors look bigger or smaller, and our enthusiastic guide spoke Elvish, much to my delight!
which one to do?? They both are places I want to go to..Is there time to do both??
There is not time to do both. The Milford Sound tour leaves at 7:30am and gets back around 7:45pm.
We took the Milford Sound tour yesterday and for most people that is the way to go. The Lord of The Rings tour is really only there as an option for those who don’t want the long bus ride. The Tauck hotel in Te Anau is closed at least through next August so you stay in Queenstown, adding 2 and 1/2 hours each way on the ride to Milford. I can’t comment on the Lord of the Rings tour since everyone in our group went to Milford. Milford Sound is spectacular and at dinner there was general agreement we would make the same choice again despite the long day.
We were offered an alternative to the long bus ride. A local helicopter company would take us from Queenstown to Milford for $1,000 NZD (currently about $575 USD) round trip or $800 NZD (about $450 USD) one way, per person, weather permitting. The weather did not permit yesterday so I have no helicopter reviews.
Can someone from TAUCK tell me a little bit about the current 2023 tours or Milford Sound or the Lord of the Rings tour..What they each include and how long they are
Most of our group elected to take the helicopter ride to Milford Sound. There was bad weather, and our ride was cancelled. The coach had already left, with the tour director and 3 people from the group, so most of us totally missed out on seeing Milford Sound, or the Lord of the rings. The helicopter company said it is not unusual for the helicopter rides to Melford Sound to be cancelled. They were cancelled all three days we were in Queenstown.
On the advice of our TD those of us wanting the helicopter ride opted for the one way trip, taking the bus to Milford and the helicopter back. That way when the helicopter has to cancel, as it did for us, we rode the bus both ways and did not miss Milford Sound.
Comments
Milford Sound is beautiful. There was no Lord of the Rings tour on our trip. We arrived early In Wellington and noticed there were tours you could do of some of the sites. It was filmed all over, there really is no one real place. We had no interest in doing it. I still recommend Zealandia there.
https://www.visitzealandia.com/
The Rosenbergs - there have been some changes to this tour since we took it in 2019. Then, we stayed in Te Anau for two nights, and visited Milford Sound from there, an approximate 2 hour drive each direction. I looked at the new itinerary and see that in Queenstown you have your choice of Milford Sound or the 4 by 4 Lord of the Rings tour.
Milford Sound (there is a boat ride), and the scenic ride to and from, were beautiful, and we were lucky with good weather. I would not have wanted to miss it. It is, however, a longer trip by bus from Queenstown, and you can check with Tauck about the logistics.
We did not take a specific Lord of the Rings tour in either Wellington or Queenstown. However, we are fans, and in Wellington, during our free time visited Weta Studios. Interesting tour, focusing on props and special effects. We went to the Visitor Center, bought the timed entry tickets from the helpful staff, and they explained what public bus to take. We enjoyed the visit.
I suggest googling the 4 by 4 tours offered in Queenstown and reading descriptions and reviews. When driving to the jet boat river, you will see one of the rock formations used in the movies. When considering one of the tours in Wellington, I researched carefully and decided against the 4 by 4 tours in that City. Some people loved the tours, others not so much. The main complaint was that those tours consisted of locations only - no props or sets.
In retrospect, I wish we had stayed in Auckland one more day. I would have liked to take day tour to Hobbiton, which looks like a fairly elaborate movie set.
Folks on my tour were also disappointed with the Lord of the Rings tour. I vote for Milford Sound...just thinking about those Green-lipped mussels...yummy
We purposefully stayed over in Auckland at the end of the tour to take the Hobbiton movie set tour. I'm a huge fan, and I have to tell you, it was awesome!! We hired a small group van tour called Bush and Beach. It's a fair bit out of town (a long day), but just to say we've had pints at the Green Dragon, knocked on Bilbo's door, and saw the party tree... sigh... We learned about some of the movie effects, such as how they made the hobbit hole doors look bigger or smaller, and our enthusiastic guide spoke Elvish, much to my delight!
There is not time to do both. The Milford Sound tour leaves at 7:30am and gets back around 7:45pm.
We took the Milford Sound tour yesterday and for most people that is the way to go. The Lord of The Rings tour is really only there as an option for those who don’t want the long bus ride. The Tauck hotel in Te Anau is closed at least through next August so you stay in Queenstown, adding 2 and 1/2 hours each way on the ride to Milford. I can’t comment on the Lord of the Rings tour since everyone in our group went to Milford. Milford Sound is spectacular and at dinner there was general agreement we would make the same choice again despite the long day.
We were offered an alternative to the long bus ride. A local helicopter company would take us from Queenstown to Milford for $1,000 NZD (currently about $575 USD) round trip or $800 NZD (about $450 USD) one way, per person, weather permitting. The weather did not permit yesterday so I have no helicopter reviews.
Can someone from TAUCK tell me a little bit about the current 2023 tours or Milford Sound or the Lord of the Rings tour..What they each include and how long they are
Tauck doesn't respond on the forum. You'll have to call them.
Most of our group elected to take the helicopter ride to Milford Sound. There was bad weather, and our ride was cancelled. The coach had already left, with the tour director and 3 people from the group, so most of us totally missed out on seeing Milford Sound, or the Lord of the rings. The helicopter company said it is not unusual for the helicopter rides to Melford Sound to be cancelled. They were cancelled all three days we were in Queenstown.
On the advice of our TD those of us wanting the helicopter ride opted for the one way trip, taking the bus to Milford and the helicopter back. That way when the helicopter has to cancel, as it did for us, we rode the bus both ways and did not miss Milford Sound.