Day 2 — Waitomo → Hobbiton → Auckland

Monday, March 23 — 469 km total driving

Strategy: Stop in Hamilton for dinner at ~5:30 PM, wait out Auckland rush hour, depart 7 PM. Arrives Auckland ~8:30 PM instead of grinding through gridlock.

Before This Day

  • [ ] Pack breakfast and lunch from the hotel (limited food options on the drive)
  • [ ] Confirm Spellbound Glowworm Caves booking — check-in 20 min before departure
  • [ ] Confirm Hobbiton booking — arrive at Shire's Rest by 2:20 PM
  • [ ] Save offline maps for both routes (Waitomo + Hobbiton drives)

Top 3 Things

  • ✨ Spellbound Caves
  • 🧙 Hobbiton

Daily Timeline

Time Activity
5:15 AM Wake up
5:45 AM Drive to Waitomo (204 km, ~2.5 hrs)
9:30 AM Spellbound Glowworm Caves tour (~2.5 hrs) — booked, fixed
12:00 PM Lunch near Waitomo
12:30 PM Drive to Hobbiton (95 km, ~1.5 hrs)
2:00 PM Shuttle from Shire's Rest to tour — booked, fixed
2:40 PM Hobbiton tour — booked, fixed
4:45 PM Drive to Hamilton (35 km, ~30 min)
5:30 PM Dinner in Hamilton — wait out rush hour
7:00 PM Drive to Auckland (130 km, ~1.5 hrs)
8:30 PM Arrive hotel, sleep

Videos

Notes

5:15 AM | Wake Up

This is why Day 1 sleep matters so much. Eat the breakfast you bought yesterday — nothing will be open.

5:45 AM | Drive to Waitomo (204 km, ~2.5 hrs)

Early departure means no traffic. Scenic once you clear Auckland's southern suburbs.

  • Eat breakfast in the car — almost no food stops on this route
  • Drive route

Leg 1 — Auckland to Hamilton (~130 km, ~1.5 hrs on SH1 south)

  • Head south out of Auckland on SH1 — motorway for the first 50 km, then open state highway
  • Traffic can be heavy leaving Auckland in the early morning; leaving at 6:00 AM should beat the worst of it
  • Pass through Ngaruawahia — small town at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipa rivers, nothing to stop for but the river is visible from the road
  • Bypass Hamilton on the ring road — no need to enter the city

Leg 2 — Hamilton to Otorohanga (~55 km, ~40 min on SH3)

  • Turn southwest onto SH3 at Hamilton toward Te Awamutu and Otorohanga
  • The road passes through rolling green Waikato farmland — very pastoral, quintessentially North Island
  • Otorohanga — a small town famous for its kiwiana street art, ~10 min before Waitomo. This is the last reliable food stop on the route. Good place to stop for petrol and grab anything you need before the caves

Leg 3 — Otorohanga to Waitomo (~16 km, ~15 min)

  • Turn off SH3 onto Waitomo Caves Road
  • The road descends into a narrow limestone valley — the landscape changes noticeably as you drop into the karst country
  • Spellbound check-in is NOT in Waitomo Village — it is 15 km away at 334 Boddies Rd, Te Kuiti. Do not drive into Waitomo village unless you need to. Use Google Maps and follow it exactly

9:30 AM | Spellbound Glowworm Caves (~2.5 hrs)

~2.5 hrs. Small group, boat ride through caves. One of the best experiences in NZ — worth the early start.

Meeting point: 334 Boddies Rd, Te Kuiti 3981 — note this is NOT in Waitomo Village, it's 15 km away on a rural road between Waitomo and Te Kuiti. Use Google Maps.

We have the Spellbound Glowworm and Cave Explorer tour — 150 min, two caves, $99 NZD each.

From the tour company: Our minibus departs promptly at the advertised time. Please read our address carefully and arrive at this address — we are not in Waitomo Village or near the Waitomo Glowworm Cave. We will need you to be able to walk gently, unaided for up to 45 minutes. There are several short steep sections and a few stairs on gravel paths.

Bring: warm top or jacket, comfortable walking shoes, camera Provided: hot drinks and biscuits, toilets near the cave Running late? Call 0800 773 552 Check in 20 minutes prior to departure.

12:00 PM | Lunch near Waitomo

Waitomo Caves Hotel or grab something from your snack stash. Limited vegetarian options in the village — plan on snacks from yesterday's grocery run.

12:30 PM | Drive to Hobbiton (95 km, ~1.5 hrs)

  • Drive route
  • Meeting point: 501 Buckland Rd, Matamata 3472 (Shire's Rest Café)
  • Arrive by 2:20 PM — 20 min before the tour slot
  • Free parking on site

Leg 1 — Waitomo to Te Awamutu (~45 km, ~40 min on SH3)

  • Head back north on Waitomo Caves Road to Otorohanga, then continue north on SH3 to Te Awamutu
  • Flat, fast driving through farmland

Leg 2 — Te Awamutu to Matamata (~50 km, ~45 min on SH3 then SH29)

  • At Te Awamutu, turn east onto SH3 then SH29 toward Matamata
  • The road passes through the Waikato basin — very green, very flat, very lush. This is prime dairy country and the landscape looks exactly like the Shire in the films — that's not a coincidence. Peter Jackson chose this location specifically because the rolling green hills, hedgerows, and gentle valleys matched Tolkien's description of the Shire precisely
  • As you approach Matamata the Kaimai Range rises to the east — the hills behind the Hobbiton set are visible from the road before you turn in
  • Turn onto Buckland Road and follow it to the Shire's Rest Café — free parking on site

2:40 PM | Hobbiton Tour

~2 hrs. Ends with a complimentary drink at the Green Dragon Inn — ask for something non-alcoholic if needed.

When you first arrive at Hobbiton Movie Set, you park at the gift shop and pick up your tickets. Huge tour buses take you into the actual set. Arrive early — browse the gift shop and café before your tour time. Once it's time, head to the parking lot to meet your guide and board the bus. There's a brief video explaining how it became the filming site. You get out by the "Welcome to Hobbiton" sign and follow your guide inside. In December 2023 they opened two furnished Hobbit holes you can visit — you only go inside one (groups are split to manage crowds), but it's incredible. At the end of the tour you get one free drink in The Green Dragon. — Hobbiton visitor review

4:45 PM | Drive to Hamilton (35 km, ~30 min)

Head north from Matamata on SH27 toward Hamilton. Fast, straight highway through the Waikato plains.

5:30 PM | Dinner in Hamilton — Rush Hour Strategy

This is not a detour — it saves 45–60 min of Auckland gridlock and you need to eat anyway. Depart no earlier than 7 PM.

  • Gothenburg — good vegetarian options, worth checking
  • The Palate — vegetarian-friendly, solid Hamilton restaurant

7:00 PM | Drive to Auckland (130 km, ~1.5 hrs)

  • Drive route
  • Traffic is clear by 7 PM — clean run up SH1
  • Motorway for the final 50 km into Auckland

Arrive ~8:30 PM. You need to be up for an 8 AM breakfast and 9:30 AM airport departure tomorrow. Get to bed.

Decisions

Why Spellbound over the main Waitomo cave

I did both the Waitomo Glowworm Cave and Spellbound last month. Spellbound was best for glowworms, plus the experience is nicer. At Waitomo, they're churning through a group every 10 minutes. At Spellbound, it's 12 per group and I felt we spent more time in the glowworm area. — TripAdvisor reviewer

The black water rafting was fun, but honestly not quite as epic as it sounds. The main glowworm cave was about 5 minutes of our 3-hour tour. If I go back, I would choose one of the walking tours to have more time to appreciate the glowworms. — Reddit reviewer