Tours in Tauranga/Rotorus

Does anyone have any experience w/freewheelingtours or cruisetourstauranga.co.nz? They are the same company. They have a great web site. But you never know....

We booked with them for a tour later this month. They were very responsive to emails and customized a 4-person tour based on what we wanted to do. Will try to come back and post when we return from the cruise.

We used Zealandier Tours 2 weeks ago. Great 7 hr. tour of Rotorua from Tauranga for NZD135-.

We used Zealandier Tours 2 weeks ago. Great 7 hr. tour of Rotorua from Tauranga for NZD135-.

Are the Zealandier Tours small group or large bus?

Thanks!

We had the most fantastic day with Amazing Day Tours. Small van holds 9, but only 6 on our tour. Our guide Bruce was absolutely brilliant and tailored the tour to what we wanted to see as well as what fitted in with beating the large coaches to all the best spots. Would thoroughly recommend.

Regards

Robyn

They have 2 tours with slightly different itineraries. One on a larger bus, the other in a van. We took the larger bus because of the itinerary. About 20 people on board, very comfortable.

Just back from our trip to Australia and New Zealand. We were on Celebrity Solstice 1/27/15 sailing, with a day stop in Tauranga. We were to dock on Feb. 6, and that morning there were heavy winds that prevented us from docking. We had a sea day. I never thought about this happening since they have a dock. The dock is not well protected from the ocean winds, and it was unsafe to dock. I just wanted to let people be aware of this, so if you are booking private excursions, PLEASE make sure your tour company will refund your deposit/cost of excursion, if the ship does not make the stop.

Fortunately for us, we were only planning a day at the beach. We were spending 6 nights post cruise in New Zealand. We were able to stop in Tauranga for a few hours on our last full day to see the town and take the hike up Mount Maunganu for some spectacular views!

Are the Zealandier Tours small group or large bus?

 

Thanks!

We were in a small group. Our van took 5 pax plus guide. Full day tour of Rotorua and surrounds from Tauranga. Reasonably priced. Our guide was very informative but on the quiet side. He escorted us everywhere which was great. If you are after someone bubbly, may want to look elsewhere. But if you are happy to be informed without alot of excess chatter you will be happy. Excellent itinerary.

Used CruisetoursTauranga late Feb. They were fantastic. Also check out scott-tours.co.nz

We just returned from an Oceania Sydney-Auckland cruise and used Custom Day Tours and it was fantastic! It is a husband and wife team, Terry & Carolyn Kelliher and Carolyn was our tour guide. They are very responsive to inquiries; knowledgeable about the area and have a very comfortable van. terrycarolynkelliherathotmaildotcom

Our tour was from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and included a two hour guided tour of Hobbiton which was amazing! Even a couple who were not familiar with the books or films loved it. We had a group of eight. We also went to McLaren Falls; an active geothermal area, Te Puia; visited a Maori village and saw a cultural performance/welcome concert and a red wood forest. It was one of the highlights of our trip. I would highly recommend them.

Have a wonderful trip!

It seems that every private tour operator includes Kiwi 360 as part of any suggested itinerary out of Tauranga!

If anyone's been there, please share your thoughts, thanks!

Can't help you with that as we purposely excluded it from our tour.

It seems that every private tour operator includes Kiwi 360 as part of any suggested itinerary out of Tauranga!

 

If anyone's been there, please share your thoughts, thanks!

We visited Kiwi360 just very briefly, more as a stretch your legs and a toilet stop than anything else.

I found it quite interesting to actually see the kiwi fruits growing, didn't realise that they grew in such large bunches, then a quick tasting of the wine if we wanted while waiting for those using the bathroom. I am sure if as a group we had advised Amazing Day tours that we as a group did not want to stop Bruce would have just left it on the itinerary. It was a 10 minute stop at most, so no big deal.

Did a private tour recently which included a 15 min. stop at kiwi 360. I thought it was worthwhile to see, especially all the kiwi products. On the same tour we did a stop at the Polynesian Spa where we spent 30 min. in a private outdoor mineral pool. Highly recommend.