Weta Workshop
Wellington is in many ways the heart of the movie fan's experience, being the home to the Weta Workshop, Cave and Stone Street Studios.
Wellington is in many ways the heart of the movie fan's experience, being the home to the Weta Workshop. Named after a native New Zealand species of insect ancient enough to have seen dinosaurs come and go, Weta has been responsible for the remarkable digital and special effects, costuming and weaponry that have helped bring The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies to life. Besides being the base for Weta, Wellington is also New Zealand's capital city with a reputation as the place to go for a culture fix due to its world-class cafés, bars, restaurants, art galleries and New Zealand's National Museum, Te Papa.
The Weta group is made up of a huge number of talented artists including the Weta Cave Workshop where they are responsible for all the Special effects, Motion Capture, costuming and weaponry, its shop front, the Weta Cave and Weta Digital where the digital visual effects wizards are based, the Stone Street Studios and Park Road Post Production. During the production of The Lord of the Rings, the artists turned out thousands of items including 1200 suits of armour and 10,000 arrows among many others. When travelling with Red Carpet Tours, you'll get a taste of these props and the people who made them and their stories on our action-packed Weta Day.
Close to the centre of Wellington, on the forested slopes of Mount Victoria, is the 'Get off the road' location where the Hobbits hid from the menacing Black Rider. On tour, together we will recreate these scenes.
Lord of The Rings Filming Locations Visited
Our New Zealand Lord of the Rings tours include many movie locations such as Hobbiton and Mordor in The North Island, to Laketown and Edoras in the South Island. All of these beautiful places are instantly recognisable in real life.
In the midst of endless rolling green hills flecked with white sheep is the village of Hobbiton. Be prepared to be transported to the peaceful region of Middle-earth™ where Bilbo Baggins lived and the
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Although the area is better known for the Waitomo Caves and glow worms, the Mangaotaki Valley near Piopio also featured in The Hobbit where it became the location for Staddle Farm and Trollshaw Forest
Trollshaw
Pelorus River is a stunning location where Bilbo and the 13 Dwarves had to ride down the rapids in their barrels!
Learn MoreWhat people have said
Traveling New Zealand with RCT and Julie was amazing. It was the trip of a lifetime (but I hope to do it again!). It was very well put together and we got to see such amazing sites and do so many awesome things. I can't even name what my favorite part of the whole tour was because it was...
Lynn S
With Julie James as our guide (Feb. 2018) on the 14 day tour... it was excellent! She always took every effort and opportunity to see to everyone's requests. The hotels we stayed in were wonderful. The meals were delicious. But the tour itself??? Awesome!!! We had big LOTR and the Hobbit...
Katherine C
From first contact with the James family, and the Lord of the Rings-Red Carpet Tours, you are in the best of hands. You expect so much on the tour but you receive so much more. I came back from my first tour believing I'd never have a better, truly satisfying experience, and they could...
Barbara S
I went solo and am a bit of an introvert, but Julie and the rest of the tour members made this an unforgettable experience and made me feel right at home. This was number one on my bucket list and it exceeded my expectations across the board. If you're contemplating booking this tour, just...
Jordan M
Everything about this tour was amazing! Our tour guide Julie is a true LOTR fan, and made sure everybody was looked after. The locations were well researched and meaningful. Even after the tour ended, Julie has kept in touch as we all went our separate ways and travelled home to various parts of...
Jody R
Just concluded my third trip with Red Carpet Tours. 5 stars for the 3rd time running! Excellent planning and attention to detail by the James Family and fabulous guiding by Julie. Once again, a very lovely, friendly ‘Fellowship’ of travellers with a common interest. You might expect...
Sue B
This is the best and ONLY way for a LOtR/Hobbit fan to experience New Zealand. Julie and her team are fantastic, knowledgeable people who, you can tell, put so much time and effort into making sure your experience with them is an amazing one! You will not regret choosing them as your guides...
Stephanie B
Just returned as part of the February 2023 Fellowship with Red Carpet Tours and it was one of the best trips of my life. I've been wanting to do this for years and was worried my expectations might be too high, but it was amazing and I wish it didn't have to end! Love the family...
Emily V
Red Carpet Tours is a fabulous company - been with them 3 times. I agree with others posted here that it is the BEST way to see New Zealand, especially if you are a "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" fan - and even if you're not! From all the Magnificent New Zealand...
John N
Amazing and so well worth it! Days in a row of just being excited for something alone was something special to me but also meeting like-minded people who were so accepting and fun was fantastic! Julie James is a treasure - handles everything with grace and was just everything you want in a tour...
Tracy E