Ultimate Lord of the Rings road trip itinerary - North Island - Britz

Four nights and 764 kilometres from Auckland to Wellington in a campervan, linking the North Island’s Lord of the Rings locations.

Pokeno and Matamata come first for Hobbiton, which is the only location rebuilt permanently: the set was built twice, in temporary materials for the first trilogy and then properly for the second, and is now kept up as it appears on screen.

Tirau, Rotorua and Te Puia follow, with the geysers and the carving school, then Taupo and the Huka Falls, and Tongariro National Park, where Ngauruhoe stood in for Mount Doom and the surrounding desert for the approaches to Mordor. Ohakune comes next, then Wellington, where the Weta Workshop built most of the physical effects and runs tours, with Rivendell at Kaitoke Regional Park on the Hutt River, where nothing of the set remains and the forest itself is the point.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Five days for 764 kilometres is comfortable. Hobbiton and the Weta tours both need booking and sell out in summer. Several of the locations, Kaitoke among them, were left exactly as they were found, which makes them free to visit and a good deal quieter than the paid sites. This is a one-way hire too, so a relocation fee is worth checking at booking. Wellington is a good place to finish, with the national museum and the Weta tours filling a final day once the camper has gone back.