Auckland Travel Forum

I'll be visiting Auckland in September and am interested in doing a day tour out of the city, potentionally to Rotorua. However I noticed all the formal day tours seem rather expensive (>$200 USD). Is there a cheaper tour company someone can suggest? Are there other transportation options (other than the obvious rental car)?

Flying is no option price-wise as the cheapest flights I have seen in a week in September is $ 168 return, and you would have to get to the airports which is another cost and waste of time.

So you could consider a trip on a public bus, for example InterCity. I checked how much a seat would cost on 23 Sept. The cheapest option would be NZ$ 10 for a trip that departs at AKL Sky City at 9.30am. You just have to book in advance to get the lowest possible fare.

The attractions in Rotorua are rather wide-spread, so you cannot get there just walking around. But there is rather a cheap shuttle service to the attractions close to the city, for example Whakarewarewa, the Agrodome, the Zorb, etc.

If you check the travel packages and find out if $ 220 is really expensive you have to check out the attractions that are included. The entry fees for some of the attractions are rather steep, so at the end those $ 220 could still be a good deal even if you would get InterCity bus trips for next to nothing. And of course, as the bus trips take 4 hours each way there would not be a real lot of time left to get to all the places. With depending on public transportation in Rotorua you really waste a lot of time.

That is why I would still recommend to rent a car ;-) But again: Calculating the rental cost, the petrol, plus the entry fees you might not end up saving a lot of money compared to a stressless organised bus tour. Some of the budget rental companies even charge extra if you return the car after hours.