Rotorua Tours
Whaka Trails and Maori Village Combo Tour
4.5

Whaka Trails and Maori Village Combo Tour

By Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village
Recommended by 93% of travellers
93% of reviewers gave this product a bubble rating of 4 or higher.
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Ages 0-100, max of 20 per group
Duration: 1–3 hours
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English
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Written guide
Print or digital reading material such as a guide, map, brochure, etc.
: English
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  • Combo includes access to Whaka Geothermal Trails & Village Guided Tour
  • Entry/Admission - Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village
  • Entry/Admission - Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village
What's not included
  • Coffee and/or Tea
  • Lunch
  • Bottled water


Start:
  • 17 Tryon Street, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand
    Please come into our admissions building on arrival, this is sign posted outside the building.
End:This activity ends back at the meeting point.

    • Wheelchair accessible
    • Pushchair accessible
    • Service animals allowed
    • Near public transportation
    If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 6913P9

    • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
    • Most travellers can participate
    • This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
    • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travellers

    • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

    If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 6913P9

    From
    AU$66.63
    per adult
    Select date and travellers
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    Similar experiences

    Itinerary
    • 17 Tryon Street, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua 3010, New Zealand
      Please come into our admissions building on arrival, this is sign posted outside the building.
    • 1
    • 2
    About the operator
    Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
    • Wolverine154
      0 contributions
      4.0 of 5 bubbles
      Pleasant historical & cultural experience-good rainy day activity
      Yes, a living village-according to our local guide, about 50 people reside here-a couple of cars were parked in it at houses for example. An ode to human ingenuity w/how they have historically harnessed the power of the steam/hot water for use in their abodes, bathing & cooking. And the thermal activity from the geysers & fumaroles while less in volume than Waiotapu was definitely better in size & proximity-so no reason to waste your time at Waiotapu-you get a 2 for 1 experience here & it’s right in Rotorua.
      Written 4 February 2025
    • S1034BNronk
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Great experience
      Staff were fantastic, so helpful and friendly. The guided tour with Wai was excellent, so interesting and wonderful to talk to people who are so proud of their ancestry. Wai was a very knowledgeable and interesting guide. A really great experience.
      Written 3 February 2025
    • VipinC7
      0 contributions
      1.0 of 5 bubbles
      Slef tour better than guides tour
      Very rude and arrogant guide. Didn't cover all area and did long speaches. Not at all Profesional. Not recommending aguided tour.
      Written 30 January 2025
    • 997varshan
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazing performance
      Amazing performance with lots of energy and bustling with great enthusiasm. The team of performers were great and their energy was unmatched. Very captivating! However, the man at the reception who was in charge of tickets came across to be so rude and arrogant in his answers. Not at all a welcoming gesture! His words and responses were cold. We asked if we could get a map of the village tour- but instead of explaining that they would not provide a map as we didn’t book the tour, his actions and answers were so rude- he just simply shouted and said NO
      Written 28 January 2025
    • donweaver131
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Wai was an awesome guide!
      Wai was our excellent guide. Tremendous knowledge and clear story telling. May she join the other women guides posted at the entrance.
      Written 27 January 2025
    • 819lesleya
      0 contributions
      4.0 of 5 bubbles
      Interesting visit
      Michael, our guide, was interesting and amusing. We enjoyed a quick snapshot of Māori life and traditions. We only booked for the village tour and not the Māori performance as we were short of time but I wish I had stayed for the performance. An enjoyable visit nonetheless.
      Written 27 January 2025
    • shelleybK6106ZV
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Lovely informative tour. An interesting insight into Maori life and how things have changed (not always for the better)
      Loved this tour. Our guide was really informative and funny. Sweetcorn cooked in the thermal waters was yummy. Definitely recommend.
      Written 21 January 2025
    • ShazzaPN
      0 contributions
      4.0 of 5 bubbles
      Wheelchair User at the Living Village
      We really enjoyed this tour of the village. Our guide was fantastic - friendly, fun and informative. We did wonder if it was going to be too much about things we already knew as being kiwis in the group was the minority. However there was enough new information and things to see to make it interesting. It was great to see the geysers and a highlight was the delicious corn that was so tasty that it didn't need salt. My husband is a wheelchair user so I pushed him around. The surface was uneven and bumpy in places with a few inclines. It was fine as there were lots of stops for information to be shared. Our group was quite small about 12 people so it was easy to see and hear.
      Written 17 January 2025
    • anniedsnz
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Seeing history in action!
      One of the most memorable and significant things we did on our north island road trip. Seeing living history was so wonderful. The stories our beautiful guide told us were moving, funny and educational. Highly recommend carving out time to visit this amazing village. A special thank you to the residents for sharing your space with us.
      Written 17 January 2025
    • BlueHeeler777
      0 contributions
      3.0 of 5 bubbles
      Interesting, but we wouldn't recommend to friends
      An interesting walk looking at various facets of geothermal activity. However, I thought it was a little overpriced for what we saw. Lady at check-in saw us waiting to get tickets but took her time in serving us as if we were an interruption to her day.
      Written 16 January 2025
    • 833billf
      0 contributions
      2.0 of 5 bubbles
      Boring
      Certain parts of the tour were interesting, however our guide had a habit of rambling on for too long on many topic. He also strayed from the topics many times. I assume he was trying to provide interesting facts that pertained to him.. I found it boring and looked forward to it ending
      Written 15 January 2025
    • RAVIKUMARM53
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Amazing Place - A Must Visit Place
      Amazing place with Sulphur Springs & the Maori show was excellent. People staying there are full of love & passion to that place which they relish despite the hardships faced in terms of warm temperatures.
      Written 13 January 2025
    • 727kathyw
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Excellent
      Very informative & interesting guided walk around the Village. The guide was enthusiastic about her home & it was fascinating to hear how they have adapted to use the natural geothermal waters for their everyday life. Would definitely recommend.
      Written 7 January 2025
    • andrewhZ3378HH
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      A must see
      A must go to for anyone visiting NZ, I always bring anyone visiting me here. A true cultural heritage experience and the villagers are so friendly and proud to share their knowledge.
      Written 6 January 2025
    • Global07391694765
      0 contributions
      5.0 of 5 bubbles
      Welsh Legends visit
      Unbelievable experience with the best tour guide and his gorgeous dog taking us through historical moments that he had experienced himself. Authentic and delivered with fun and humour. Thank you from the Welsh group.
      Written 4 January 2025
    See all 3,199 reviews
    These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

    Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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    4.5
    4.5 of 5 bubbles119 reviews
    Excellent
    94
    Very good
    17
    Average
    5
    Poor
    2
    Terrible
    1

    Rebecca G
    12 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Mar 2024 • Family
    We had a great couple of hours exploring the geothermal pools around the village and our tour guide Philip was good! We paid an extra 10 dollars each for a cultural performance which was well worth the extra money. Only issue is we had around 35 people in our group so we couldn’t always hear what Philip was saying as walk ways are fairly narrow.
    Written 8 March 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Seth N
    2 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Mar 2023
    My wife and I did the combo package that included the cultural performance, a guided tour of the village and a self-tour of the hot springs. The culturual performance was so much fun with audience participation, beautiful songs, poi balls and dancing. "Chief" was our guide for the tour of the village and he did a great job of explaining the history of the village as well as demonstrating how the people who live there use the hot springs for cooking and bathing. He even did a few impromptu songs, dances and is pretty good at the poi balls himself, with plenty of good humor sprinkled throughout the presentation. The self-tour of the hot springs was pretty impressive. There are so many ways the hot water manifests throughout the village from geysers to bubbling, stinky mud pits. It's not a super long walk and might take you an hour to walk all the trails available, but when the wind is just right, you can get a nice steam bath that'll clear your sinuses right up. All in all a wonderful cultural and geological experience. Oh and there are a few different options for gift shops throughout. And don't be afraid to come on a cold or rainy day because that just made the steam that much more impressive.
    Written 18 March 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Ilana S
    Victoria, Canada22 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    June 2024 • Family
    Our tour guide Daniel was terrific - dynamic, engaging, and incredibly informative about Maori history, traditions, and daily life. The tour was 1 hour which was the perfect length. We also watched the cultural performance, which was wonderful - this was an additional cost but well worth it.
    Written 18 June 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    jarofhoneys
    3 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    June 2024 • Family
    A definite must-do in Rotorua! It did not feel like a tourist trap, but rather a genuine and authentic exercise in preserving the Māori legacy and way of life.

    --
    Spent the morning there: 9.45am to 1pm
    Combo tour includes the guided village tour (1h) and geothermal trail (1h+ with time for pics). Paid a little extra (well worth it!!) for the cultural performance (30 min). Would definitely have bought the full day pass in retrospect.

    Guided village tour:
    Our 10am group was small, so we were lucky to have an intimate tour with our passionate, knowledgeable and charismatic guide Kylie. Her love and connection to her people, values and traditions was apparent and infectious.

    Geothermal trail:
    Really felt like walking through Jurassic Park. Stunning lake view with lots of great photo ops.

    Cultural performance:
    10/10. Aside from the performance itself (which was fun and energetic), we could experience firsthand the warm community feeling and connection just by watching the interactions between the talented performers.

    Overall:
    It was an invaluable and unique experience to be welcomed into the Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao people's home, experience their hospitality firsthand and witness such beautiful views along the walking trail. Everyone was warm and friendly, from Shayne at reception to all the people and kids we came across in the village. Would definitely visit again. Thank you for welcoming us into your home! <3
    Written 11 June 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Sineadf14
    Summerhill, Ireland16 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    This is a very interesting tour and we would highly recommend it to others. Our guide was enthusiastic and friendly. We got tickets online, drove and parked in the carpark, received a visitor’s badge at reception and our guide met us at the designated meeting point. The tour that followed walked through the Maori village at a nice easy pace, stopping at various points of interest to elaborate on the history and natural features of the area. Lots of information on and observations of the active geothermal pools in the village, and concrete examples are given of how the Maori people use this amazing natural resource in their daily lives. Details given on the Maori culture and heritage were fascinating. The tour culminated in a fantastic view of the Pohutu geyser. We were free to walk the trails afterward if we liked, which we did. The trails are well signposted and include both flat and hilly pathways. All in all, we spent about 2 hours in the village and would highly recommend everyone go and experience this special tour for themselves!
    Written 23 July 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Rosanna U
    Toronto, Canada36 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Feb 2023
    We did the full day pass which gave us access to self guided, guided tour and cultural performance.

    We got there for 9AM when it opened and had the site to ourselves. Very doable to explore all of the self guided area before the tour at 10AM if you move quickly. My favourite area was 15/16 (Te roto a tamaheke & Te puns waiariki poaka).

    We had Philip as our tour guide and he was very informative.

    The pools range from 90-110°C waters. We got to taste the sweet corn straight out of the waters. No seasoning is added as the water is full of rich minerals. The performance was lovely as well.

    Whakarewarewa village is an actual Maori village that is located on and around the geothermal field. Please be respectful of the land while you are there as people live there.
    Written 25 February 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Explore30489093695
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Jan 2024 • Family
    What a fantastic day. I cannot recommend this highly enough, not to be missed one of my favourite days out on our New Zealand trip. We paid for the guided tour and cultural performance and did not disappoint both were fantastic, must mention our guide Michael was so informative and made the tour extra special thank you. We visited the shops within the village and bought some souvenirs which I thought were very reasonable priced. The show was also fantastic. Then had a walk around the grounds which we all really enjoyed. Visited the cafe at the entrance which was very clean and again reasonably priced as was the adjoining gift shop. All in all a wonderful day out which I would highly recommend. Thank you all for sharing this experience. Wonderful.
    Written 5 January 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Jeff R
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Sept 2024 • Couples
    Our guide was amazing. She was super knowledgeable, really knew how to capture our attention and imagination with her stories, and is truly excited to share everything with her visitors. We also got to see the show which usually isn’t my thing, but this one is really interesting and the host explains what you’re going to see and why it’s done. Really worth the extra time!
    Written 24 October 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    Meridith C
    Chandler, OK31 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Dec 2023 • Couples
    We began at the ticket office where we got our sticker to show the guides where we were supposed to be. We were led up the the cultural performance, then back down to be taken around the village by a guide. The guided tour is amazing! We had a knowledgeable guide who had lived in the village her whole life and was actually the chief’s daughter. She had wonderful insights into the details of the area and personal connections with it all. In the middle, we got to try a 1/3 sweet corn cob made in the veggie boiling pool! The cultural performance was absolutely stunning and inspiring! There were young and old Māori who sang and danced and interacted with us. It was full of energy and personality. After the guided tour and performance, we were able to walk around at our leisure. I recommend it to anyone in the area!
    Written 24 December 2023
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

    GoPlaces51457961421
    New York City, NY5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Apr 2024 • Solo
    Great immersion into Whakarewarewa Village past, present and future. Performers, tour guide as well as other community members met on site conveyed authenticity and were inclusive of visitors. I really enjoyed the self-guided walk as a way to reflect and absorb what Nature had to offer, including a vintage point on Pōhutu Geyser. Thank you for having me!
    Written 30 April 2024
    This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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    Whaka Trails and Maori Village Combo Tour provided by Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village

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