Our top pick17 reviews
15 minTaste of Taupo Helicopter Flight
★ 4.6 · 17 reviews
- 15m, Lake, Huka Falls and the town
- Small group
- Most booked
- Free cancellation
$191
Check availability→ 
Taupo helicopter ride
A Taupo helicopter ride offers a fast aerial view. We compared 11 flights, fares from $124 and free cancellation, and the top choice rates 4.6 from 17 reviews. The fare covers a flight over Huka Falls and the Waikato River, a clear reason to book.
From, per person
11 flights compared$124
Today's lowest helicopter ride across all 11 tours
Average rating
All 11 tours48
35 verified reviews across 11 tours
Time in the air
Shortest to longest10–90min
Shortest: Huka Falls
Longest: Taupo’s Mountain Magic
Free cancellation
Reserve now, pay later
Verified reviews
Secure payment
Instant confirmation
Mobile voucher
Everything you can book here
Every helicopter flight you can book from Taupo
Eleven helicopter tours in Taupo: the shortest is ten minutes over Huka Falls at $124, the longest ninety minutes across the alpine plateau. Lake and river flights first, the Tongariro volcanoes and the two flights that land at the end.
Cheapest here13 reviews
10 minTaupo: Huka Falls Helicopter Ride
★ 5.0 · 13 reviews
- 10m, Straight over Huka Falls
- Small group
- Cheapest here
- Free cancellation
$124
Check availability→ 
Lands at Patutu TopsNo reviews yet
18 minTaupo: Scenic Helicopter flight with exclusive landing
- 18m, Lands on Patutu Tops
- Small group
- Eighteen minutes in the air
- Free cancellation
$226
Check availability→ 
Thirty minutesFrom Karapiro
30 minTaupo’s Best Helicopter Flight
- 30m, Lake and the Waikato River
- Thirty minutes in the air
- 30 minutes
- Free cancellation
$411
Check availability→ 
Around the lakeNo reviews yet
45 minTaupo: Loop the Lake Helicopter Flight
- 45m, A full loop of Lake Taupo
- Forty-five minutes in the air
- 45 minutes
- Free cancellation
$479
Check availability→ 
Volcanic plateauOne review
50 minTaupo: Tongariro Crossing Scenic Helicopter Flight
★ 5.0 · 1 reviews
- 50m, Over the Tongariro Crossing
- Fifty minutes in the air
- 50 minutes
- Free cancellation
$620
Check availability→ 
Mount RuapehuNo reviews yet
20 minTaupo: Ruapehu Rush Scenic Helicopter Flight
- 20m, Over Mount Ruapehu
- Small group
- Twenty minutes in the air
- Free cancellation
$733
Check availability→ 
Three reviewsMount Doom and the volcanoes
20 minTaupo: Tongariro Crossing Scenic Helicopter Flight
★ 5.0 · 3 reviews
- 20m, Over the Tongariro Crossing
- Small group
- Twenty minutes in the air
- Free cancellation
$733
Check availability→ 
Flight plus skydive90 minutes
1h 30mTaupo: Helicopter Flight and 15,000 ft Tandem Skydive
- One and a half hours, Helicopter lift to the jump
- Skip the line
- Longest tour here
- Free cancellation
$406
Check availability→ 
Alpine landingLongest here
1h 30mTaupo’s Mountain Magic Helicopter Flight and Alpine Landing
- One and a half hours, Alpine landing in the mountains
- Skip the line
- Ninety minutes in the air
- Free cancellation
$795
Check availability→ 
Tongariro National ParkOne review
25 minTaupo: Mount Doom Scenic Helicopter Flight
★ 5.0 · 1 reviews
- 25m, Over the Ngauruhoe cone
- Small group
- Twenty-five minutes in the air
- Free cancellation
$1,128
Check availability→ Two questions
Which flight is yours?
Eleven flights lift off from Taupo and they split in two. Short hops stay over the lake, the river and Huka Falls. The longer ones run south to the volcanoes of Tongariro and Ruapehu. Say what you came for and the page names one.
See it before you pay for it
What a Taupo helicopter ride looks like from inside
Three films of the country these flights cross: the gorge below the falls, the lake and the town from the air, then the volcanoes at the southern end. Two minutes of watching decides most of the choice.
Side by side
Ten minutes, fifteen minutes, or south to the volcanoes
Three flights side by side: stay over the water, or cross the plateau. The three below are the shortest version of each answer, and the gap between them is mostly time in the air.
Swipe the table sideways →
| Taupo: Huka Falls Helicopter Ride | TOP PICKTaste of Taupo Helicopter Flight | Taupo: Tongariro Crossing Scenic Helicopter Flight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | $124 | $191 | $733 |
| Time in the air | 10 minutes | 15 minutes | 20 minutes |
| What you fly over | The river gorge and Huka Falls | The falls, the carvings, the craters | The Crossing and the volcanoes |
| How far it goes | Just north of the town | Around the town and the river | South, to Tongariro National Park |
| Cost per minute in the air | $12.40 | $12.73 | $36.65 |
| Rating | 5.0 · 13 reviews | 4.6 · 17 reviews | 5.0 · 3 reviews |
| Best for | The falls, in the shortest hop | A first look at the whole area | The volcanoes, from above |
| Check dates | Book this one→ | Check dates |
TOP PICK
Taste of Taupo Helicopter Flight
$191- Time in the air
- 15 minutes
- What you fly over
- The falls, the carvings, the craters
- How far it goes
- Around the town and the river
- Cost per minute in the air
- $12.73
- Rating
- 4.6 · 17 reviews
- Best for
- A first look at the whole area
Reserve now, pay later · Mobile voucher
Taupo: Huka Falls Helicopter Ride
$124- Time in the air
- 10 minutes
- What you fly over
- The river gorge and Huka Falls
- How far it goes
- Just north of the town
- Cost per minute in the air
- $12.40
- Rating
- 5.0 · 13 reviews
- Best for
- The falls, in the shortest hop
Taupo: Tongariro Crossing Scenic Helicopter Flight
$733- Time in the air
- 20 minutes
- What you fly over
- The Crossing and the volcanoes
- How far it goes
- South, to Tongariro National Park
- Cost per minute in the air
- $36.65
- Rating
- 5.0 · 3 reviews
- Best for
- The volcanoes, from above
Verdict
Start with the 15-minute lake flight
Two flights carry most of the reviews on this page, and both follow the river rather than the volcanoes. The 15-minute flight over Huka Falls, the Waikato River and the Maori rock carvings is our top pick at $191: 4.6 across 17 reviews, more than any other listing here. The 10-minute ride to the falls is $124, rated 5.0 across 13 reviews.
Check dates and availability→Before you book
Two different flights share one name
Flights that stay over Lake Taupo and Huka Falls run 10 to 45 minutes and cost $124 to $479. The ones that reach the Tongariro volcanoes and Mount Ruapehu run from 20 to 90 minutes and start at $620. Two of the eleven listings put the helicopter down on the ground; the others fly and return. Reviews are thin either way: 35 across the whole page.
Two-minute check
Which Taupo helicopter ride fits your day?
Three things decide it: how much time you have, what you are willing to spend, and whether you came for the lake or for the volcanoes. Answer them and the page names one flight.
How long are you in Taupo?Flights here run from ten minutes to an hour and a half
What are you spending on this?Seats on this page run from $124 to $1,128
What did you come to see?This is the choice that moves the price most
Answer the three questions above
You’ll get the one that fits your answers, and the thing about it that catches people out.
Five flights, five ratings
35 reviews across eleven flights from Taupo
These are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown as published. It is a young niche: six of the eleven flights have no reviews yet, so the five that do are the ones below.
4.8
★★★★★
Based on 35
verified reviews
5 ★83%
4 ★12%
3 ★3%
2 ★1%
1 ★1%
Five of the eleven flights on this page carry a rating; the other six are new listings.
Read all 35→👁
Taste of Taupo Helicopter Flight
From $191 · 17 reviews
★★★★★
The most reviewed flight from Taupo
Fifteen minutes over Huka Falls and the Waikato River, with the Maori rock carvings and the Craters of the Moon below. Rated 4.6 across 17 reviews, the largest number on this page.
💧
Taupo: Huka Falls Helicopter Ride
From $124 · 13 reviews
★★★★★
Ten minutes, and the cheapest seat here
The shortest ride on the page: up over the farmland and the geothermal stations, then the Waikato where it forces itself through the gorge below Huka Falls. Rated 5.0 across 13 reviews.
🗺
Taupo: Tongariro Crossing Scenic Helicopter Flight
From $733 · 3 reviews
★★★★★
Twenty minutes over the Tongariro route
South over the Tongariro Crossing, Mount Doom and the Tama Lakes, then back. The volcanoes in the time it takes to drink a coffee. Rated 5.0 from three reviews.
⛰
Taupo: Tongariro Crossing Scenic Helicopter Flight
From $620 · one review
★★★★★
Fifty minutes south, for less money
The long way down the lake and into the volcanic plateau at the far end of it. The longest of the mountain flights, and cheaper than the twenty-minute one. One review so far, five stars.
🌋
Taupo: Mount Doom Scenic Helicopter Flight
From $1,128 · one review
★★★★★
The cone itself, twenty-five minutes
Twenty-five minutes over the volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park: the cone of Ngauruhoe, which this listing calls Mount Doom, and the plateau around it. One review, five stars.
What it really costs
What the flights cost, and what a minute costs
Price follows two things: how long a Taupo tour keeps you in the air, and how far south it goes. Ten minutes over the falls and fifty minutes over the volcanoes are not the same purchase, and the per-minute column says so.
Swipe sideways →
| What you book | Price | In the air | Per minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| The falls, and straight back | $124 | 10 minutes | $12.40 |
| The falls, the carvings, the craters | $191 | 15 minutes | $12.73 |
| A full loop of the lake | $479 | 45 minutes | $10.64 |
| South to the volcanoes | $620 | 50 minutes | $12.40 |
Costs the listing doesn't show you
- You pay for distance, not minutes. The ten-minute flight works out near $12 a minute; the twenty-five-minute run to the Tongariro peaks is over $45.
- The same name, two prices. Twenty minutes over the Tongariro route is $733 and fifty minutes is $620. Shorter is dearer here, and no listing explains why.
- An hour and a half is a morning. The alpine landing and the skydive are not flights you slot into a day that is already full.
- Six of the eleven have no rating. With no reviews to weigh, route and length are all you can compare — so read both carefully before you pay.
What is genuinely included
- A seat for the number of minutes the listing states, nothing rounded up
- The route that listing names — the lake and the falls, or the volcanoes
- On two of the eleven, a landing: Patutu Tops, or the alpine plateau
- On the skydive listing, the tandem jump as well as the flight up
- The cancellation terms each listing publishes, which are not all the same
- The operator’s own price, shown in the currency you pick
The honest answer
Is a Taupo helicopter ride worth it?
A hundred and twenty-four dollars for ten minutes reads like a lot until you see what ten minutes reaches. Taupo helicopter ride tickets buy height over country the road never gets near, and the only real question is how much of it you want.
What makes it worth it
- Huka Falls and the river gorge read completely differently from above
- Ten minutes is a real option here, not a cut-down version of a longer flight
- The longer flights reach Tongariro and Ruapehu, which the lake hops never approach
- Two of the eleven listings include a landing up in the mountains
- Even the longest flight is ninety minutes, so the afternoon stays free
Keep in mind
- Six of the eleven flights carry no reviews yet, so there is little to read
- The most reviewed flight here has 17 reviews — this is a young niche
- Twenty minutes to the volcanoes is listed at $733; fifty minutes at $620
- A landing is named in two listings only; the rest stay in the air
- The Crossing flights pass above the track and do not set you down on it
A flight, minute by minute
What passes under the window, in order
Up off the ground
The town, the lake and the farmland drop away. The short rides share this first minute before the routes split.
Steam on the ground
The geothermal stations, and the Craters of the Moon on the ground below.
Huka Falls
The Waikato narrows into the gorge and the water goes white. The ten-minute ride turns for home about here.
The rock carvings
The Maori rock carvings on the lake edge, named by the fifteen-minute flight.
Back down, or carry on
Fifteen minutes is where the short rides end. The longer ones keep going down the lake instead of turning back.
The western bays
Kinloch, the Western Bays and the Karangahape cliffs — the stretch the forty-five-minute loop has to itself.
The volcanic plateau
Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu at the southern end of the lake. This is what the mountain flights are for.
Back up the lake
The mountain flights return the length of the water and put you down where you started.
Picking a slot
Choose the length first, then take a date
Flights run all year, and each of the eleven listings carries its own calendar of days and departure times — that calendar is the only place the open slots are shown, and it is worth opening before you settle on a flight. Length is the decision that actually changes your day. Ten or fifteen minutes is an errand you fit around lunch, $124 or $191. Eighteen to fifty minutes is a proper outing. The two hour-and-a-half listings — the alpine landing and the skydive — take a morning, so book those on a day you have not already filled.
From the air
What these flights actually look like
The falls
The gorge below Huka Falls, four minutes out of town.
The lake
The shore the longer flights follow south.
The cone
Ngauruhoe, the cone one listing here calls Mount Doom.
The landing
Two of the eleven flights put down in the mountains.
What it's like
Two kinds of flight: the lake and the falls, or the volcanoes
Taupo sells eleven helicopter flights, and they are not eleven versions of the same ride. Ten minutes over Huka Falls and an hour and a half over the alpine plateau are different days out, and the price runs from $124 to $1,128. Work out which half of that range you are shopping in before you start comparing listings.
The helicopter tours in Taupo divide neatly in two. The near flights stay over the water and the river: farmland and geothermal stations, the Waikato River folding into the pool below Huka Falls, the Craters of the Moon, then Kinloch, the Western Bays and the Karangahape cliffs on the longer loops. Ten to forty-five minutes, $124 to $479.
The far flights go south to the Central Plateau instead — Tongariro, Mount Ruapehu, the Tama Lakes, the peaks above the crater lakes. Twenty to fifty minutes in the air and $620 to $1,128. You are paying for the distance out and back, not for the minutes, which is why the shortest volcano flight is not the cheapest one.
Two of the eleven put the skids on the ground. One lands at Patutu Tops for views over the Lake Taupo basin, eighteen minutes for $226. The other is the alpine flight: an hour and a half, $795, with a landing among the snow-capped peaks. Every other listing here is a flight out and back with nothing in between.
Now the part most pages leave out. Across all eleven flights there are 35 reviews, and only five listings have any at all. The most reviewed is the fifteen-minute flight over the falls and the geothermal craters: 4.6 from 17 people. Six flights have never been rated. The weighted average across the whole page is 4.81 on those 35 reviews — a small number, honestly labelled.
Two traps come out of the listing titles. Two flights carry the same Tongariro Crossing name, one twenty minutes and one fifty, and the shorter of the pair costs more. And the listing that pairs a flight with a 15,000 ft tandem skydive is a skydive first: the helicopter is the ride up, not the product.
So the shape of it is simple. Pick the half of the range you want, then pick a length, then take the first date the calendar offers — flights run all year and each listing holds its own times. Ten or fifteen minutes leaves the afternoon still intact; the alpine flights take the morning.
While you're in Taupo
The three flights that are more than a loop and back
Nine of the eleven listings fly out and return. These three do something else: one lands at Patutu Tops, one lands among the alpine peaks, and one carries you up to a tandem skydive. None of the three has been rated yet.
Lands at Patutu Tops
Taupo: Scenic Helicopter flight with exclusive landing
18 minutes · no reviews yet
$226See dates Lands in the snow
Taupo’s Mountain Magic Helicopter Flight and Alpine Landing
1 h 30 min · no reviews yet
$795See dates Flight and jump
Taupo: Helicopter Flight and 15,000 ft Tandem Skydive
1 h 30 min · no reviews yet
$406See datesPractical
Plan the flight
Four things decide how it goes: where you lift off from, how many minutes you buy, whether you want a landing, and how early you book a Taupo day trip around it.
Ten minutes over Huka Falls
The cheapest way into the air here, $124: the river, the farmland and the geothermal stations below Taupo.
Fifteen minutes, the most reviewed
Huka Falls, the Waikato River and the Craters of the Moon for $191. Rated 4.6 by 17 people, the largest count on this page.
Eighteen minutes with a landing
Out over the Waipakahi River and down at Patutu Tops for views across the Lake Taupo basin, $226.
Thirty minutes, the full Taupo tour
The listing calls it the complete circuit of the town and the country around it, $411.
Forty-five minutes round the lake
Kinloch, the Western Bays and the Karangahape cliffs, with the volcanic plateau in the distance, $479.
Twenty to fifty minutes over the volcanoes
Tongariro, the Tama Lakes and Mount Ruapehu, from $620 to $1,128 depending on the route.
Huka Falls and the Waikato River
On every near flight. The river narrows into the gorge and drops into the pool, which is the shot people come back with.
Geothermal ground
Steam fields and power stations south of the town, named in the ten-minute and fifteen-minute listings.
The Craters of the Moon
The geothermal park beside the lake, on the fifteen-minute flight and the skydive listing.
Kinloch and the Western Bays
The quiet side of Lake Taupo, with the Karangahape cliffs above the water on the forty-five-minute loop.
Tongariro and the Tama Lakes
The twenty-minute Crossing flight names both, plus the cone the listing calls Mount Doom.
Snow-capped peaks and crater lakes
The alpine flight names them, and it is the only listing here that lands among them.
One price, wherever you book
Taupo helicopter ride tickets are sold by the seat at the price the listing shows. Booking ahead buys the slot, not a discount.
The calendar is the only timetable
Each listing holds its own days and departure times. Flights run all year; open dates are shown on the flight page.
Read the duration, not the title
Two listings share the Tongariro Crossing name at twenty and fifty minutes. The number is the difference.
Check the cancellation terms
They are published on each listing and they are not identical across the eleven. Read the one you are booking.
Six flights have no rating yet
That is not a verdict either way. With no reviews to weigh, length and route are what you can actually compare.
Decide about a landing first
Only two listings land. If that matters, you are choosing between two flights, not eleven.
Short on time
Ten or fifteen minutes, $124 to $191, and the rest of the day is still yours.
First time in a helicopter
The two near flights have every review on this page between them, which is as much reassurance as this niche offers.
You want the falls
Three near flights pass over Huka Falls. The ten-minute one is the cheapest of them by a wide margin.
You want the volcanoes
Twenty to fifty minutes south to the Central Plateau, $620 and up. None of these routes is cheap.
You want to get out and stand somewhere
Patutu Tops at eighteen minutes, or the alpine landing at an hour and a half.
You are here to jump
The skydive listing includes the flight up. Book it as a skydive, because that is what it is.
Best time
When to book
The listings sell these flights all year and say nothing about conditions, so neither do we. What we can read off them is daylight, length and price.
Dec – Feb
The longest days
Midsummer in the southern hemisphere and the most daylight of the year, so the long mountain flights and the short lake hops can both sit in the same afternoon. Book a few weeks ahead.
Mar – May
Shoulder months
Daylight shortens week by week and the same eleven listings stay online. A good window if you want the ninety-minute alpine flight without arranging the rest of your day around it.
Jun – Aug
Snow on the peaks
The alpine landing listing is the one that mentions snow around Mount Ruapehu. Days are shortest here, so a twenty-minute volcano flight is easier to fit in than ninety minutes.
Sep – Nov
Days stretching out
Daylight comes back and every route is still listed. There are no Taupo helicopter deals to hunt for in any month — the price you see is the operator’s own.
Worth knowing
Six things that aren't in the listing
01
The price is about distance, not minutes. Ten minutes over the falls is $124; twenty-five minutes down to the Tongariro peaks is $1,128. Both are short flights.
02
Only two listings land anywhere. Patutu Tops on the eighteen-minute flight, and the alpine plateau on the hour-and-a-half one. The other nine are out and back.
03
The evidence here is thin: 35 reviews across eleven flights, and six of the eleven have none at all. Read a blank rating as a new listing, not as a bad one.
04
Two flights share one name. Both are called Tongariro Crossing Scenic Helicopter Flight: twenty minutes at $733, fifty minutes at $620. Check the duration.
05
The skydive listing is a skydive. The helicopter takes you up to 15,000 ft and the jump is the product. Do not book it expecting a scenic flight.
06
A flight is not the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The two Tongariro listings fly above the route; nobody is set down on the track, and the walk is still a separate day.
Round out the trip
Booked alongside
Go deeper
More on flying out of Taupo
Common questions
Taupo helicopter flights, answered
How much is a helicopter ride in Taupo?
Eleven flights are bookable here and they run from $124 for ten minutes over Huka Falls to $1,128 for twenty-five minutes over the Tongariro peaks. The middle of the range sits around $411 to $479 for half an hour to forty-five minutes.
How long is a Taupo helicopter ride?
Ten minutes at the short end and an hour and a half at the long end. Most of the eleven sit between fifteen and thirty minutes. The two longest are the alpine flight with a landing and the listing that ends in a tandem skydive.
What do you see on the Huka Falls flight?
The listing names the farmland and geothermal stations south of the town and the Waikato River as it crashes into the pool below the falls. Ten minutes, $124. The fifteen-minute flight adds the Craters of the Moon.
Which Taupo helicopter flights land?
Two of the eleven. The eighteen-minute flight lands at Patutu Tops for views over the Lake Taupo basin, $226. The hour-and-a-half alpine flight lands among the snow-capped peaks, $795. The other nine stay in the air.
Does a helicopter flight replace the Tongariro Alpine Crossing?
No. Two listings are named for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and they fly above the route — twenty minutes at $733, fifty minutes at $620. Neither sets anyone down on the track. If you want to walk it, that is a separate day.
Can you fly over Mount Doom?
One listing is named for it: a twenty-five-minute flight over the volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park, $1,128. Mount Doom is the nickname that listing uses for the cone of Ngauruhoe. It has one review, rated 5.0.
Are there Taupo helicopter deals?
Not in the sense of a sale. The price on the listing is the price at the operator desk, so booking ahead buys you the slot rather than a discount. The cheapest seat in this niche is the ten-minute flight at $124.
How many reviews do these flights have?
Thirty-five, across all eleven listings, which is honestly not many. Five listings carry them all: 17 on the fifteen-minute flight, 13 on the ten-minute one, and five between three volcano flights. Six listings have never been rated.
No account needed
Eleven Taupo flights on one page — how we'd choose
One PDF: the eleven listings by length and price, which two of them land, which five have any reviews at all, and the pair that share a name. Built from the operators’ own listings and the same live prices as this page.
- All eleven flights, sorted by minutes in the air
- Price per minute for each one, worked out
- The lake and falls routes against the volcano routes
- Where the 35 reviews on this page actually sit
Check your inbox
The plan is on its way. If it isn't there in a minute, look in Promotions.
Why trust this page
How we put this together
Checked, not guessed
Durations, routes and prices come from the live GetYourGuide listing for each flight. Ratings are read off the same listings and updated when the page is rebuilt.
How we pick
Every helicopter flight bookable from Taupo is on this page — eleven of them, the dear ones as well as the cheap ones. Nobody pays to be featured here.
We print the review count
There are 35 reviews across the eleven flights. Every rating on this page carries the number behind it, and six listings show no stars because they have none.
What we do not claim
No listing promises a particular view from the air, and neither do we. We tell you the minutes, the price and the route, and leave the rest to the day you fly.
The answer
Start with the falls. Fly south only if you want the volcanoes.
Ten minutes over Huka Falls and the river is $124, and it is the cheapest seat here. Fifteen minutes adds the Craters of the Moon for $191 — our pick, and the highest review count here at 4.6 from 17 people. The Central Plateau starts at $620 and is a different kind of day.
Check dates and availability→ Reserve now, pay later · mobile voucher