It would be remiss to travel halfway round the world and not visit possibly the most famous place in New Zealand – the original Hobbiton movie set.
Watch our trip to Hobbiton video
Don’t get me wrong, there are loads of stunning places in NZ – you can see a bunch of them in our videos from our trip. But nothing put NZ on the map like Peter Jackson using his home country as the glorious backdrop for his adaptations of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
We visited a few of the locations used when shooting the movie, but the one that’s most like the film is Hobbiton – because it was built for the filming itself.
Originally, this was part of farmland in Waikato, owned by the Alexander family. In 1998, scouts for the LOTR films saw this place from above – and knew they had found the Shire.
The set built for the original LOTR films, was designed to be temporary and was mostly removed after filming, leaving just 17 Hobbit hole facades behind. Tours started in 2002, but when the crew came back to film The Hobbit in 2009, the Alexander family realised the potential of having an actual Hobbiton in place. So this time, the film company built 44 Hobbit holes designed to last and be used as a tourist attraction.
You don’t park up right next to the actual set, but an admissions centre nearby with a ticket office, cafe and gift shop. There are various tours you can go on, including ones that feature meals (like Second Breakfast), but none of these were available when we booked so we went for the standard tour. Worth noting – we booked this several months in advance so it shows you how popular those tours are!
Each tour group has an allotted time and, after being loaded onto a branded coach, we were driven the short distance accompanied by an introductory film featuring Peter Jackson himself.
Once at the set, our fantastically enthusiastic guide took us around the outside areas of Hobbiton bit by bit, encouraging us to take photos and interact with a lot of the food stalls dotted outside various Hobbit holes.
She also gave us plenty of stories about filming, some of which I knew, some I didn’t. For example the tree perched above Bag End (see below) was actually fake and needed individual leaves to be made for it. So the enlisted local students and gave them free admission to the film in exchange!
In 2023, two fully kitted out Hobbit holes were opened so you can explore inside them.
The attention to detail is incredible. The books, the pictures on the wall, the food in the pantry and lines in the local paper. These homes have everything – even a loo! And you can oick up and interact with lots of the items inside
Suffice to say I could easily live in one of these houses. They felt so cosy and homely.
After we left the homes we walked down to the pond with the recognisable mill and of course The Green Dragon. All tour visitors can get a free drink (two alcoholic and one non-alcoholic choice) and you can also buy other drinks and food at the pub too, at reasonable prices. Once we’d had our drink and soaked up the atmosphere we then returned to our coach and “real-life”.
Some might consider this a tourist trap. Personally I loved it, and I thought for the price it was pretty good value. If you’re a fan and you’re in New Zealand, I’d definitely go. It gets busy yes, but the tours are arranged in such a way that they keep people flowing without feeling like you’re being rushed. Our guide was great and the atmosphere was brilliant. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
What do you think? Have you ever visited Hobbiton? Let me know in the comments.
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