Ever dreamed of visiting the Shire and stepping into a real-life village where Tolkien’s hobbits once roamed? Visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand is a unique experience for all ages. My boys and I visited the Hobbiton Movie Set and thoroughly enjoyed it. From the green hills to the tiny round doors, it felt like stepping into a storybook. In this post, I’ll share our experience along with practical tips to help you plan your own visit to Hobbiton in New Zealand.
Even if you’re not a die-hard fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, chances are you’ve heard of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, based on Tolkien’s novels. One of the most iconic filming locations is Hobbiton, nestled in the Waikato region of New Zealand. If you love the books or the movies – or simply enjoy beautiful landscapes and imaginative storytelling – a visit to the Hobbiton Movie Set is a must when travelling through New Zealand.
History of the Hobbiton Movie Set
Before 1998, the site where Hobbiton now stands was simply a large livestock farm owned by a New Zealand family. That all changed when director Peter Jackson and his team discovered the property while searching for filming locations for The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
In 1999, Hobbiton was constructed with over 30 hobbit houses (or Hobbit Holes), along with gardens, a bridge, and a mill. However, the set wasn’t built to last – after filming of ‘The Lord of the Rings was completed, most of the structures were dismantled. Only a few plywood facades of the Hobbit Holes remained.
Despite this, the site quickly became a popular destination for The Lord of the Rings fans. It was so popular that guided tours began in 2002, allowing visitors to explore the remnants of the original movie set.
When in 2009 Peter Jackson and his team started working on The Hobbit trilogy, they decided to build Hobbiton more permanently this time. The movie set was completely rebuilt, with new hobbit holes, gardens, fences, and many other little details – all built to last.
Nowadays you can visit the Hobbiton Movie Set with a tour to enjoy the very realistic and charming atmosphere of a hobbits’ village. You can even finish your visit with a drink at the Green Dragon Inn – a place where hobbits used to gather.
How to get to Hobbiton
The Hobbiton Movie Set is located on the North Island of New Zealand, in the Waikato region. It sits on private land and can only be visited as part of a guided tour.
Guided tours to Hobbiton depart from ‘The Shire’s Rest’ café and souvenir shop, located at 501 Buckland Road, Matamata.
‘The Shire’s Rest’ is located at approximately the same driving distance from Hamilton, Tauranga, and Rotorua. This makes it easy to visit from any of these cities.
The drive from Auckland is longer – about 2 to 2.5 hours – but it’s still doable as a day trip. We left Auckland around 9:30am, spent 2-3 hours on the tour and hanging around the souvenir shop and café, then drove back the same day, returning to Auckland sometime after 5pm.
Once at The Shire’s Rest, park your car – there’s plenty of parking space on site – and get your ticket at the counter inside the souvenir shop. The tour bus departs from just outside the shop. There’s also a café on site with tables both indoors and outdoors, perfect for relaxing while you wait for your tour.
If you don’t want to drive yourself, you can use one of the transfer options available from Auckland, Tauranga, or Hamilton.
Tickets to Hobbiton
Tickets to the Hobbiton Movie Set can be purchased online or directly at the counter at The Shire’s Rest. There are different pricing options, so it’s best to check their website for up-to-date information and available tours.
When booking your tour, you’ll need to choose a departure time and make sure you arrive at least 15 minutes beforehand. On arrival at The Shire’s Rest, exchange your online ticket for a paper one.
Keep in mind that these tours are very popular. They’re often fully booked, especially on weekends and during school holidays – and even more so when there are no Covid-related border restrictions. It’s best to book online well in advance of your planned visit date.
The Hobbiton Movie Set experience
The bus takes you from The Shire’s Rest to the Hobbiton Movie Set. During the short ride, we watched a behind-the-scenes video about the movie set and how it was made.
Interesting fact: The road from The Shire’s Rest to Hobbiton was built specially for the movie by the New Zealand Army. There was no road leading to the hills of the farm, and the area wasn’t easily accessible. So they had to construct a road and carry out other ground works before they could begin building the movie set.
The tour guide will share stories and interesting facts about the movie set – how it was built and which scenes were filmed there. The walking part of the tour begins at the bottom of the hobbits’ village, goes around it, and leads up to Bag End (Bilbo’s house) at the top of the hill.
When walking around, pay attention to the little details. A lot of effort went not only into the hobbit doors themselves, but into the small things too. Like, pots of honey at the beekeeper’s house, a stall with cheese, clothes hanging out to dry, and even smoke rising from one of the chimneys.
You’ll notice that the doors to hobbit houses are different sizes. Some were made smaller to allow Gandalf to appear tall and imposing in front of them. Others were built larger to help the hobbits look naturally small beside the doors.
There is nothing behind the doors. All interior scenes inside the hobbit houses were filmed in a studio in Wellington.
Bilbo’s House
According to J.R.R. Tolkien book, Bilbo’s house was located on a hill with a big oak tree on top of it. You will indeed find a large oak tree above Bag End (where Bilbo’s house is). But look closely, it’s not a real tree! The fake tree was made from steel and silicon and installed on the hill. Its leaves were brought from Taiwan and wired onto the branches by hand.
Interesting fact: Apparently, the colour of the leaves wasn’t quite right when Peter Jackson began filming at Hobbiton. So, people were hired to repaint each and every leaf on the tree by hand!
The Green Dragon
After walking around the village, the tour guide took us down to The Green Dragon Inn. Passing the mill and the arched bridge, we entered the fully functional pub and were offered drinks to finish off the tour. The inn serves a choice of ales, cider, and non-alcoholic ginger beer. You can also buy a small snack to go with your drink if you’re feeling hungry.
Enjoy your drink at The Green Dragon – either by the real fireplace inside or outside in the garden overlooking Hobbiton.
Interesting fact: Rebuilding Hobbiton for The Hobbit trilogy took around two years. While actual filming at the location lasted only 12 days!
That marked the end of our tour. After visiting The Green Dragon, we boarded the bus for the return trip to The Shire’s Rest. The whole experience took about two hours in total.
What to bring when visiting Hobbiton
There are a few things to keep in mind to come prepared when visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set.
First of all, bring a fully charged camera (or phone). There will be plenty of photo opportunities around the set, and you won’t want to miss them.
Many recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes. But in reality, the few walking tracks on the movie set are well maintained. You can easily walk in sandals, flip-flops or even barefoot – in true hobbit fashion!
If you think you’ll get hungry by the end of the tour, or if you have specific dietary requirements, it’s best to bring your own snack. The selection at The Green Dragon is very limited. When I asked the staff about the ingredients, they couldn’t confirm whether the food contained allergens – just something to keep in mind if you’re travelling with someone who has food allergies.
Be prepared for sudden changes in weather. We started the tour on a sunny day and finished it in light rain. The tour guide mentioned that the weather tends to shift quickly here, so it’s best to come prepared. Wear temperature-appropriate layers. A hat and sunscreen are essential during the summer months, and a rain jacket is recommended at other times, especially in autumn. They do have umbrellas available, which you can use for the duration of the tour if it starts to rain.
Wrapping up
That was our experience visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand.
Even though we’re not huge fans of The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, we’ve seen the movies. And it was really interesting to visit the movie set and see it all with our own eyes.
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Read next – 20 Must-Visit Destinations in New Zealand’s North Island and 20 Must-Visit Destinations in New Zealand’s South Island.
Nice addition to any NZ travel! Like you, I’m not a huge fan of the movies but I’ve watched and enjoyed them. Additionally it’s always super interesting to get behind the scenes peeks!
Unfortunately we ran out of time when we visited the north island to do the Hobbiton tour. I’m not a fan of the movies so it wasn’t a priority. However, I may have to go when we return to New Zealand.
I’m not a huge fan either despite the fact that my husband and stepson worked on the movies (set building and special effects)! – and despite living in middle earth I still haven’t made it to Matamata. I’d love to go and see Hobbiton – must add it to my list. Very pertinent advice on weather preparedness by the way, it’s definitely ‘4 seasons in one day’ country here in the north island 🙂
It took us several years before we visited the Hobbiton. I suppose I waited for my kids to grow to the age when they would be interested in the movies and the Hobbiton 🙂
Love the post the movies don’t really interest me to much but seeing this would it would be a lot of fun and i love seeing movie sets.
I think I only saw the Lord of the rings but the Hobbiton tour seems like a fun day out. I imagine the kids had a blast! 🙂
Wow! I would love to go here. Now that I am living in Australia I am so much closer. I know I’ll head over there in the next few years. NZ looks like the most incredible country 🙂 It’s been so long since I last watched these movies, that I think I might have to give them a re-watch. Great article!
Many of the locations where parts of the movies were filmed have become destinations for curious travellers. However, since many of the most famous locations were on public lands (and the rules of use for the filming stipulated that the sites be returned to their natural state), only a few, like ” Hobbiton ” near Matamata retain any traces of the film sets. fictional universe travelling to sites of film- and book-related significance. It is especially notable in New Zealand, site of the movie trilogy by Peter Jackson, where it is credited as having raised the annual tourism numbers.