What It Is Like to Visit Hobbiton

Fans of Lord of the Rings from all over the world visit New Zealand with one must-do on their itinerary: visit Hobbiton. It’s no surprise really that it is one of the top tourist attractions in the country. The Hobbiton Movie Set Tour is very impressive and it’s rare to have the opportunity to explore an entire movie set.

General Information

The Hobbiton Movie Tour is located near the small New Zealand town called Matamata. It is free to park at the general office.

The Movie Set Tour costs $84.00 NZD (76 CAD/507 SEK) per person and it needs to be booked online before arriving. We booked only a few days before and we there were not a lot of time slots available, so book early to avoid disappointment. There are other tours available (for example, those including food), but I think that the regular tour is more than worth it. It is already quite an expensive activity to do if you are a budget traveller. The tour takes about 2 hours.

Daniel getting excited to start our tour

How it Works

Waiting for the tour

We arrived quite a bit before our scheduled tour time and we didn’t have a lot to do. You park a bit away from where the tour takes place. The only way into Hobbiton is by using their tour buses. So, while waiting for your tour, you have the option of eating food in the café there, looking in the gift shop, and using the bathrooms. So, there is not a lot to do before the tour. My advice is to arrive with enough time to look through the gift shop (which can also be done afterwards) and use the toilets. But hey, better early than late!

Starting the Tour

Around 10 minutes before the start time for the tour, we had to line up and wait for our bus. While on the bus, we got some introductions via film from the family that owns the land as well as Peter Jackson. If you did not know, Peter Jackson spotted the “would be” Hobbiton from up above and knew it had to be the place to become Hobbiton. The family agreed to allow their farm to be used in the movies, and just like with all films, it was dismantled after filming. However, Lord of the Rings fans visited the farm since it is awesome to see all filming locations, and the family rebuilt the set and started the tours. Boy, that family got lucky that Peter Jackson chose them and not some other farm down the road.

Anyways, after a 10-minute bus ride, we hopped off the bus and accumulated near the Hobbiton sign. We got some ground rules (for example, don’t go on the grass) and then started our journey into Hobbiton. Pictures are allowed (and encouraged) and the guide can take pictures. There are a lot of people on the tour, so it can be a bit tough to get good pictures sometimes.

Entering Hobbiton

I liked the tour (although there were so many people) because we got to learn a lot about where some scenes are filmed. When we entered Hobbiton, we passed the wall that Frodo sits on while waiting for Gandalf during the first movie. Pretty cool, right?

Then our guide accumulated us in different areas to tell us some facts, and then gave us time to take pictures. I promise you will take a lot of pictures since the sets are so detailed and fascinating. There is only one hobbit hole that you can go inside and it is empty. So, the main thrill here is looking at how well decorated the outside of the hobbit holes are.

At the top of the hill, we reached Bag End. Here we could see the famous house of Frodo and Bilbo. It was really cool to watch the movies later and then realize that we have been right out front of that house.

Hello, Bilbo and Frodo!
I loved that they had the “no admittance” sign

We passed even more houses as we came down the hill, including Sam’s house. Each house has a bright coloured door and so many props outside of the hole to give a lived-in look. The attention to detail is really remarkable.

One piece of sad news is that I am too tall to be a hobbit. Okay, I know that is obvious since hobbits are small. However, the extras in the movies had to be 5’6” (167.5 cm) and under. I am unfortunately just over that height, so alas, Hobbiton will never be my home.

At the end of the tour, everyone goes to the Green Dragon for a drink. I think it is pretty cool that it is a functioning pub. Daniel took a beer while I took a cider.

Overall Thoughts

I knew I was a LOTR dork before arriving in Hobbiton, but I had no idea how much I’d love it. I will admit that I wish there was some after-hours pass so I could see Hobbiton with fewer people around.

It is annoying that there are so many people there. It is also quite expensive to get the tour. However, you only need to do this once and it really is worth it while in New Zealand. The Hobbiton set is fascinating and it makes watching the LOTR movies even better once you can recognize places!

Have you been to Hobbiton? Do you think it is worth visiting? If you haven’t been, is it on your bucket list?

Let me know in the comments below!

xx

Jasmine

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