Experience the Magic of HOBBITON

See why you must visit this movie set in New Zealand.

I have read the first Lord of the Rings books in high school and have seen The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film triology but I wouldn't call myself a super fan by any means. The place is so picturesque and perfect, I enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to!

You will journey around the 12 acre set; past Hobbit Holes, the Mill and into the world-famous Green Dragon Inn, where you will be presented with a complimentary, exclusive Hobbit Southfarthing beverage to conclude your own Middle-earth adventure.

How to reach the Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand

Hobbiton movie set is located in Matamata, New Zealand. This is around a 2-hour drive from Auckland. You can choose to book a day tour from Auckland here.

We chose to self-drive and had booked just the movie set guided tour.

Hobbiton strongly advises booking movie set tickets in advance for tours. Especially in the peak tourist season which is from October to March.

A tour of Hobbiton Movie Set comprises of:

• A short bus ride from your departure location to the movie set

• A 1 hour 15 minute guided walking tour

• A ~20 minute visit to The Green Dragon Inn including a complimentary beverage

• At the end of your experience, you will walk with your guide back to the bus and take another short bus ride to your departure location

All visitors will have to be guided around on a walking tour. Each visitor only gets a 30-minute tour of the set itself, you’ll find they do move quickly and there will be other groups behind you. The tour guide will whisk you through the village so make sure if you do want a picture you stay behind and grab it.

You will get to see Bilbo Baggins’ house. You can try a selection of Hobbit Ales and ciders which are complimentary at the price of your ticket.

I highly recommend their feast, if you want some second breakfast! This does come at an extra cost but it’s so worth it.

Hobbit Holes

We started venturing into the Shire, seeing all the hobbit holes including Bilbo Baggins’s house. The holes are based on different sizes to feed to the illusion of their actual size. The holes used by actors playing hobbits were built at a 90 percent scale, while the holes used by Gandalf were built at a 60 percent scale to make him look much larger.

Most of the scenes filmed inside the holes were on a set, leaving the Hobbit holes as facades but there are some you can walk into. The inside is only about 5 feet, but still, fun to walk in!

The Pond

While shooting the movies, the frogs in the pond were too noisy affecting dialogue among the characters and causing an inability to hear each other. Peter Jackson actually paid someone to move ALL of the frogs relocating them to a different pond on the sheep farm. They were put back after production wrapped.

We did our tour in the early afternoon, and I was worried this might be too late in the day, but as it turns out everything looked fantastic. I’m sure mornings and evenings are also very nice.