Tourists have been flocking to beautiful New Zealand for decades, but the release of Peter Jackson’s first Lord if the Rings movie in 2001 definitely kicked it up a few levels.You could hike into Mordor for views of Mt. Doom (see my post on hiking the Tongariro Crossing), explore the Fangorn Forest or walk the Paths of the Dead.You could buy a guidebook devoted to filming locations and visit on your own, or join an epic 2-week guided LOTR tour.You could visit the WETA studio and see where the props and special effects that brought Middle Earth to life were designed. But for years, you could not visit the charming town of Hobbiton.
Hobbiton is the quaint, tiny home town of Frodo, unlikely hero of the Lord of the Rings, and the starting point of his epic journey. While a Hobbiton set was built in the gently rolling farmland south of Auckland, part of the legal wrangling behind the Lord of the Rings movies meant that all physical sets had to be taken down after filming. For years, diehard fans tromped over fields to see the broken-down plywood fences where the set used to be. When Peter Jackson announced he would be rebuilding the set for his movie version of The Hobbit, a new deal was struck: this time, the set would remain in place and could be visited by tourists.
The one hobbit hole you can go into
The Alexander family has owned the land that now hosts Hobbiton since the 1970s, and until tourism took over it was primarily a sheep and cattle ranch. Now, visitors arrive at the welcome center where they can buy themed snacks and souvenirs as they wait to begin their 2-hour guided tour.
The only way to get to Hobbiton is on a guided tour. It begins with a short bus ride from the welcome center to the entrance of the town. Once there, you disembark with your group and your tour leader takes you through the set, offering information on the history of the set and the filming of the movies. Forty-four Hobbit holes (with their characteristic round doors) are on display. The interiors are not finished, so there is only one that you can enter and even then it is only so you can pose in the doorway. Other sights, like the Old Mill and the Party Tree, are also on view.
The one place with a finished interior is the Green Dragon Inn. It is a fully-functioning tavern, where tour-takers get their choice of a free drink as part of their tour, and small snacks can be purchased. (Crucially for those who had one too many coffees at the visitors center, there are also bathrooms).
If you go: Who would enjoy a visit to Hobbiton? Honestly, I think a lot of people would! I am by no means a diehard fan of the books or the movies (I never even saw The Hobbit films) and I had a great time. In addition to the standard 2-hour tour, they also offer an evening dinner tour where you tour the town in the afternoon, eat at the Green Dragon Inn and exit the park by candlelight. All the tours are wildly popular and everything seems to book up well in advance so reservations are highly recommended.
