The tour through Hobbiton Movie Set it was the only one I was sure I wanted to do when I went to New Zealand. The tour consists of strolling through the setting of the Shire, land where the hobbits live in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
At the time, I booked with the travel agency that was in front of the English school I attended in Australia, as I had already booked other trips with them. But if you want to close it yourself, just go to official website and buy there.
For those who don't have a car, it is possible to arrange a transfer from where you are staying to the location. To be honest, I spent so little time in the North Island that I don't even know if it's worth renting a car, but those who rent a car can just buy a ticket and show up at the ticket office 15 minutes before the scheduled time.
The tour is on foot and done with a guide who explains details and curiosities of the scene in English.
I remember that one point that I found very funny was that there were hobbit holes that were big and others that were super small. The guide explained that when recording, the actors playing hobbits stand in front of the large holes, to appear smaller, and Gandalf in front of the small holes to appear larger. Cute, right?
On the tour you walk and pass several burrows, you can even enter some, but most of them have nothing inside.
When we arrived at Bag End – Bilbo and Frodo's lair – we were not allowed to enter. I don't know if it's always like that or if it was because at the time only the first film in The Hobbit trilogy had been recorded and they wanted to preserve it for possible recordings. Anyway, it was possible to see that the interior was not complete and it doesn't even appear in the film. 🙁
After the residences, the tour of the hobbit village in New Zealand continues through the Party Tree (people, it's a real tree and it's really giant) and ends at The Green Dragon Inn. For those who don't remember, the Inn appears so much in The Lord of Rings as in The Hobbit, and everyone on the tour gets a free drink.
This part of the scenery was not used in the film (the one in the film was created in the studio), but was created especially for Hobbiton. The Inn really works, has a menu and it is possible to have lunch there.
And of course, as you can't miss, there's also a little shop there!!! I didn't buy anything because I thought everything was expensive, but there are Tolkien's books (in a thousand wonderful versions), maps, collectible dolls, souvenirs from the tour... Anyone who likes this kind of thing will be in for a treat!
Overall, I thought the tour was really worth it, you can take great photos, it's fun to see how everything was done and you even feel like you're part of the film for a moment. It's very well detailed and you see how people worked on parts that barely appeared on screen in the final edit.
Admission costs NZ$79 for adults and NZ$39.50 for people aged 9-16. Anyone aged 8 or under gets in for free with an adult paying in full. To book tickets, just go to the website and choose the day and time. If you want one of the earliest times, I suggest purchasing in advance, as it is likely to sell out.
So, who wants to go to New Zealand and take a stroll through a little piece of Middle Earth? 😀
Hobbiton Movie Set
The Shire's Rest, 501
Buckland Road, Hinuera
Matamata
+64 (07) 888-1505