Stepping Into Fantasy In Hobbiton - New Zealand

Before I even dive into this blog, I have to put a disclaimer that visiting New Zealand (specifically Hobbiton) has been a dream of mine for over 20 years.
I can still vividly remember seeing Lord of the Rings in the theaters and falling in love with it all. You’ve heard about those people having life changing experiences seeing Star Wars in the theaters? I’m sure it was very similar.
Back when the movies were in the theaters (holy cow over 20 years ago) I remember entering a contest everyday to get the chance to visit the set. From that point on, I knew that one day I’d have to see New Zealand for myself.

This trip was by far, the biggest “pinch me” experience that I honestly never thought I’d get to experience. The moment I walk through the tiny path that opens up into the clearing where you can see the entire village, I had tears in my eyes. I am so beyond grateful that I got to see Hobbiton in the flesh.

If you dream about visiting the land of the hobbits one day, here’s what I think you need to know ahead of time:

1. Be Prepared - Just as Boromir warned, you cannot simply walk into Hobbiton if you find yourself in New Zealand. You must purchase tickets for their tours ahead of time and be forewarned, they sell out well in advance. They also offer many different tour options from the regular day tour which takes about two and a half hours, and special tours like a dinner banquet, second breakfasts, and seasonal tours. We were lucky to do an evening banquet tour on a second day, and had bought our tickets for that event about a year before our trip.

2. Hobbiton Is In the Middle of No Where - The movie set is still located right where they filmed the movies which happens to be on a sheep farm in Matamata, NZ. If you’re not familiar with the layout of New Zealand (which I was not) Matamata is on the North Island about a 2 hour drive from Auckland. While New Zealand has a few smaller airports, odds are you’ll probably fly in and out of Auckland. This means, if you want to visit Hobbiton, you’ll either need to rent a car and drive yourself out there, or hire a guide from someplace like Viator to take you.
Because we knew we wanted to visit Hobbiton twice during our trip, we opted to find an Airbnb out in Matamata, drove ourselves from the airport (oh man was that an adventure) and stayed out in the country for a few days. It was glorious but may not be how everyone wants to spend their time. Just know if you plan on making a day trip out there from Auckland, it will consume your entire day - the normal tours are about 2.5 hours long and you have to factor in drive time as well.

3. The Tours Are Absolutely Amazing - The normal day tours of Hobbiton are absolutely incredible. You’ll come and park at the Shire’s Rest which is where the office, gift shop, and little cafe are all located and then you’ll board a bus with your tour group. It’s only about a 15 minute ride across the street, but they’ll tell you all about the history of how it came to be on the way over there.
The guides are all Lord of the Rings superfans, and you can tell. They don’t fuss at all if you want to stop and film something special or take your one thousandth photo of another round door. They love that you love it.

While they lead you through the amazing little village, they’ll tell you about the movie magic of making people look either bigger or smaller than the houses, as well as some of the lore of which families live in which hobbit holes.

And remember, they offer many different types of tours including their normal day tour, an evening banquet tour after hours with dinner, an early morning “second breakfast” tour and many other seasonal events.

4. If You’re a Lord of the Rings Fan, It’s Everything You Want It To Be - Although I think you will enjoy it even if you’re not a huge fan of the movies, if you are, you’re in heaven. Walking in through the little stone walkway that Gandalf so famously drives through on his cart, I was instantly in tears. I absolutely couldn’t believe that I was standing where I was. It looks just like you pictured it does in the movies. The grounds are meticulously taken care of and there are so many details everywhere you look from bread on the porches, to laundry on the lines. The guides can tell you who lives in which house and what each of their jobs are. Bilbo’s house sits on the top of the hill with the “no admittance” sign nailed to his gate, while his pipe waits for him on the bench outside.
At the end of the tour, everyone walks over the famous stone bridge across the lake to the Green Dragon.

5. It’s More of an Experience Than It Is a Tour - While I expected to be led around an old movie set to see familiar sites, Hobbiton is so much more of an experience than that. While you do get to see everything you’re expecting, it’s not just your standard walking tour. One of the biggest highlights (new for 2024!) was actually getting to go INTO a hobbit house. You heard me right! Have you ever dreamed what it would actually feel like to walk into one of the round doors and see how they live? Well now you can. I’ll write a separate blog post all about this experience because it was absolutely mind blowing. Besides that, each tour also gets to stop at the Green Dragon at the end of the tour for a complimentary drink and to snack a bit if you want (hobbits do love their food). This was a huge highlight for me, sitting in plush chairs around a huge fireplace right where Frodo, Sam, Merry & Pippin would spend their evenings drinking and eating pastries?! I just kept pinching myself.

I must say, once this tour was over, I would’ve been content to go home (I’m glad I didn’t, New Zealand is absolutely stunning) but this was the biggest reason why I had always wanted to visit New Zealand, and it lived up to the hype.
So now the only thing I can do is hope that if seeing Hobbiton is on your “pinch me” list, that you take the plunge and get to experience it for yourself. It’s something I will never forget. Afterall, I’ve now truly been “there and back again”.