Stepping into Middle Earth — Visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set in New Zealand

The Hobbiton Movie Set tour was the only thing I booked in advance for the entire New Zealand trip and it was completely worth it. Tour buses depart from Rotorua and take you to the Alexander sheep farm in Matamata where the set is located — the bus ride itself is part of the experience, passing through the rolling green hills of the Waikato that look exactly as much like the Shire as you are hoping they will.

The guided tour lasts around two hours and the guide was exceptional — full of production facts, behind-the-scenes stories and genuine enthusiasm for both the films and the set. The amount of detail in every corner of the site is extraordinary and having a guide point it out makes a significant difference to how much you take in.

The Hobbit Holes

There are 44 hobbit holes across the Hobbiton set and no two are the same size. This is intentional — and one of the best pieces of production trivia the guide shared. The larger hobbit holes were built to make the hobbits look small against Gandalf’s scale. The smaller ones were built to make Gandalf look enormous. The same scene required multiple takes on different sized sets to achieve the forced perspective the films are famous for. Standing in front of them knowing this makes the craftsmanship even more staggering.

The centrepiece of the entire set is Bag End — Bilbo and Frodo’s home, with its famous round green door and the Party Tree above it. The tree above Bag End in the films did not have quite the right look during production, so the art department removed every single leaf and repainted them individually. Every single one. The level of obsessive detail that went into creating this world is something you feel standing in front of it in a way that watching the films does not fully convey.

The Party Field

Following the path through the set brings you to the Party Field — the huge open area used for Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy-first birthday celebration, where he puts on the One Ring and disappears. Standing in that field, in the actual New Zealand landscape that became the Shire, is one of those travel moments that is genuinely hard to describe to anyone who has not stood in a place they have watched on screen for years.

“It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.” — Bilbo Baggins

The Green Dragon Inn

Every tour ends at the Green Dragon Inn — the Shire’s famous pub, fully reconstructed and fully operational. The Green Dragon brews its own ales and ciders on site and one drink is included in the tour price. I had the apple cider. It was fantastic. No wonder the hobbits loved this place so much — sitting inside the Green Dragon with a cider after two hours walking the set, it felt entirely natural to be there.

“I thought up an ending for my book. ‘And he lived happily ever after, till the end of his days.'” — Bilbo Baggins

Before leaving, stop at the gift shop. You have come to the other side of the world to visit Hobbiton — you are allowed to buy something. I got a Green Dragon magnet and was extremely tempted by a replica ring. There is no shame in it.