Tour of Hobbiton

Tena koutou! This month’s posts theme is going to be all about traveling to one of my favorite places on earth: New Zealand, in celebration of 10 years since my parents packed us up for the road trip of a lifetime. More on our trip in the next post. For now, I want to talk about my favorite destination on these two tiny islands.

If you somehow didn’t know, New Zealand was the filming location for the Lord of the Rings movies and later on, The Hobbit. I will talk about all the different filming sights I visited, but Hobbiton is definitely the most popular, located on the North Island and still set up just how it was for filming.

When we visited back in 2011, they were just getting Hobbiton decorated again in preparation for the filming of the first Hobbit movie so we actually had to sign a contract to not share any pictures or tell anyone about it until after the release of Unexpected Journey. After filming for the original trilogy had finished, they had torn everything down, leaving just the white fronts of the hobbit holes remaining. Now Hobbiton remains decorated for you to explore.

Party Tree

I had only seen the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring (extended editions only here), but it was the only movie I needed to fully enjoy Hobbiton. It was still only 95% set up with a few props out of place, a tree in pieces (yes, Peter Jackson found a tree he liked and shipped it in pieces to be reassembled on top of Bag End) and the fruit trees still in stages of being grown, but it did not take away from the effect.

The little details they put in made it seem almost as if hobbits were actually living there from clothes on a clothesline to a picnic lunch. And each hobbit hole expressed a different personality and gave some clue as to the type of hobbit who lived there, Sam Gamgees’s being the only marked one. Then there is, of course, Bag End.

Bag End

We actually climbed on top of it and looked out over all of Hobbiton, almost the view Gandalf and Bilbo had smoking pipes in the beginning of The Fellowship. Fun Fact: that scene was actually shot at sunrise instead of sun set due to the direction they faced. We could see the mill and Green Dragon by the waterside and the magnificent Party Tree standing in its field.

Green Dragon

Even though I’ve already been there, Hobbiton is still my top destination for when I go back, partly to explore with my partner who is the biggest LOTR fan I know, partly just to see it again fully set up, and partly for the feast. There are now two meals available to include with your tour. If you are an early riser, you can go for Second Breakfast at the Millhouse which also hosts other private dining experiences, small weddings and corporate meetings (up to 32 guests). If you prefer to sleep in, you can hit up the Evening Feast at the Green Dragon, complete with ales and ciders brewed specially. Both require booking in advance.

Whether you are a fan of Lord of the Rings or not, this tour is 100% worth it and honestly a big part of New Zealand itself. Afterward, you can visit the family run farm whose land Hobbiton is built on and own the tours. Maybe even feed some baby lambs.

Hope this got you excited for more on New Zealand. Checkout Hobbiton on Instagram: @hobbitontours