Day 9: Visit Hobbiton in New Zealand
Visit Hobbiton in New Zealand It is probably one of the objectives of the majority of travelers traveling through the White Cloud Country. In addition, according to our experience, it doesn't matter whether or not you are a fan of the trilogy of The Lord of the rings or have you seen The Hobbit. Whatever your case, do the Hobbiton tour we are sure that it will become one of your moments in the country and one of the essential places to see in New Zealand.
For us today starts early and we will not deny, that with some nerves and that is the day has come visit hobbiton, one of the many reasons we had to tour the North Island and make this New Zealand by motorhome.
Remember that if you are interested in making a trip of this type, we recommend you look at the Motorhome Republic page where you can see all the available options, prices and make the reservation directly.
Hobbiton in New Zealand
As we commented yesterday after making the route through the places to see in Rotorua, today we slept in Brocks place, a farm just 2.5 kilometers from the Hobbiton shooting set and very close to the accommodations in Matamata, which we had initially valued , but in the end we discarded by preferring to be near Hobbiton filming set and thus be able to arrive sooner in the morning, since our visit is at 9:30 a.m.
It's 6:30 in the morning when we start, we pick up the Jucy motorhome, after breakfast in front of the rolling hills of this landscape, at 8 in the morning, travel the 2.5 km that separate us from do the visit to Hobbiton in New Zealand.
The reason to go so soon, although our tour is at 9:30 in the morning, is that we want to take the opportunity to visit the store and have a drink in the cafeteria, since later, having another visit, we will go more just in time and We prefer to do it with peace of mind.
The first thing you should know is that Hobbiton in New Zealand It is nothing other than the shooting set that was used during the recording of the trilogy of The Lord of the rings. This decoration, at the end of filming, was dismantled, and then had to be rebuilt exactly, when filming began The Hobbit. Once this was finished, the Alexander family, owner of the farm chosen by Peter Jackson, the director, as a stage, reached an agreement with the producer to be able to maintain this scenario and show it to all visitors who wanted to know Hobbiton or La Comarca.
Visit Hobbiton in New Zealand
And it was like this, after this agreement, how he was born Hobbiton Movie Set Tours, one of the most visited places in New Zealand and that it has been a discovery for more than one traveler who, like us, arrives here for the fame that precedes the place and after the experience, leaves totally excited about the tour and everything that surrounds the incredible world of Tolkien.
Hobbiton in New Zealand
More practical information to prepare your trip to New Zealand
- 10 essential tips for traveling to New Zealand
- 10 essential places to see in New Zealand
- The best travel insurance for New Zealand
Hobbiton tickets
After this little introduction we want to talk about one of the things you ask us the most, which is none other than Tickets to visit Hobbiton in New Zealand. That said and before entering into matter, what we can tell you is that the Hobbiton tour It is not exactly economical, since they are around 80NZD per person, depending on what type of tour you choose. What we do assure you is that you will not regret any of the dollars you spend, since it is a unique experience.
We leave you some basic information so you can choose the entrance to Hobbiton that best suits your needs:
- The first thing to keep in mind is that visit Hobbiton in New Zealand For free it is something impossible, so the only option is to opt for the classic day guided tour or one special Night that includes dinner on the set.
- All tours are in English, although at the entrance they have explanatory brochures of the tour in Spanish, Thai, Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese.
- The price of the Hobbiton tour in New Zealand basically depends on one thing: from where you do it. It is important to assess this point, since depending on it, you must make the journey to Shire's Rest Café or not, which is the starting point of the tour.
- Depending on the time of the year, there are more or less tours throughout the day, although they all have the same duration, about two hours, although this time can be adjusted a little, depending on the time and the number of groups there are.
- The most important thing, especially in mid and high season is to book in advance. We booked about a month before and there were already shifts that day that were complete.
- You can book here the Guided Tour of the Hobbiton Filming Set or the Hobbiton Movie Set Guided Tour and Buffet Lunch, departing both from Shire's Rest Café, as we did.
Hobbiton
More tickets for Hobbiton
As we mentioned earlier, you can visit Hobbiton in New Zealand from different points of origin:
- Hobbiton from Auckland:
Tour and transfers to Hobbiton filming set
Hobbiton set tour and festive lunch
Premium 1-day tour to the Hobbiton shooting set - Hobbiton from Rotorua:
Guided tour of the Hobbiton filming set
Hobbiton Guided tour and night banquet from Rotorua - Hobbiton from Tauranga:
Hobbiton Movie Set Shore Excursion from Tauranga
Hobbiton tickets
What to see in the visit to Hobbiton
Although we don't want to reveal much about the visit to Hobbiton, since we believe that in part the magic of this place is not knowing much about it, we do want to leave you some information so you know what the excursion to the region And what will you see along the way?
The first part of the tour is done by bus making the journey from Shire's Rest Café, meeting point of the tours, to the shooting set itself. This part lasts about 10 minutes and in addition to being able to watch a documentary, the guide gives you explanations and telling anecdotes about Hobbiton and the filming of the films.
Once on the set of shooting, this is traveled for practically an hour, always with the guide that takes you through the different hobbit holes, always telling anecdotes, curious facts of the shooting as well as explanations about the film.
Visit to Hobbiton
Contrary to what it may seem, despite being a guided tour, you will have time to take pictures, as the guide takes great care of this aspect and always leaves moments to take pictures, including the area of hobbit holes.
After this hour of travel, the Hobbiton tour ends at the Green Dragon Inn, where for 15 minutes you can enjoy the atmosphere and a beer with alcohol or alcohol, included in the price of admission.
Green Dragon Inn
From here and after almost 2 hours of visit, you will catch the bus that will take you back to Shire's Rest Café, where there is the parking lot, the shop and a small restaurant cafeteria and where the excursion to Hobbiton ends.
Hobbit Hole in Hobbiton
Curiosities about Hobbiton in New Zealand
Although before we said that we did not want to reveal much about Hobbiton, we do want to leave you several curiosities about this place so that you can open your mouth even before visiting it:
- As they say, the direct Jackson was looking for locations for filming of The Lord of the rings when he saw the Alexander farm. It was at that moment when he learned that this was the perfect location for La Comarca: rolling hills, in which to locate the holes of the hobbits in which nothing hindered the view, not even a power line.
- Jackson valued many things, but among them, he had preference that all trees and plants were natural in Hobbiton. This could keep him almost 100%, since he could not find any plum with the dimensions he wanted to plant on the house of Bilbo and Frodo Bolsón, so he had to build one in steel and silicone with more than 200,000 leaves, which they hit one by one.
As a curiosity, add that this famous tree only comes out in The Lord of the ringssince when it was filmed The Hobbit, there was a difference of several years and a tree with the same dimensions could no longer be used.
Hobbiton
- Something similar happened with the trees that were in La Comarca. According to Tolkien's book these were plums, but on the farm there were apple trees, so Jackson for the shootings, changed the fruits and leaves to perfectly recreate the book.
- Another of the curiosities is that the houses of the hobbit holes were treated with vinegar, glue, moss and paint to give it the aged appearance that is seen in the film and that when you approach, you can check perfectly.
Hobbiton
- Similarly, all the details that you can see in the Hobbiton film set are made to scale with incredible perfection and detail. We recommend you take some time to observe the clothes, cars, vegetables ... etc
The Shire
- Although in the distance it may seem that all holes are equal, if you look you can see how there are some that have different measures. This is to make Gandalf look much taller than Frodo and Bilbo.
- Although from the outside it seems that you can enter the hobby houses, you can only do it in one that is also empty, since the interiors were recorded in Wellington and in Hobbiton only the exteriors of the films were recorded.
Visit Hobbiton Movie Set
- Where you can see the whole scenario is in the Green Dragon Tavern, where all the details are preserved as you could see them in the movies.
How to go to Hobbiton
We leave you the map of the exact location of Hobbiton and the place where we stayed, which after the experience, we think is perfect if you choose a tour early in the morning.
Tips for visiting Hobbiton
- Although any time of day is good to visit Hobbiton in New Zealand, whenever you can, we recommend you go first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. In this way, you will avoid getting together with many organized groups that usually go during the middle of the day.
- If you have a chance, approach Shire's Rest with some time to visit the store and have a drink in the cafeteria or even have breakfast. The prices are very tight and from what we saw, the menu looks very good.
- Even if you go with a motorhome, don't worry. Hobbiton has a huge parking lot in which there are spaces designated for motorhomes.
- Do not forget that if you choose to buy tickets to Hobbiton from Shire's Rest, you must go with your vehicle there. That is, you will have to go to the meeting point that is located about 16 kilometers from Matamata.
In case you do not want to go there with your vehicle, we recommend you to book tickets to Hobbiton from Matamata or any other origin, which we have talked about and left links before.
Visit Hobbiton Movie Set
Visit Hobbiton and Waitomo the same day
Another one of the doubts for which you have asked us a lot is about the possibility of visit Hobbiton in New Zealand and Waitomo Caves in one day.
In our case we have done so and we have to say that it is totally feasible as well as recommended if you have a few days and want to know these two places. What you should keep in mind is to schedule the visits in such a way that they do not overlap in addition to leaving enough time to make the journey between both places that will take you about 90 minutes.
Another option is to do a tour or excursion that includes both visits:
Hobbiton Movie Set
After two hours of visiting Hobbiton in New Zealand and leaving with a smile from ear to ear, there are a few minutes to 11:30 in the morning when we pick up the parking motorhome to travel the almost 90 kilometers that separate us from the Caves Waitomo, our next visit of the day, which we will talk about in the next post.
We leave you the map of the route that we have followed to visit Hobbiton in New Zealand and the Waitomo caves.
Day 9: Visit the Waitomo Caves: Ruakuri Cave and Glowworm Cave - Lake Taupo
