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Home » Destinations » New Zealand » A tour of the Hobbiton film set, New Zealand
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A tour of the Hobbiton film set, New Zealand

Published: 1st November 2012 by Laurence Norah - 4 Comments

A while back, I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon wandering the Hobbiton movie set, which can be found near the town of Matamata in New Zealand. When I visited, I was made to sign a lengthy and complex non disclosure agreement, which meant that whilst I could drink in all the hobbity wonder on offer, I couldn’t share it with you.

Instead, I wrote a post about what visiting Hobbiton taught me. Which was all jolly good, but lacking in pretty round doors and party trees.

Now however, with the filming of the upcoming Hobbit movies all done, the NDA has been lifted, and I’m free to share with you everything I saw in the two hour tour. Which is totally worth doing by the way.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Lord of the rings themed post, and these photos have been burning a hole in my hard drive for nearly two years now. So let’s get on with it!

Hobbiton party tree black and white

This is the famous party tree, where Bilbo did his disappearing trick in the Lord of the Rings movies.

Hobbiton movie set west farthing sign

It’s just like being in the movies. You have no idea how excited I was!

Green Dragon pub and mill in hobbiton new zealand

The mill, and the famous Green Dragon pub. Rumour has it that this is going to open as a real pub. Now that would be an awesome addition to the tour!

Hobbit hole in hobbiton New Zealand

It seems that hobbits distinguish their holes with different door colours.

Fake lichen covered fence post hobbiton New Zealand film set

This lichen looks good doesn’t it? Amazingly, it’s all fake. Impressive stuff.

blue Hobbit hole in hobbiton New Zealand

A blue doored hobbit hole.

Bilbo Hobbit hole bag end hobbiton New Zealand

This is the big one – it’s Bag End where Bilbo lives on Bagshot row. The window on the right is where Sam was found eavesdropping.. and the other door is the main entry to Bag End. Also, that tree on top is entirely fake. Movies, eh.

View of hobbiton from bag end New Zealand 2

And this is the view that Bilbo has from Bag end. The set is pretty massive as you can see – the tour took just under two hours!

Round Hobbit door

Close up of a hobbit door. The work that went into making this stuff look aged was a little bit impressive.

hobbit house with chimney hobbiton new zealand 2

As you can probably tell, there are a LOT of hobbit holes on this set. 37 in fact. Don’t worry, I’m not going to show you pictures of all of them.

Whole of bag end Bilbo Hobbit hole hobbiton New Zealand-001

And finally, that fake tree on Bag End again.

If you have the urge to take a tour of the Hobbiton movie set – which I can highly recommend, if you are any kind of movie or Tolkien fan – then take a look at the Hobbiton Movie Tours website for all the details. Tours run from the towns of Matamata and Rotorua, as well as from the Shire Cafe itself, which is located just near the set, a short drive from Matamata.

A photo tour of the hobbiton movie set as used for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie films. Located near Matamata on the north island of New Zealand.

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There are 4 comments on this post

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  1. DiVerde says

    12th November 2018 at 7:01 pm

    I’m heading to New Zealand and will be taking the Hobbiton tour next Wednesday. Curious if you can go inside bag end or any other hobbit holes?

    Reply
    • Laurence Norah says

      12th November 2018 at 7:07 pm

      Hey DiVerde! Unfortunately not, the Hobbiton set was just the exteriors, with the insides filmed at a studio. So you can stand in the doorway, but you can’t actually go inside as there’s nothing to go in!

      Reply
  2. Bilbo Baggins says

    11th November 2018 at 9:28 pm

    You have supplied incorrect information in this article:
    “The window on the right is where Sam was found eavesdropping..”.
    It is the window to the LEFT (not shown in your photo) where Sam was found eavesdropping.

    Reply
    • Laurence Norah says

      12th November 2018 at 4:14 pm

      Thanks for the clarification Bilbo!

      Reply

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