A trip to The Shire: Hobbiton Set, New Zealand
- By JP Chartier
- June 20, 2014
- 13 Comments
Every Friday at GutterPup Adventures we publish a “guest post” from a high quality travel website. These talented writers will take you on a journey to the most beautiful and exciting places on earth! Today, Jaye from “Travel Far & Away” takes us on a tour of the set where the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were filmed in the New Zealand.
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By Jaye
Looking out from the airplane window, I came to an understanding about why New Zealand was picked as the set for the famous Lord of the Rings film and The Hobbit. It’s green, and just beautiful. And I’m just talking about the North Island. Part of our itinerary was to visit Hobbiton set in Matamata which is around 3 hours drive from Auckland.
An easy drive to Hobbiton is a feast for our eyes! It’s all lush and green and there are definitely rolling hills as you get closer to the tour departure point. Our tour started with a drive through the thousand acre picturesque sheep farm. We’ve never seen so many sheep in our life! There must be thousands of them grazing along the green rolling hills.
The tour is approximately 2 hours and your guide will take you through the hobbit holes and where Bilbo had his big birthday party with the famous tree as the backdrop.
Hobbit Houses
The Shire is so lush and green! During the tour, the guide will take you through the hobbit holes and you also have time for some photo-op.
The famous tree and where Bilbo had his birthday party
The last stop for the tour is the Green Dragon Inn where you’ll get your complimentary drink. As you step into the bar, you will feel that you have been transported to Middle-Earth. For us, this was definitely the best part of the tour.
My favourite spot in The Green Dragon Inn, Hobbiton Set
Brian has the root beer, and I have the apple cider. Cheers!
Inside The Green Dragon Inn, Hobbiton Set
TOUR INFORMATION:
- Tour Departs at The Shire’s Rest, 501 Buckland Road, Hinuera, Matamata. ( Self Driving? Use this address for your GPS).
- Please allow approximately 2 hours for the entire tour, a tour bus will pick you up in front of the souvenir shop to take you to the Hobbiton Set.
- Tour prices starts at $75.00 for adults.
USEFUL TIPS:
- Packaged tours to Hobbiton set is expensive and you can save money by self driving. Driving is not challenging and just as long as you keep on the left side of the road, there will be no problems. In New Zealand, you drive at a maximum speed of 100 km/hr and you stay at the left side unless overtaking.
- Call in advance and reserve your tickets, be there at least 15 minutes before the tour departs.
- Wear a good pair of shoes, no high heels please. You will be walking on dirt, if it’s raining it will get muddy and slippery.
- Wear comfortable clothing of course! Sunscreen and a hat is a must when you’re doing the tour in the middle of the day.
- LOTR fanatic? Bring along your costumes! You can be a real hobbit or even Gandalf even just for a day!
- Camera! You’ll be busy taking pictures so make sure its fully charged. And watch where you are walking, you don’t want to end up in the pond.
- On a budget? Pack lunch and have a picnic at the Shire’s Rest, outside food is allowed on the benches overlooking the rolling hills of the farm. There’s also a restaurant if you have a bit of cash to spare.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
About 8 years ago, the desire of visiting beautiful places and travelling the world has only been but a dream. Being nurses by profession, this allowed us to work in another country, thereby opening doors to the world of travel and never ending learning.
Travel far and away was born from a personal blog ( travelswithjaye.com), this website is a diary of our adventures and misadventures in different parts of the globe. We have a penchant for far and exotic locations, away from the big and tall buildings. A genuine love for nature and wildlife, a very strong liking for ancient history and monuments, and of course a strong desire to travel around Europe ( who doesn’t anyway?).
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JP Chartier
Such a cool post!! I love LotR and can’t wait to visit the Shire some day!
Thanks for your comment Manouk! I’ll go ahead and say it now – “I could live there in the little hobbit-house.”
This is definitely one of my dream destinations! Being such a huge LOTR geek I am this would make me giddy with happiness for days on end. That is probably one of the coolest places ever!
One of the coolest places ever in one of the most beautiful countries!
That’s like a Teletubbies land! I wish i could live in a place like this.
Haha! I agree, this place is beyond awesome.
I always wanted to live in a place like this, unfortunately for now I can not fulfill my desire.
Don’t give up! I also want to live in a place like this, and it seems a impossibility right now – however, I’m not giving up
Beautiful pictures. I would love to see the landscape from these incredible movies. I was going to tweet this post with your twitter handle, but your name is coming up as an error on twitter. Did you change your twitter name?
Hello Ted, my twitter is @gutterpuptravel. This is a guest post by Jaye from the website Travel Far & Away.com and her Twitter is @JayePB. The landscape almost looks fake because it’s so beautiful!
JP, my dream! Going to Fiji in 2 days, gotta see if I can swing New Zealand too. Thanks!
This place is a dream, right Ryan? New Zealand is heaven on earth. Have a great time in Fiji and let me know if you do swing by the Shire
oh yes yes yes! That looks simply awesome!