Is Hobbiton Worth it? An Honest Hobbiton Review

Last Updated on 4th October 2023

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Are you thinking about planning a trip to Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand but you’re not sure if it’s worth visiting? This ultimate Hobbiton review and guide includes everything you need to know!

One of the most popular things to do on the North Island of New Zealand is the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour in Matamata. When Matt’s mum bought us tickets for the tour for my birthday, we were so grateful and excited to go and explore the world-famous set.

Despite having only watched the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies fairly recently, I fell in love with the idea of The Shire and the adorable Hobbit holes that it’s renowned for.

If you’re thinking of booking a trip to Hobbiton and you’re wondering if Hobbiton is worth it, check out my honest review below!

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Is Hobbiton worth it?

If you’re a fan of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies, the Hobbiton Tour is 100% worth adding to your New Zealand bucket list!

It’s such an incredibly fascinating place, with so many wonderful parts to it; even if you’re not a fan of the movie/book franchises, I’d still recommend visiting Hobbiton as it’s such a beautiful part of North Island New Zealand!

History of New Zealand Hobbiton

Residing just outside of Matamata, in the Waikato region, Hobbiton was discovered by Peter Jackson and various location scouts in 1998 who adopted an aerial view approach to scout out the perfect filming location for what was to be The Shire.

Happily, they stumbled across the bountiful 1,250 acre sheep farm belonging to the Alexander family. The construction of Hobbiton as it’s known today took over nine months to create and with the help of the New Zealand army, Peter Jackson’s vision was brought to life.

44 dainty and delicate Hobbit holes now reside in ‘The Shire’, as well as The Green Dragon Inn pub, the lake, the bridge and all the little “streets” that Gandalf and Frodo traverse down in the horse and carriage.

Even if you’ve never watched any of the LOTR or Hobbit films, I truly believe that Hobbiton should be added to your New Zealand travel bucket list; it’s one of the most beautiful and magical places I’ve ever seen!

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Arriving at Hobbiton Movie Set Tour

The Hobbiton Movie Set Tour is situated pretty much bang in the middle of Rotorua and Hamilton and was only an hour’s drive from where we’re staying in Katikati.

There’s plenty of car park space available when you arrive at Hobbiton (next to the Shire’s Rest Cafe) but if you don’t want to/can’t drive, then there are plenty of transfer options available.

Once you’ve parked up (or arrived via a transfer bus/coach), you’ll need to make your way to the ticket office to collect your pre-booked tickets. When visiting Hobbiton, you have to purchase your tickets in advance and not on the door as you’ll be given an allotted time to catch the short bus ride to the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour location.

Once you’ve boarded the Hobbiton bus that takes you to ‘The Shire’, you’ll be able to enjoy the spectacular rolling hills around you. While on the bus, your tour guide will give you a brief introduction about what the Hobbiton tour includes, as well as watching a short clip of Peter Jackson on the built-in TV inside the bus.

First look at Hobbiton

When you first catch a glimpse of Hobbiton and see The Shire in real life for the very first time, it’s a feeling like no other. There seems to be an air of enigma and magic surrounding Hobbiton and it truly feels like you’ve stepped right into Middle Earth.

The tour groups are split into roughly 20 people; so it’s not too big but also allows enough people to visit the set each day.

One thing that made our particular tour truly unique was that there was an American guy who was clearly a hardcore LOTR/The Hobbit fan, dressed as Frodo Baggins himself!

At first, we all thought that he must have been an extra and was just a member of staff dressed up as a Hobbit to enhance the experience; however, we soon discovered that he just really bloody loved the films and wanted to dress up like a Hobbit! He even went as far as to wear exact replicas of Frodo’s clothing, complete with Hobbit ears and he omitted to wearing shoes to enhance his full look!

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The Movie Set Tour – Hobbit Holes

As I previously mentioned, there are 44 Hobbit holes punctuating the beautiful landscape of Hobbiton, all of which are entirely unique and ever so intricately designed.

The attention to detail that Peter Jackson and the film crew have gone to in order to create Hobbiton is absolutely out of this world. There are so many minute details that you don’t notice when watching the films, but up close, you can really see the valiant effort that has gone into the creation.

Each of the Hobbit holes have been designed with the intent of matching their personality to the owners of the hole. For example, there are professions in Hobbiton that aren’t quite clear in the films such as a cheesemaker, a baker, a fishmonger, an artist, a carpenter, a honey maker, plus so much more!

These intricate details may seem insignificant to some people, but it’s clear to see that Peter Jackson wanted to create a world that was as realistic as possible and with our visit to Hobbiton, I think it’s safe to say that he went above and beyond!

Another truly fascinating anecdote that our tour guide told us was that when rebuilding Hobbiton for The Hobbit trilogy, Peter Jackson recalled a line from the books about children sitting and playing around a plum tree.

The only issue was that plum trees would have dwarfed the look of the Hobbit holes and the Hobbits themselves, so he planted apple trees and had crew members wire fake plums onto the trees instead!

These tiny snippets of intricate details seem so trivial but it’s astounding to see just how much attention to detail the entire cast and crew paid when creating these incredible movies!

The gardens that surround Hobbiton are also fully functioning and produce a vast range of different fruit and vegetables, including apples, pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes, plus much more!

I think this is an excellent idea and really makes the experience even more authentic and realistic as you can really imagine the Hobbits tending to their homegrown produce (there’s actually an expert team of gardeners who look after the vegetation on a daily basis, but it’s nice to imagine that the Hobbits do it instead!).

Bag End – Bilbo and Frodo’s house!

Yet another fascinating fact that we learned while wandering around the Movie Set Tour was that Bilbo Baggins was the richest Hobbit in Hobbiton!

The way that you tell how rich a Hobbit is, is by how high up on the hill their house is; as Bilbo’s resides on top of Bag End, it’s clear to see that he’s the richest!

It also explains why in the last Hobbit film everyone was selling his stuff; he clearly had a lot to sell!

Bag End and Bilbo and Frodo’s house was probably the one place that everyone was most eager to visit. Another tell tale sign of how rich a Hobbit is, is by how many windows they have on their house; from the look of Bilbo’s house, he has plenty!

Unfortunately, you can’t go into any of the Hobbit holes, on party business or otherwise. That’s one part of Hobbiton that I was slightly disappointed at as I thought you could go in at least one!

However, I suppose it does make sense as the Hobbit holes are in fact just a filming set and not real life homes for Hobbits!

A great thing about this guided tour however (and one aspect I was most curious and anxious to learn about) is that it is indeed an incredibly interactive tour. While Matt and I haven’t been on many (in fact, we’ve only ever done the Golden Circle Tour in Iceland!), we’ve heard that most group tours are quite restricted and don’t allow you to experience the place in your own way.

While you can’t head off around the set on your own, you are encouraged to take plenty of pictures and interact with the Hobbit holes as much as possible.

Our tour guide was incredibly friendly and helpful and even offered to take pictures for people who wanted group photos. It is a shame that you can’t go in any of the Hobbit holes, but I suppose it helps them to remain as pristine as possible.

Another incredibly touching story and largely unknown fact about the Lord of the Rings trilogy is that the very last scene in the Return of the King movie in which Sam returns home to his wife Rosie and his two children is remarkably moving.

The little girl who runs into Sam’s arms is in fact Sean Astin’s (who plays Sam) real life daughter! As Sean had been away for weeks and months on end filming the movies, his daughter’s reaction is wholehearted, genuine excitement!

The little baby girl that his wife Rosie (played by Sarah McLeod) is holding when he arrives home is also Sarah’s daughter in real life. Little tiny details like this make the films seem even more magical and beautiful once you learn about them!

As the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour starts to come to a conclusion, you’ll make your way towards the Green Dragon Inn, but not before you’ve had the chance to see the bridge and the mill that Gandalf and Frodo ride passed at the very start of the first LOTR film.

The mill isn’t actually a fully functioning one, so when they were filming, they attached a pump underneath it to create the illusion that the wheel was spinning!

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The Green Dragon Inn – is Hobbiton worth it?

Another great touch of the Hobbiton movie set is that the Green Dragon Inn is a fully-fledged, functioning pub!

As part of your tour ticket price, you get a free drink at the pub; with a choice of stout, ginger beer, ale or cider, or a soft drink!

The inside of the Inn is much bigger than I expected and it felt so warm and cosy; I could practically feel Gandalf’s and all the Hobbits’ presence!

You can also order food from the Green Dragon Inn, in the form of hot pies, sandwiches and soups! This is such a thoughtful and unique touch and it really added to the illusion that we were in Middle Earth!

There was even a roaring fire in the middle of the Inn, which only added to the cosiness and authenticity even more!

Top tips for visiting – is Hobbiton worth it?

• Try and book your tickets to visit Hobbiton as early as possible in the day; especially during peak season when slots can sell out very quickly!
• Make sure you have your camera to hand; there are so many photo opportunities and it’d be a shame not to capture the magic of The Shire on camera!
• Pay attention to the little details; I’ve mentioned some of the things to look out for in this post, but there’s still SO much to see and explore at Hobbiton so pay attention!
• Adults ticket prices for the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour start at around $84 per person (around £44) which, while expensive, is definitely worth the money in my opinion!
• The Hobbiton Tour is a guided tour so you can’t just turn up and go round yourself. If, like Matt and I, you’re not accustomed to group tours, it’s really not a concern at Hobbiton as we found it to be incredibly enjoyable!
• While the tour set isn’t technically wheelchair accessible, we did see one lady being driven around in a golf buggy. You won’t get to see everything in the buggy, but you’ll still get to see a vast majority of the set.

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Our time at Hobbiton was absolutely incredible and I’d highly recommend booking a tour there if you’re ever in the North Island of New Zealand!

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Pin for later – is Hobbiton worth it?

Have you ever been to Hobbiton? Do you think Hobbiton is worth it? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram at @imjustagirl_16.