Hobbiton Movie Set Tours: Matamata Travel Guide (4.8★)

A village dug into a sheep farm

The coach crosses open pasture full of sheep, rolls past farm sheds, and stops at a gap in a hedge. Then the ground drops away. Round doors in yellow, green and red are set into the hillside, each with its own garden, washing line and stack of firewood.

Hobbiton is the Shire from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. It sits on the Alexander family’s farm near Matamata. The editorial summary describes it as a picturesque sheep farm with guided tours, a gift shop, a café and an inn, and that is the set-up you’ll find. The village sits in the middle of a farm that is still running.

Getting to Buckland Road

The tours start from the visitor centre at 501 Buckland Road, out in the farmland beyond Matamata township. Most people drive. Rough travel times by road:

• Auckland: about two hours
• Hamilton: around an hour
• Rotorua: roughly an hour
• Tauranga: under an hour

Some tours leave from the Matamata i-SITE in town instead. The building is done up as a Shire gatehouse, so it is easy to spot. Day trips also run from Auckland and Rotorua if you’d rather not drive the country roads yourself.

Why the doors are different sizes

Look closely and the hobbit holes don’t match. Some doorways would make an adult stoop, and others are clearly too small for anyone. This was deliberate. The film crew built the holes at different scales, which let them use forced perspective to make the actors look like hobbits or like towering wizards.

Most of the holes are façades with little or nothing behind the door. That is part of the charm. You’re walking through a working film set, and the guides explain which shots were taken from which spot.

The first set, built for The Lord of the Rings, was put up quickly and partly taken down afterwards. When filming came back for The Hobbit, the village was rebuilt in permanent materials. That is why the timber, stone and planted gardens you see now have aged so convincingly.

The route down to the Green Dragon

The walk follows a set loop with gentle hills. It runs up through the holes on the slope, past the vegetable plots, and toward Bag End at the top. Bilbo’s door looks out over the party tree and the field beside the lake. That tree is reportedly part of why the farm was chosen in the first place.

From there the path heads down to the water and across the double-arched bridge by the mill. It ends at the Green Dragon Inn, with its low beams and fireplaces. The standard tour has traditionally finished with a drink here. Check what your ticket includes when you book.

Things you’ll pass on the way:

• Bag End, at the top of the hill
• The party field, with its tree and pavilion
• The mill and double-arched bridge over the water
• The Green Dragon Inn, the last stop

Moving through the Shire with a guide

Nobody wanders Hobbiton alone. Every visit is a guided group tour, and the groups set off one after another all day. Each group gets a few minutes at each stop before the next one comes up behind. So take your photos when the guide pauses. If you hang back for a hobbit hole with no one in front of it, you’ll just end up in the next group’s shot.

This is one of New Zealand’s most visited attractions, so book online before you travel. Turning up and hoping for a seat often ends in disappointment, especially in school holidays. Arrive at the visitor centre with time to check in before your departure. The buses leave on schedule.

A few habits make the visit easier:

• Stay on the paths. The gardens are tended and some areas are roped off.
• Don’t touch the props. You can photograph doors and gates, but don’t open them unless your guide says so.
• Ask questions. Guides know which scenes were filmed where and enjoy being asked.
• Pack a rain layer. The whole tour is outdoors, and Waikato weather changes quickly.

Paying by card is normal at the café and the gift shop. Tipping isn’t expected in New Zealand, so you don’t need to tip your guide, though nobody will refuse it.

Picking your season

The set is kept looking lived-in all year, but the season changes what you see. In spring and summer the vegetable plots and flower beds are at their fullest and the hills are bright green. Winter is quieter on the roads, with lower light and a better chance of wet grass and muddy edges.

There is also an evening banquet experience. It ends with a feast at the Green Dragon and a lantern-lit walk back through the village. It books out earlier than daytime tours, and the official site lists when it runs. Opening times and departures change through the year, so check the official site for this month’s schedule before you plan your day.

Matamata beyond the set

Most visitors arrive, do the tour and drive on. A few extra hours in the area are worth it. Matamata is a farming town on the edge of the Kaimai Range, and it has things to see that have nothing to do with films:

• Wairere Falls: a steep track in the Kaimai Range leads to the North Island’s tallest waterfall, about a 20 to 30 minute drive from town.
• Firth Tower Historical Museum: a concrete tower from the 1880s with old farm buildings around it, on the edge of Matamata.
• Opal Hot Springs: thermal pools just outside town, good for tired legs after the falls track.
• Main street cafés: small-town coffee before you head on to Rotorua or Tauranga.

Leave about half a day for Hobbiton, counting the drive, check-in, the tour and a look round the gift shop. Add the falls and you have a full day without rushing.