Our Hobbiton Journey – A Pilgrimage to Nerd Paradise

Hobbiton – Our New Zealand Side Trip

When my husband and I had an opportunity to visit New Zealand as an add-on to our Tahiti trip, we couldn’t wait.  We knew it was going to be a short trip, but we had one absolute: Hobbiton. 

The Shire

If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, you know this is an absolute MUST DO. 

If you are not a Lord of the Rings fan, first of all, what is wrong with you? Second of all, this tour is still a really cool experience.  Alexander Farms has done an amazing job with this tour.

A Little Background

Peter Jackson found the Alexander Farm on a fly over while looking for shooting location back in 1998.  The Alexander farm is a 1,250 acre sheep farm on the north island of New Zealand in the Waikato area.  Rolling hills and greenery, it’s just flat out gorgeous.  Upon entering the farm you can see why is was chosen as The Shire. 

It almost perfectly matches JRR Tolkien’s description of the Shire (minus the plum trees).

By 1999, the crew was onsite building what would become Hobbiton. This included bringing roads for production equipment and all the filming needs.

The building included 29 hobbit holes, set building, and miscellaneous needs to match the books descriptions.  Peter Jackson had a tremendous eye for detail. As it turns out, including creating the tree atop Bag Ends.

Production ceased, the site was mostly torn down. Tours began in 2002 with the rough remains of The Shire, with just the shells and facades remaining.

In 2009, back came the staff and crew to film The Hobbit series.  This time the Alexanders requested that structures be made permanent. A business venture for them was found in the tour business.

This included the addition of The Green Dragon Inn.

And So, The Jones Tour Begins

We were in Auckland, without a vehicle, so I selected a tour that included hotel pickup. 

Knowing that we had only this one chance with transportation, I booked a full day tour. The tour would also take us to see a bit of the country, including the glow worm caves. 

Cheeky Kiwi Travel was selected.  I mean, come on, Cheeky Kiwi, that name alone means it’s going to be good!

Pick up was at 6:30 am, which is early, but it was a 12-hour tour, and drive time meant sleep time on the tour bus! So don’t let this intimidate you if you are not an early riser.

The Joy of Letting Someone Else do the Driving

Our driver was awesome.  As we left Auckland, he shared some fun facts about New Zealand and the city of Auckland.

Just past the city limits, he stopped talking and gave us about an hour of quiet drive time to get a little snooze in or just enjoy the scenery.

An hour in we took a pit stop for some coffee and a little snack (the tour provided water as well).

And after 30 min we were back on the road and back to our driver sharing information about the land scape, towns we were passing through, and general New Zealand knowledge.

We love starting our first day of travel in new cities on information tours to learn about where we are visiting.

One left turn, and a windy road, seeing some weird looking deer and lots of sheep, and we arrived:  HOBBITON.

Hobbiton Tour, the Check-in

The tour is operated by the Alexander family, so you must check in at the café and gift shop, get your ticket and then board their tour bus for the ride out to The Shire. 

It’s a 2 hour tour, so use the restroom, get a snack if you need it, and then off you go on the bus.

The bus has a TV screen that shares with you a little about the farms history.  And I actually got goosebumps when the video opened with the Lord of the Rings musical score. 

It’s just a few minutes of a drive out to The Shire, through a twisty road lined by gorgeous green rolling hills (and fluffy white sheep).

The Shire Walkabout

I know, walkabout is more of an Aussie term than a Kiwi term, but that’s what it is:  A walking tour through The Shire.

And it’s like being there.

It’s all intact from the filming, the path they are riding down as they return from the Fellowship, the Party Tree, the field, the pond, the home of Sam and Rosie, and, naturally Bag End!

It was amazing. 

Your guide shares movie facts, trivia, and takes you through pertinent locations of scenes from the movies. 

It’s so hard not to geek out, even if you are just a casual fan.  It’s totally geek worthy. And beautiful. And all still in such great condition you would truly think that the Brandybucks and Tooks were just there the day before.

There is one Hobbit house open you can enter, but fair-warning, it’s really just a dirt cave behind a Hobbit hole door.  Not impressive, but I can at least tell you that I’ve been in a Hobbit Hole.

The walkabout takes you through The Shire, past Bag End, and finally through the field where Bilbo’s 111^th birthday party was held.

And finally the tour concludes at The Green Dragon Inn.

It Comes in Pints (just not at The Green Dragon)

Yes, The Green Dragon sells it’s own brew:  The Southfarthing Brewing Company is served at The Green Dragon, and has a stout, an amber, and a pale ale. 

But no, it’s doesn’t come in pints, half-pints only.  Although I do regret not buying the half-pint ceramic mugs, they do have them in the gift shop. The beer is good, and you get a free one included with your tour price.

The tours are staggered and scheduled, so you do only get a certain amount of time in the pub.  However, by the dragon bar that is stacked with props of food, you can actually don an apron and/or Hobbit vest, and there are tour guides that are always about to help you dress up and get pictures in costume. 

And the tavern is really well done, it’s beautiful with hand carved wood, stone and fireplaces.  I’d hang out here even if it wasn’t in Hobbiton.  It’s super cute and cozy.

And here’s where our Hobbiton adventure ends

The tour is over at the pub; however, when not part of a tour group, you can add on either “second breakfast” or an evening banquet to your tour.  These can be purchased if you are driving yourself to Hobbiton, and yes, that is an option for those who rent cars and are used to driving on the left side of the road to get yourself there.

The Cheeky Kiwi met us at the pub and we were off for the rest of our tour, which included the Waimato Glow Worm Caves, a stop for lunch, fantastic scenery and New Zealand facts, and a stop at a Big Bird farm where they have ostriches and emus; naturally, I was freaking out over the ostriches, they were an awesome addition to our day.

In closing, yes, I absolutely recommend this tour company, and you should not miss Hobbiton when on the North Island.  There are other Lord of the Rings filming locations you can visit, and we will definitely be hitting Mordor on our next trip, but those are hikes and not part of organized tours.