Hobbit holes
Round doors.
Jackie.lck (photos · photo sets) — CC BY 2.0 · Joe Ross from Lansing, Michigan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Andres Iga — CC0 · Joe Ross from Lansing, Michigan — CC BY-SA 2.0
The set of the hobbit village from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, on a family farm among green hills near the town of Matamata, which stayed standing after filming and became one of New Zealand's best-known attractions. Dozens of little homes are dug into the hillsides, with round coloured doors, flowering gardens and chimneys, just as in the films, around a small lake with a mill and a stone bridge, and a great tree above the hero's home. The village can only be visited on guided tours, where guides share filming secrets and the small details that built the world of the films. The tour ends at the Green Dragon Inn, where a drink brewed for the site is served, with non-alcoholic options available. The main tour is about NZ$130 per adult and lasts about two and a half hours, and advance booking is essential, per visitor guides. The set is about an hour from Rotorua and two hours from Auckland.
Round doors.
A film scene.
The tour's end.
Farm near Matamata, Waikato, about an hour from Rotorua
No, it is guided tours only, and advance booking is essential.