If you are a movie buff, you are probably familiar with the beautiful village in the famous blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" - the fairyland of the Hobbits.
Hobbiton tourist area or Hobbit village is located in Matamata town, Waikato - a beautiful rural town in northern New Zealand, about two hours drive from Auckland city.
Previously, this area was the farm of an Alexander family with an area of nearly 500 hectares.
In 1998, the film crew of “The Lord of the Rings” set foot in New Zealand in the hope of finding a scene similar to the description of the novel: a tall giant tree near a small pond. During the search, director Peter Jackson discovered the Alexander family farm on the plane. The author was impressed by the farm’s unique mark of ancient British nature. The rolling hills of this farm seemed to be born for Hobbits – very suitable for building a beautiful small village here.
What the film crew did not expect was that after the film was completed, the set would become a famous tourist destination, attracting many tourists from all over the world. Hobbiton Farm began to open to visitors in 2002. The village's attraction to tourists is so great that every year more than 350,000 tourists come here.
There are a total of 44 houses in the hill hollow for visitors to visit, however only a few houses can be entered inside, the rest are just built for background scenery.
To visit this film set, visitors will have to walk for more than 2 hours. If they feel tired, they can rest and refresh themselves at the “Green Dragon” restaurant. Here, they serve drinks and snacks to help them recharge after the tour.
Hobbiton is open to visitors all year round, but the busiest time is from early May to early June when the leaves change colour and are at their most vibrant. At this time, the land looks like a fairy garden, making tourists nostalgic.
