My Lord of the Rings Hobbit Village Tour

While reading The Lord of the Rings, most people have fantastic thoughts such as "I wish I lived there on Earth, or I wish I was one of the elves". Maybe it is not possible for you to be one of the elves, but it is possible to feel as if you were teleported to Middle Earth, or even like a Hobbit, by visiting Hobbiton in the Hobbit Village Shire, one of the most fantastic places in Middle-earth. Of course, you have to come to Matamata Town of New Zealand for this 🙂 For those who cannot come, I will show you Hobbiton with this article and the pictures I took inside the Hobbit Village and give you information about the lives of Hobbits.

Fans know well, "there are two kinds of people in the world, those who have read The Lord of the Rings and those who will," said J.R.R. When it comes to The Lord of the Rings, one of the books with the strongest story ever left by Tolkien to the world. Apart from The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien created a large Middle-earth Universe with books such as The Hobbit, The Children of Hurin, The Silmarillion and influenced millions of people from many parts of the world. The Lord of the Rings book, which was published in 1954, was filmed by Peter Jackson and was released in 2001. Peter Jackson, a New Zealander, first read the book while on a bus trip from Wellington to Auckland. He then decided to buy the rights to the book and shoot the movie. They shot the entire film in New Zealand, as New Zealand's natural areas are suitable for the locations described in the story. One of these places, the hobbit village where Frodo and his uncle Bilbo Baggins lived, is one of the most popular tourist spots in New Zealand today.

I met the Lord of the Rings when I was in high school, it was 2002, after watching the movie The Fellowship of the Ring, I liked it very much, I bought the second and third parts of the book, 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of the King', from the bookstore and read the story before the second movie was released. Then I bought the first book and put it in the archive. I even bought and read all of Tolkien's other books afterwards. My research on New Zealand started when I learned that the filming was done in this country. In those years, it was a big dream for me to set foot in New Zealand one day. While I was preparing to apply for the New Zealand Working Holiday visa, I was searching the internet to see if I could visit the places where the Lord of the Rings movies were shot, and where exactly they were shot. That's when I saw the Hobbit Village Hobbiton, one of the most fascinating and desired to see among these attraction points, and I was surprised to learn that such a village can still be visited. Of course, when I got my visa, I added Hobbiton to the list of places to see as one of the most important places.

The Hobbit Village Hobbiton is located in Matamata Town, New Zealand, and is about 2 hours by car from Auckland. Matamata and the Hobbit Village are integrated, after you enter the city, the 'Welcome to Hobbiton' sign greets you on the main road and there is an information center for tourists with a structure similar to hobbit houses on the main street. If you want, you can go inside and get information about other places to see in and around Matamata.

The area where the village was founded was the farm area belonging to a family named Alexander. In 1998, while the film crew was searching from the air for the shooting locations, they passed over this farm area and realized that it was a very suitable area for the Hobbit Village that Tolkien described in the book, and knocked on the farm owner's door. After the agreement with the Alexander family, the Hobbiton was established. The absence of elements such as electrical cables, buildings and roads in the visible areas around the land also gave Peter Jackson the opportunity to shape the land as he wanted for the Hobbit Village. In the meantime, the Hobbit Village was installed on the land twice. The construction of the first village was started in March 1999 after the agreement with the land owner, and after the shootings were over, the village would be completely demolished and the land would be handed over to its owner as it was received. Therefore, for installation; Easy-to-remove materials such as polystyrene and plywood, known as styrofoam foam, were used. During the installation of Hobbiton, very detailed work was done to make everything realistic, and the builders and architects were worked with for the construction of the village. The swamp in the area where Bilbo's birthday party was held has been drained and put into a suitable form for the party.

In total, 39 hobbit houses were built and the surrounding areas were flowered and detailed, all done a year or so before filming began. After the shooting was over, the film crew started the demolition process of the village and the insides of the inn, bridge and hobbit houses where the hobbits were entertained and their surroundings were emptied and dismantled, but due to bad weather conditions, they postponed the remaining demolition for a while. Then the first episode of The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, was screened, and suddenly many people began to want to visit the Hobbit Village filming location, even though most of the structures inside were dismantled. Of course, seeing this, the landlord asked the film crew not to complete the dismantling process and intended to turn this place into a tourist area. Thus, the region has become one of the most popular tourist spots open to visitors since 2002.

Then, in 2009, Peter Jackson came back to the Alexander family and decided to build a new Hobbiton for the shooting of The Hobbit trilogy. This time, permanent materials were used for the new Hobbit Village, and a total of 44 hobbit houses were built. After the shooting of The Hobbit ended, the village was left as a Middle-earth place open to visitors in a more detailed and realistic way than before. In addition, the bridge, the water mill in the village and the Green Dragon Inn, where you can enter and have a drink, can be seen and visited by the visitors.

You have to join the tour to visit the Hobbit Village Hobbiton, unfortunately, you can't say that I will go to the inside with my car, because it is a private land. You can view tour times on Hobbitontours.com, the official site of Hobbiton. You can reach Matamata from Auckland after an average of 2 hours by renting a car or taking a bus. After arriving in Matamata, you can park your car in the Shire Rest (the area where Hobbiton tickets are sold and waiting area) near Hobbiton, and when your tour time comes, you get on one of the tour buses and reach the Hobbit Village. If you don't have a car, you can also join the tours that take you directly from Auckland to the Shire Rest, including admission to Hobbiton. A new tour is organized every 30 minutes from Shire Rest to Hobbiton, and each tour takes an average of two hours. Shire rest elf cloakBy the way, there is a cafe in Shire Rest and a market where Lord of the Rings related products are sold, but I should mention that the products are very expensive. The elf cloak you see in the picture next door was sold in the shop inside the Shire Rest, although the material is very dandin, its price is $ 900. Apart from cafes and shops, there is a very large green field and tables outside. If you need to wait for your tour time, you can spend your time here. Also, if you bought your ticket online, you have to print your ticket here after you come to Shire Rest.

When the tour time comes, the Hobbit Village is going to Hobbiton by bus, the bus driver gives some information about the village and the shootings and shows you a video specially shot for Hobbiton from the TV inside the bus. Throughout the video are conversations with Peter Jackson and the owner of the Hobbit village land. After arriving in Hobbiton, a guide greets you and walks around with you, giving you information about the Hobbit Village.

Yes, for now, this is the information about my trip, hope to meet you in my next article..