The village of Hobbiton, famous New Zealand for the whole world, can be called one of the main attractions of the country. In this place, located near the city of Matamata, thousands of Tolkien fans come to the city every year. The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has made the once-usual New Zealand farm. Yes, relatively recently, local residents had no idea that they would soon receive crowds of travelers and tell them about their lives.

However, getting to know the director turned everything upside down. The Alexander family got the idea to create the Hobbiton and agreed to build an unusual village.

It all started with the director and producer Peter Jackson traveling the North Island in New Zealand . He was looking for a suitable place to shoot his new project . Flying the terrain on the helicopter, Peter has noticed a farm called Alexander . The owners of the farm - the brothers Alexander - lived and worked here since 1978 . It is worth noting that in their possession at that time there were 1250 sheep and 300 bull-Angus . @ The economy brought good income, and the Alexanders did not intend to change anything in their lives . However, getting acquainted with the director turned everything upside down . The family got infected with the idea of ​​creating the Hobbiton and agreed to the construction of an unusual village . Works on the reorganization of the sheep farm began already in 1999 г . It took almost a year to create the sets! In total, more than 400 people worked here .

Peter Jackson did not want to build decorations from cardboard. Absolutely everything in Hobbiton was built for real. In the work even the army of New Zealand was involved. So, for example, the road to the Hobbiton length of 1, 5 km was built by soldiers. Hobbit houses are made of wood and plastic. Moreover, beautiful gardens were built throughout the territory and a living fence was made from barberry.

As a result, 44 hobbit houses, a mill, an arched bridge, a pub "Green dragon" and even winding streets appeared on the site of the former sheep farm. At the conclusion of the filming process, Hobbiton did not begin to dismantle, but left everything as is. The owners of the farm were so imbued with Tolkien's ideas that they decided to keep an unusual fairy-tale village for tourists. True, with the proviso that guides will release them from constant questions from visitors.

Hobbiton

In Hobbiton, daily excursions take place. You can see absolutely all the local attractions. The only thing - you can not get inside the hobbit houses. But to have a bite and drink beer in the famous tavern "The Green Dragon" - easily. Do not forget to bring your camera, the Hobbiton is a great place for funny photo shoots. By the way, all tourists are given food for hand lambs. In addition, it is allowed to feed very small lambs with milk.

Hobbiton is visited daily by about 300 people

How to get there

From Auckland on your own or during the excursion. By car - two hours drive south of Auckland. The hobbiton is located near the town of Matamata.