Make Your Next Vacation Your Best Vacation!®

We spent most of the day at the Hobbiton movie set, located on the Alexander farm (formerly the Anderson farm) in Matamata, about an hour outside of Rotorua. This site served as the primary filming location for the exterior scenes of The Shire in all six The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films.

For the original trilogy, the sets were temporary and completely removed after filming. However, for the subsequent Hobbit films, the production team rebuilt the set using permanent materials. This allowed the site to be preserved as a full half-day experience for visitors.

Thanks to the snow storm we arrived a day late so we had some adjustments to our schedule.  Rather than free time shortly after our arrival we took a nice coach tour of the city.  We stopped in a Devonport for a walk out to the pier and a stroll through the picturesque town.  We continued on to Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park.  He was the 1st prime minister of New Zealand 1935-1940.  The park as gorgeous views of the harbor.  

The seeds for this journey were planted back in the fall of 2023. As a travel professional, I know that the best experiences aren't just booked—they’re curated. For  months, I’ve dedicated countless hours to webinars, research, and deep-dive discussions with top-tier tour operators to ensure every detail of this trip is perfect.  I got quotes from three tour operators and ultimately settled on Goway.  They had helped me with my South Africa & Botswana tour and I knew they were the right company to use for this very important tour.