Celebrating Hobbit Day Travel

Ever since it was mandatory reading in early middle school, I have been a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. Specifically, The Hobbit always held a special spot in my heart. When I realized I share a birthday with the titular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, that love grew.

While it’s obviously impossible to actually travel to Middle Earth, it is possible to visit the land where both trilogies were filmed, New Zealand.

New Zealand tourism authorities aren’t naïve, and they understand many huge crowds come to see the closest approximation the real earth has to Middle Earth. As a result, there is a ton of Tolkien-inspired tour opportunities available.

If you want to specifically tour The Hobbit locations, set your sights on Matamata, which has Hobbit set tours. This is the real-world home of the Shire, and visitors can take in all 44 Hobbit holes that made up the scenes. This area also has a restaurant perfect for a light lunch and drink while touring the area.

Mangaotaki Valley is another destination in New Zealand central to filming The Hobbit. Anyone familiar with The Hobbit will recognize this spot as the filming location for much of the first film, An Unexpected Journey. This is where the troll campfire scene filmed, and, according to Tourism New Zealand, is the single biggest filming location used in the movie.

If you’re more of an audiophile, make sure to check out Waitomo Caves. These caves were used to record much of the trilogy’s audio. There are on-foot tours and rafting offered in the caves.

For a look into the Lord of the Rings as well as The Hobbit, visit the Weta Cave and Studio. Weta is the company behind most of the trilogies. Although The Hobbit is much more family-friendly, the entire tour, and all the Lord of the Rings locations, are perfect for fantasy-minded families.