Jaunted

Movie Travel / Hobbit Travel / New Zealand Travel / Movie Set Travel / Photo Gallery / → All Tags

What The Hobbiton Set in NZ Looked Like Before 'The Hobbit' Began Filming

Confession: we're giant Lord of the Rings fans, we'll admit it. We might even have seen the first movie eight times when it was on the big screen, and countless times on DVD and iTunes since then.

We're also giant New Zealand fans, and on our first trip to Aotearoa in 2010 we naturally had to hit up Matamata, the farming community that's most famous for being the site of Hobbiton in the movies (and not to be confused with Matamata, Tunisia, near the filming location of Star Wars' Tatooine).

Of course, it's very different now: since we first visited in the interregnum between the three Lord of the Rings and two Hobbit movies, the site has really changed, with part of the movie site deal allowing the landowner to keep the Hobbit-hole façades and ambience.

But here's what it used to be like...

more ›

Geek Travel / Movie Set Travel / The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings Travel / New Zealand Travel / → All Tags

Pack Your Bilbo Baggins: 'The Hobbit' Returns to New Zealand

The Hobbit, the prequel movie to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, is expected to start filming in March 2010 in New Zealand. While the exact locations in Kiwi country are still up in the air, redevelopment has begun at Hobbiton, according to a company spokesperson.

If you're not familiar with Hobbiton, don't worry, we won't judge you. It's a very geeky, middle earth kind of thing to be acquainted with.

For those who aren't Bilbo Baggins fanboys, Hobbiton is a private farmland in Matamata, New Zealand where the Hobbit Village was created and filmed for the Lord of the Rings movies. After filming, most of the farm was returned to its original state but 17 Hobbit holes and structures have been kept open for two-hour guided tours.

more ›