Hobbit Village - The real Middle-earth, a journey into a fairy tale

#AprilGoodDestinations2025 #NewZealand "Welcome to the Shire." This is not a line from a movie, but the first words I heard the tour guide say among the green hills. When visiting New Zealand, Hobbit Village is definitely a stop that Lord of the Rings fans and dreamers cannot miss. This is not just a movie scene, but also the entrance to a fairy tale world. ⸻ How come? 】 Hobbit Village is located in the small town of Matamata on the North Island, about a 2-hour drive from Auckland. We chose to take a one-day tour from Rotorua. The drive is relatively short and includes tickets and transfers, which is very convenient for travelers who do not drive themselves! ⸻ 【Enter Middle-earth】 As soon as you enter the park, you can see the familiar green grass hills and round-door cottages. Every detail is preserved extremely intact - the clothesline, the door knocker on the small wooden door, the teacup on the round table, as if the hobbit just went out to buy bread and would be back the next second. The most surprising thing is that you can see the scene of "hobbits drying clothes" everywhere in the village - super mini clothes are hung on ropes, including hats, pants, aprons, and everything else. It looks like they just finished washing clothes and went out for afternoon tea. It's very lifelike and cute! There are 44 hobbit hut entrances throughout the park, each with different occupations and personality settings. You can also see Bilbo and Frodo’s home - Bag End, which is a hot spot for taking photos and one of the highlights of the tour! Most of the hobbit houses have doors that cannot be entered (only a few have a little open doorway space), but each one is perfect for taking beautiful photos for the internet. Walking along the trail to the end, we crossed the stone bridge in the movie and came to the Green Dragon Inn in the dream scene. Remember the scene in the movie where the hobbits danced and sang on the table and celebrated the party? It was filmed right here! You can really go in here, and every visitor can exchange a drink (optional craft beer, ginger beer or non-alcoholic beverage), sit at the thick wooden table, look at the fireplace and the greenery outside the window, it really feels like traveling to Middle-earth Tip: It is recommended to wear bright or earth-toned clothes, which will look great with the grass and the hut!