Okay, this will answer the question that so many folks have asked:

“Did you go to Hobbiton?”

“Yes! We did indeed.”

I’m not entirely certain of what I expected, but seemingly in the middle of nothing but sheep farms there are signs for Hobbiton. When we finally arrive, there is this large parking lot and a two-story Welcome Center. As we go to check in, we see that there are buses that will take us to the movie set and there are perhaps six different lines with different languages that the tours will be conducted in.

Apparently each bus is completely filled and as we rode the bus there were several videos talking about the films (to get us all excited!) and the development and demolition of Hobbiton for Lord of the Rings, and then the reconstruction of the set for The Hobbit. The owner of the land then proposed keeping it up for potential tourism, and Wow! was he ever right on target.

The walking tour is all well-timed and the village never feels jammed,. Yet the stream of tourists is constant. The set was well-done and looks much more like a Hobbit town than a 2-dimensional set that you might otherwise expect. It’s all exteriors with the exceptions of a single dwelling and the inn, which is there more as a place to get your free drink and set a spell as it were.

Overall it was a fun experience and it didn’t hurt that it was yet another beautiful day. As we toured, our exuberant guide explained how the sets were planned to adjust for the perspective between the tall Gandalf, the average sized humans, and the smaller hobbits who of course, in reality, were all similarly sized. We could’ve been walking through a living, well groomed village!

This will be an unusual post in that there are so many unique shots of the village that there will be far more shots here than normal. Enjoy Tolkien fans!

Unabashedly shameless plug, ignore if you so desire:

These photos are  available for sale. A simple click on one will get you to the “buy” option. You can then choose from prints of many sizes and all sorts of specialty items like mugs and phone cases.