We’re exchanging theme parks for The Shire today! Earlier this year, we had the chance to visit New Zealand and one of the most memorable nights of the trip included the Evening Banquet Tour at the Hobbiton Movie Set. This location is where Peter Jackson filmed The Shire scenes for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies. In this post, we’ll review the Evening Banquet Tour at Hobbiton, detailing what is included and if it was worth the price of admission.

Many people go to New Zealand in hopes of living their best Lord of the Rings life. With no shortage of filming locations to visit, it’s a fun movie inspired trip. I can’t say that was our inspiration for visiting the beautiful country though. Instead, we were there to see friends and have them show us all of their favorite spots.

Being a (late, I’m not that old!) Millennial, I did grow up with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and have a lot of love for those movies. I don’t feel the same about The Hobbit Trilogy but we don’t need to hash that out here. All this to say, I was excited to experience the Hobbiton Movie Set tour as a fan but didn’t expect it to be a personal highlight of the entire trip. Hopefully, that gives some context for this review and the raving I’m about to do.

I am a fan of themed entertainment, as you may have guessed from running this website. I also enjoy movie set tours. Living right by Los Angeles, we’ve been able to step behind the scenes at Warner Brothers, Universal, and Paramount. Hobbiton’s Evening Banquet Tour combines those interests, giving a thorough tour of the movie set before turning into an immersive experience.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s start with a little bit of history about the Hobbiton Movie Set Tours (you can read a more thorough version on their official website). While searching across New Zealand for filming locations in 1998, Peter Jackson and his team stumbled upon the Alexander farm. This 1,250 acre family owned sheep farm resides in Waikato, a region in New Zealand’s North Island.

The remote location proved a great place to construct a movie set. With help from the New Zealand Army amusingly, 39 exterior Hobbit Holes (acting as facades) were built along 12 acres and filming began in 1999. After The Lord of the Rings Trilogy ended production, the site was largely dismantled. As told on the tour, fans figured out the filming location and visited anyway. Before long, guided tours were set up and they were on with the show.

As The Hobbit films started filming, Peter Jackson returned to the farm and Hobbiton was fully rebuilt. This time the facades were built with more permanent material and the now 44 Hobbit Holes were not dismantled as they wrapped the trilogy. Following that, The Green Dragon Inn was built into the tour in 2012 and then an interior Hobbit Hole experience was added in 2023 to give guests a peek inside the homes.

There’s no mistaking that this is The Shire that we see in the movies. If the rolling hills, still with grazing sheep, weren’t enough to tell you then the extremely well maintained grounds will. Bilbo’s home, Bag End, sits atop the hill, the paths that Gandalf rolled through are still there, and the gardens look as if we just missed seeing some Hobbits working on them.

The Hobbiton Movie Set Tour thrives when treating this like a living place as well as a movie set. It’s a hard trick to pull off but one they manage to. The remote location helps, as this farm really does seem to be in the middle of nowhere. I’m speaking like a true New Zealand geographical novice here. Once you find your way to the parking, there’s a small gift shop and a few places to get a quick meal or snack. Note that if you’re on the Evening Banquet Tour, make sure to do your shopping before the tour begins as it will be closed before you’re back.

Once the time for your tour comes around, you’ll board a bus and travel about 5 minutes into The Shire. You’ll meet your, both knowledgeable and personable, guides along the way. The transportation descends the hills and drops you off to begin the walking tour. There will be a good amount of walking, up and down hills and not on paved paths. We didn’t find it rigorous but guests will certainly be on their feet for a couple of hours

After a few words from the two guides, the group is off on their way around Hobbit Holes. Tour group sizes vary depending on the date but the Evening Banquet Tour will likely be a group of 40-50 people. At no point did we feel crowded though, you might have to wait a minute or two for a few particular photos but it’s an intimate setting.

As guests walk the 12 acre movie set, guides will stop along the way to tell you facts about the area, movies, maintenance and pretty much anything else that you can think of. While there’s a definite route you’re following, being out in the open does invoke a sense of “going on an adventure” and the vibe is pretty loose overall.

Seeing all of the Hobbit Holes is an undeniable highlight of the tour, which makes sense because the whole experience is built around it. We were struck by the immaculate gardens and how real everything felt. Nearly all of it was real! These round doors are facades but the landscaping made the place come alive. Here are a few more photos.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the tour, and a step-by-step recounting of seeing 44 Hobbit Holes might not lead to the most interesting read. Suffice to say that the tour wanders around before climbing a hill to Bag End, then meanders back down. It’s an easy pace but one that keeps boredom far away. I hope, if you choose to go, that you have the same beautiful weather we did.

I won’t spoil some of the facts and fun details given throughout this gorgeous walk. When comparing it to the other movie studio tours I’ve done, this section felt especially free. There was no script to follow and the guides were present but never intrusive, letting the experience breathe. It helps to be out in the fresh air, among beautiful scenery. This is not a cramped backlot, it’s whole purpose is to be The Shire and it’s just as dreamy as Samwise remembers.

Once guests have descended from Bag End, the tour enters into an interior Hobbit home on Bagshot Row. While this can’t match the beauty of flower laden exteriors, the detailing in these recent additions is impeccable. No matter what room you go into, no prop is left unthought of. Even more, the props are real and moveable, which brought my theme park heart a lot of joy.

We were blown away by this portion of the experience. It’s a roomy Hobbit home, the house seemingly just kept going and going. There’s also identical offerings through different doors, so part of the group was touring one home and another group was touring a different (but very much the same) one. That meant that the home didn’t feel crowded at all, as guests like us posed for pictures all over the place.

We spent roughly 20 minutes in the Hobbit home and it adds a depth to the tour that pushes it to another level. This experience earned the THEA Award for Outstanding Achievement when it opened. Theme park fans will recognize that prestigious prize. In terms of immersive experiences, stepping inside of this Hobbit home is tough to beat. The whole tour transforms from a very recognizable movie set tour to stepping into another world.

Stepping out of the house, guests walk down the rest of the hill to the Green Dragon Inn. With water sitting across the road from the pub as well as a view up the hill, the setting is very picturesque. Guests get a complimentary drink (beer, cider, or ginger beer) from the Green Dragon Inn and have some time to mill around the space.

Just to restate, we were on the Evening Banquet Tour and we ultimately recommend that. Other tours will differ from the rest of the experience that I share below. While we paid a little extra in order to experience the evening option, everyone in our group was happy with the decision after the fact.

After a relaxing half hour or so with the bar open, everyone filed into the seating area in the Green Dragon Inn and a feast was served. You can find the menu at the bottom of this page. You’ll be seated with other groups and the dishes are served family style. Having everything on the table in front of us was an impressive sight.

Everything was prepared on sight and comes out very fresh for guests. A few of my favorite dishes were the lamb shanks and the vegetable pie. It’s a hearty meal and really well done. This isn’t the best food I’ve ever had or anything, but it’s certainly made with care and tastes delicious when factoring in that this feast was made for nearly 50 people. Like so much of the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour, the meal was personable and cozy.

The previous two steps of the tour are repeated after dinner. Guests go out of the seating area to look around a bit, maybe grab a drink, and then head back in 20 or 30 minutes later to sit down for dessert.

I feel the same about dessert as I did about dinner – no particular dish blew me away but they were all tasty and homemade. You will be very full leaving regardless of if you’d had second breakfast or not earlier in the day. There was so much food and most of it leans comfort food.

After the 2-course meal concluded, we gathered one last time in the Green Dragon Inn as the guides handed out lanterns to everybody. We took a romantic walk back through the grounds, passing a few more Hobbit Holes. Eventually, we stopped just before the busses and our guides left us with some sentimental words as they had the group stare up at the stars. The peaceful lantern walk mixed with the final few quiet moments made the tour’s warmth lasting.

We’re half a year removed from this experience (that’s how far behind I am in photo editing!) and I can still recount every single step of the night with ease. Being lucky enough to travel so much means that there are good memories that do fade but this one doesn’t. I think that speaks to how unique this experience is and how well it’s executed.

As for the cost, the Evening Banquet Tour is $240 NZD for adult tickets which comes out to roughly $145 USD as of August 2026. For a 4.5 hour immersive tour that includes a large feast and drink, the price is very reasonable. There are cheaper tickets (the lowest I see is $130 NZD for just a straight 2.5 hour tour) if the banquet doesn’t call to you. I do think you’d be missing out on a big part of the experience if you skipped the dinner option but do what works with your budget.

There’s also the matter of how this fits into a trip in New Zealand and if this is worth your time. This will likely be a bit of a trek to get to, no matter where you’re coming from. A Hobbiton Movie Set Tour will be, at the very least, a half day experience. Even so, if you’re already on the North Island and a have a few days to play with then this is a no-brainer.

Not only does this tour share a beautiful piece of movie history, it also shows off the farmland and solitude of New Zealand. The green rolling hills are vibrant and something you might miss out on if you’re sticking to the coasts on a trip around the country.

Films shooting in New Zealand, especially the Lord of the Rings franchise, also seems to be (at least from an outsider’s perspective) a source of national pride. Describing the tour as a modern cultural experience is maybe a stretch but there’s at least a case to be made for it, thanks to how well the movie set is incorporated into the land. The sustainability measures taken by Hobbiton, like planting 20,000(!) native plant species in the last 5 years, are also worth mentioning.

I’ve written a lot of words here when the photos probably tell a better story. You should go to Hobbiton whether you’re a fan of the movies or not. Yes, it will likely be more fun if you are a fan but the tour is successful because of how it blends the beauty of the land with immersion of the movie set. There’s a sincerity to the tour that is well balanced – sentimental while not being overly serious, immersive but not trying to trick you. We couldn’t recommend a Hobbiton Movie Set Tour highly enough. If that’s not enough to convince you, let a few more photos do the trick.

If you have any questions about Hobbiton Movie Set Tours, leave us a comment below! Planning a Disney trip? Check out our Travel Guides to help get you there! Here’s a link to discount tickets at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. If you enjoy what you’re reading here on Wandering in Disney please subscribe to the blog via email or WordPress and like our social media pages. You can find all of those things on the right side of this page. Thank you very much for reading, we appreciate it!