snaps

Is it an ideal day out without reading or seeing the film/s? I will get round to reading them one day.

kiwiineil

most definitely! I am not into the films at all but went along with my partner who is into them.. it was an awesome day out! I would point out however that the weather REALLY helped. If it was raining it may not have been good. They walk you round at a steady timed pace so you are within your group but don't get mixed up in other groups or crowds of people. Enough time to take pictures and marvel at the intricacy of some of the work. It is quite an amazing tranquil place. All the vegetable and plants you see growing are all real, the place is well looked after.. and at the end they buy you a beer!

Go for it!

MrsFychan

in a nut shell not at those prices.

we did it for the kids really and just to say we had done it, tried watching the movies and have not managed to get through any of them.
we did do the coach trip there and back from the town centre which upped the cost but to be honest that was one of the highlights as we got a really good coach driver, very entertaining. but as for the place itself its scenery from the movie on some farm land with a pub at the end where you can buy some Hobbiton beer which was ok.

Pom_Chch

I really wanted to go.... until I saw the price If you aren't bothered about parting with 70 odd dollars then go for it (I think that includes a guided tour, one would hope so at that price!) We skipped it out on our trip up to the North Island as we felt it was expensive for what it was. I also feel that the magic of NZ is experienced away from the heavily touristy areas and attractions, which is another reason we missed it. That said if you're really into the Hobbit and LOTR then it's probably worth every cent.

As for buying you a beer at the end - well, you've paid to go in, so essentially you've bought yourself a beer

Hazelnut

I loved it but I'm a big fan of the movies. MrH isn't but found it fascinating from the special effects, attention to detail, craftsmanship and modelling viewpoints. The beer at the end was included in the ticket price when we went round. It is a lot of money though. I've been a Tolkein geek since I was around 12yrs old so would go round again but Mr H said once was enough for him.

If you do decide to go try and book on the first tour of the day. You seem to get more time in there and the photo opportunities are way better as there's no-one else 'on set' yet.

Justcol

Too expensive for walk around and a glass of beer