The Hobbiton Movie Set is a working tourist attraction built on the Alexander family's 500-hectare sheep farm, twenty minutes' drive west of Matamata. The site was selected for the Shire scenes in 2000 because the rolling green hills, the large pine tree on the ridge, and the small lake at the bottom matched Tolkien's descriptions almost exactly. After The Hobbit films wrapped in 2012, the set was rebuilt permanently and opened to the public.
The visit is a two-hour guided walk through forty-four hobbit holes set into the hillside, with a stop at the Green Dragon Inn for a free drink from the on-site brewery. The detail is impressive — washing on the lines, smoke in the chimneys, vegetable gardens tended for the cameras — and the guides are knowledgeable about both the films and the construction. Book online well in advance; tours often sell out a week ahead in summer. The cheapest tour is around NZ$120; evening banquet tours cost considerably more.
You cannot visit independently — every visitor goes on a guided tour from the visitor centre, which is reached by shuttle bus from Matamata or directly from the Hobbiton car park. The buses run from the i-Site in Matamata if you don't have a car.