Tolkien’s imagination – and therefore sadly off limits to tourists – the Hobbiton Movie Set provides a pretty good substitute. The Hobbit sets – mostly facades built into landscaped hillsides – have operated as a tourist attraction in some capacity since 2002, but until recently most of the Hobbit Holes have been out of bounds to visitors. The Hobbiton Movie Set formed the backdrop to the "Lord of the Rings" movies and the subsequent Hobbit trilogy and is now a tourist attraction. Shaun JeffersNow, two fully decorated Hobbit Holes have opened to the public for the first time. Shaun JeffersExploring the Hobbit Holes is now included as part of the Hobbiton tour experience.

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Persons: J.R.R, Peter Jackson, –, Shaun Jeffers, Hobbiton, “, it’s, ”, crouch, Doom, Conor McNish, Lane, Aragorn, Gandalf, King Théoden, Rohan, ’ ”, ” CNN’s Thomas Page Organizations: CNN, Getty, CNN Travel, Mount, Sunday Locations: New Zealand, Matamata, Waikato, “, Auckland, Hobbiton, LOTR, Zealand, South, Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu, London