Waikato

Hobbiton exists because a working sheep farm near Matamata happened to have the right combination of a lake, a lone tree and rolling hills that matched Tolkien's description of the Shire without requiring the production to reshape the land. The original set, built for the first Lord of the Rings trilogy, was largely dismantled after filming, but when Peter Jackson returned roughly a decade later for the Hobbit trilogy, the 44 hobbit holes and the Green Dragon Inn were rebuilt in permanent materials specifically so the farm could operate as a tourist attraction indefinitely rather than being torn down again — a deliberate shift from disposable set to lasting infrastructure. The farm itself, still a working sheep operation alongside the tours, gives the set a genuinely lived-in quality that a purpose-built theme attraction couldn't replicate.

The glowworms that give Waitomo its signature attraction are the larvae of a fly species found only in New Zealand, which produce a bioluminescent glow specifically to lure flying insects into sticky silk threads they dangle from the cave ceiling — meaning the eerie blue-green light visitors float beneath is, mechanically, a hunting trap rather than a decorative display. The classic Waitomo experience is black-water rafting: floating by inner tube through underground rivers in full darkness except for the glowworms overhead, an activity that ranges from a gentle, family-friendly float to more adventurous routes involving abseiling and small waterfall jumps. The limestone landscape above ground riddled the region with hundreds of additional cave systems beyond the famous Glowworm Cave itself, giving Waitomo a caving reputation that extends well past its single best-known attraction.