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Traveling to New Zealand and going to the Lord of the Rings filming locations is kind of like a pilgrimage for the fans of the movies. And I've been fortunate enough to visit New Zealand four times over the last 19 years. The first was back in 2006 when they haven't even rebuilt the Hobbitant set yet. And they only had the facads left from shooting the original trilogy. And I've been to many of the filming locations around the country since then. Not all of them, but a lot. So, in this video, I'm going to give you my list of the top 10 Lord of the Rings filming locations that are worth visiting in New Zealand, including a couple that people often actually get wrong. And I've tried to
prioritize the list on the locations that are the most accessible and the most enjoyable to visit rather than some of them which are just a bit like, ah, you see this patch of grass here? Uh-huh. Well, they shot a scene here. Wonderful. So, let's get the most unbelievably obvious one out of the way. Did you know that you could visit the Hobbiton set? Of course you did. This has become one of the major tourist sites in New Zealand and people go and visit the set even if they haven't seen the movies. I've even got a QR code here where you can book the Hobbiton tour. But if you want to take your experience there a step further as well as just
doing the regular tour, what we did the last time I was there is we booked the second breakfast tour. What this means is you get the regular tour around the set and then whilst every other group would leave, you then go into the mill room and have a big banquet breakfast. And there was so much food. It was absolutely delicious. We were completely stuffed afterwards and it was nice just having a bit more time to enjoy being on the set because normally you get your one drink in the Green Dragon and just as you're suddenly down with it, they're like, "Right, you guys are going to leave." They also do an evening banquet tour where you get to do the regular tour again and then you have this huge
roast dinner inside the Green Dragon and then after that you get to go through the set once more when it's dark carrying lanterns. We wanted to do this on my last trip to New Zealand, but it had sold out 7 months in advance. No. So if you want to do it, plan ahead. Number two, Gollum's Pool. So this is one of the ones that people often get wrong. Catch a fish. So juicy sweet. Torh high falls in Tonguro National Park often gets referred to as Gollum's Pool. And if you look it up on Google Maps, it's even referred to as Gollum's Pool. And I remember going there in 2013 when I was on the Kiwi experience and we walked down to it and they were like, "Behold, Gollum's Pool." And I was like, "That's that's not it." And so I became
that insufferable nerd where I was like, "Actually, I think you'll find." And they actually shot this in a studio. Stupid fat homage. But I think the reason this confusion came about is because of this Lord of the Rings location guide book. Now, despite what it might sound like, this book is absolutely amazing. You can tell how much I've used it over the years cuz like some of the pages are like falling out. It has so much detail. It even has the GPS coordinates of the locations in the book. And if you go on to my Amazon store, you can actually buy the book from there. Even if it says they're not available, click on it cuz you might be able to buy a used copy because this is a lot harder to come by now. But anyway,
in the book, he describes Torhigh Falls as a river tumbling over an ancient lava flow into a rockpool that can easily be imagined as Henneth Anen. Yeah, someone who's an even bigger nerd than me is going to correct me on my Elvish pronunciation. So, I think someone saw that and misunderstood that as actually being Gollum's pool and then from there it just started getting referred to that on different tours and things and before you know it, everyone thinks that's where they shot the waterfall. But if you drive 50 minutes south from there to Mango Falls, that's where they shot the scene where Gollum was chasing the fish down the river and Frodo and Sam have their argument. What do you know about
it? nothing. And something worth noting is if you want to get to the majority of these Lord of the Rings locations, you're going to need a car. A lot of them are pretty remote. Public transport is not going to go near them. So, you're going to need a car to be able to access these places. And when we were in New Zealand, we booked our car through discovercars.com, which, wouldn't you know it, just so happens to be the sponsor of this week's video. With discover cars, you can compare rental prices through many different suppliers. So, if I look here, just getting a car from Oakland to Wellington, I can see variety of cars for a variety of different prices from a variety of different rental companies. Click through and you get a full price
breakdown. No hidden costs. I've been using Discover Cars for quite a few of my recent trips. They got a 4.6 rating on Trust Pilot. And if you want a discount off your first booking, just use this link right here that's also in the description. Okay, moving on to Mordor. I made that sound so cheerful. It's like, oh, let's just pop to Mordor. This is another one that people often get wrong because when you do the popular day trek of the Tongerero crossing, that's near to where they shot Mordor, but not actually where they filmed it. And so often people refer to Mount Narajoi as Mount Doom. You used to be able to climb Mount Narajoi. I did it back in 2017, but they've now closed it to public access because one, it was
actually very dangerous, and two, it's a sacred mountain, and they don't actually want people climbing on it. But I've seen videos of people online, even as recently as this week, where they're going, "Oh my god, I'm climbing the real Mount Doom." Where they actually shot the movie. No, you're not. We couldn't shoot the peaks because the peaks themselves were sacred. Instead, we have our, you know, created version of Mount Doom. On top of it being a sacred mountain, the other problem if they actually tried to film there would be accessibility cuz there's no roads leading up to Mount Narajoy. But they actually shot most of the Mordor scenes at one volcano further south, which is Mount Ru. And the reason being is
because there's ski resorts there for the winter season. So for when they wanted to film, they had roads leading up to it, accommodation, and chair lifts going up the mountain so they could get to these really cool spots. So at Waca Papa Skifield, you're actually going to get two locations there. One is me's wall where they shot Emmen wheel for the opening of two towers. And also in that area is where they shot Frodo and Sam scrambling up Mount Doom and the whole I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you scenes. Come on. And then on the other side of Ruo is Tokino ski field. You'd have to drive all the way around to get there, but that's where they shot this scene of Froto and Sam walking through
Mordor. All right, let's move on to number four, the Paths of the Dead. The Batangi Rua Pinnacles are about a 2-hour drive outside of Wellington. The hoodooas there kind of remind me of Bryce Canyon in Utah in the States, except instead of being this lovely bright orange, they look gray and dead. You used to be able to walk amongst them, but right now you can only go to a viewpoint there, and that's because there was like a minor landslide. But I've still kept this in my list because by the time you watch this, they may have reopened the path. The way is shut. Now you must die. All right, moving on to the Borders of the Shai in Wellington. So, in Mount Victoria is where they film the whole get off the road quick
scenes. And it's literally like a 20-minute walk from the center of town to get up there. Or if you got a car, it's like a 2 to 3 minute drive. And when I first went there, I had my guide book in hand. I was trying to find the exact spot. If you go there now, it's signposted, so you can't miss it. There's now Google Maps markings and people dressed as hobbits, which kind of gives it away. Also, right by there is the tree that Frodo was hanging out in in the extended cut of fellowship just before they saw the wood elves. And whilst you go to Wellington, you have to do the Wet Cave tour where you get to see behind the scenes of Wetter Workshop and how they created all the practical
effects. All of the props are there and the gift shop there is amazing. James is going to make sure I don't spend all of our life savings. All right, moving on to the South Island and all the way down to Queenstown. And just opposite Queenstown in front of the Remarkables is this big hill called Deer Park Heights. And this place is like a Lord of the Rings playground. There's several different locations up there. If you want to visit Deer Park Heights, you have to go to their website and it cost $75 New Zealand dollars to register your car because they do limit how many vehicles can go up there per day. And this was primarily used in the two towers for when they're traveling from Edus to Helms Deep. So you have the lake there
that the refugees walk around. You have the spot where Gimy fell off his horse and Awin gives Aragorn that disgusting stew. There's quite a few different spots from the whole Wagat attack scene, including the cliff that Aragorn fell down. Woo! Easy. And also from Return of the King is where you see Gandalf riding towards Minister Turth. And from the extended cut is where they exit the paths of the dead. So, it's definitely worth checking out. And I took my wife Jamie and our friend Matt up there and they were a bit like, "Oh, okay. We have to do all these Lord of the Rings locations." But they ended up actually loving it because the views you get of the surrounding area are just spectacular. It was Yeah, it
was actually really, really cool. All right, number seven, Eisenard. They're taking the hobbits to Eisenard. A day trip you can do from Queenstown is driving to Glenori. And on the way, you can stop at another location called the 12mi delta, which is from the two towers where Sam and Gollum are arguing about cooking potatoes. And then they spot the Olifants. No one at home will believe this. And then just north of Gori is an area called Paradise. And they shot loads of stuff around this area. A few of these are actually marked on Google Maps. So you got the location of Eisenard there. Dan's paddock is where Gandalf approaches Eisenard in the fellowship. And also the edge of Lothorian forest is there too.
Stick your hobbits. And also from the Hobbit films, this is where they shot the exterior of Bayon's house. As a side note, if you get to do the scenic flight from Wanuka to Milford Sound, you'll be flying right over this area. And I can't recommend doing this activity enough cuz Milford Sound is beautiful in itself, but doing a scenic flight, it's like you're flying through Middle Earth. And I remember on the journey back I was pointing out to my wife Jamie where Eisenard was. All right, let's move on to number eight. And this is one of my favorite ones in the country, which is the Mavoro Lakes. I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
It's about a 2-hour drive from Queenstown, and it's on the way to Tano. So, if you're staying in Tano to go to Milford or Doubtful Sound, you can do a slight detour to this on the way. So, you'll turn off the main road on this gravel track driving for about 40 km. And here's another place where you're going to get two locations for the price of one because just before you get to the lakes is where they shot the edge of Fangorn forest. Fangorn. What madness drove me in there? And where the orc mound is actually marked on Google Maps. And did you know that when they filmed Aragorn kicking the helmet that VGO broke? Yeah, everyone knows that now. And then at Mavora Lakes itself is
where they shot the whole ending of Fellowship of the Ring. So you'll get to the southern tip of the north Mavora Lake and if you go like 150 m up the hill, you'll find a big tree stump which is where Frodo was hiding against and next to it is a fallen down tree which Mary and Pippen hid underneath. So Froto hit up against here and Mary and Pipp were hiding in just there. Yeah. I don't know if this is the best of hiding spots really. He'd like find the halflings. Oh, there they are. And then on the shores of the lake, that's where they shot the fellowship making camp and then later on Frodo and
Sam departing. That's the great thing about New Zealand. There's so many of these unspoiled areas untouched. You know, if this place was in Europe or North America, it'd be packed full of people camping out on boats, barbecues, whatever. Yeah. All to myself. So, let's move on to what is apparently one of Peter Jackson's favorite locations, which is Poolburn in central Targetago, which is another couple hours drive away from Queenstown. And I stopped there in 2017 on the way to Deneden. As soon as you start driving through this area, it immediately looks like you're in Rohan. Rohan, home of the horse loads. One of the most recognizable spots is Poolburn Lake, which is where the Urukai attacked the
Rohan villages. I didn't actually make it all the way to the lake because it was a really bumpy, grly road to get there. I was all by myself and I was like, if something goes wrong, I'm going to be stranded in the middle of nowhere. And finally, we're going to finish with my favorite Lord of the Lings location in all of New Zealand, which is Edus. So, they shot this in a place called Mount Sunday, which is miles from anywhere. And when I first went there in 2006, you had to book a jeep tour to get there because to actually get to the mountain, it was all these like little rivers that you had to drive through. But when I went back there in 2017, when I was driving from Mount Cook to Christ
Church, I was like, I'll drive there and just see how close I can get, see what works out. And it turns out sometime between 2006 and 2017, they built a full-on car park there. They built little foot bridges across all the rivers and so you can just park up and walk up there by yourself. And this is one of those locations I recommend people to go to even if they don't like the movies or haven't even seen them cuz it's just so stunning. And I remember being there and there was a couple of tour groups in the car park and a few other people actually on the hill. But I just sat around and waited them out and then before you know it, I had the whole place to myself. It's funny. I remember
when I came here in 2006, I was like, "Oh, I brought a video camera." But now I'm back and I've got a freaking drone from way over there. See that hill? Um, Aragon up on that on his way to Helms Deep. We did a big helicopter shot around to reveal Helm's Deep in that little canyon tucked in Melanine. So, there you go. There's my top 10 Lord of the Rings film locations in New Zealand. Now, obviously, there's loads more locations that you could visit, and if you're watching this and you've been to some of them and you're
thinking, "How could you possibly not mention that place?" Then, please leave it in the comments. There's a couple that I haven't been to still that I really want to go to, which is Mount Olympus and Mount Owen. And that's where in the Fellowship of the Ring, they had the scene where Boromir was training the hobbits and they had the spies of Saraman flying over. And at Mount Owen, they shot the scene of the exit of the minds of Moria, where they were all grieving Gandalf's demise. Give them a moment for pity's sake. By nightfall, these hills will be swarming with orcs. But the only way to get there is with a helicopter tour. And they do run those tours from the town of Nelson. But you either need a minimum of
three people to go, or you can go by yourself, but just have a massive wallet cuz you have to pay for the whole helicopter. But yeah, one day I'll get there. Just a fool's hope. But anyway, hopefully you like this video. Give it a like, comment, share, and subscribe, and all the usual stuff. Uh, please go check out our recent New Zealand road trip documentary series where my wife Jamie and I drove around both islands. Check out my Amazon store where I got lots of travel essentials, plus a little section where you can get the guide book and a few other nerdy little things. And then next week's video is actually going to be another film location, but a very different genre because on the way back from New
Zealand, we stopped in Hawaii for one night and we stayed at the hotel from Forgetting Sarah Marshall. You sound like you're from London. So, make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss out on that. And I'll see you again very soon.
