The Lord of the Rings fans will be excited to know this Welsh village has its very own Hobbiton – and you can even stay in a home that looks like it’s been made for a Hobbit
People have been left in awe of a pretty Welsh town where visitors can pretend to be a Hobbit for a day or two while staying in a hillside hut, just like in the The Lord of the Rings.
Hidden away in the market town of Rhayader, which has a population of just 2,088, is what many fantasy fans believe they have to travel all the way to New Zealand to experience – a real-life Hobbiton. The home of the Hobbits in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy series is often described by fans as an idyllic place to live, with the diminutive human-like species living in peace, prioritising comfort, good food, and community.
While the actual film set used as Hobbiton in Peter Jackson’s adaptations of the books is available to visit, it is located on the other side of the world, in New Zealand. But now, you can visit a version of Hobbiton right here in Wales.
Travel enthusiasts Tom and Leanne, known as adventure.amore to their 292,000 Instagram followers, have shared a snippet from their recent stay at the Hobbit huts, which are available to book through Holidays Wales.
“A proper little hobbit village hidden in the hills of Rhayader,” they wrote in the caption of the post. “You wander through this place and it feels like someone quietly rebuilt a fantasy world then forgot to tell the rest of the country.”
In the accompanying video, the pair first showed an overview of the different huts located in the hills of Rhayader, with accompanying parking spaces outside each one. Each hut also has its own dining area and hot tub to enjoy outside.
They added: “Tiny round doors, wood cabins tucked into the slope, fire pits glowing at night, and that sleepy calm you only get miles from anywhere.”
While the couple didn’t share what the inside of these huts look like, visitors can expect modern, newly-renovated huts with a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, with the free-standing tubs overlooking the valley views outside the windows, as well as enough beds to fit up to six people – making it the perfect destination for a family staycation.
“Wales genuinely does whimsical better than places that try to manufacture it,” Tom and Leanne wrote. “This feels lived in, hand-built, and completely its own thing. Perfect for switching off and pretending the outside world is a rumour.”
And several people seem to have agreed with this statement, as many rushed to the post’s comments section to ask where they can book their stay.
“I feel like going on an adventure!… now to just persuade the wife,” one viewer wrote. While another user commented: “Oh my days can I live here? I’m hobbit sized.”
“Stayed there in January and it was perfect,” a third person shared.
