Five Lord of the Rings sites

Tongariro National Park

New Zealand’s first national park and a Unesco World Heritage site, the dramatic, volcanic Tongariro near Lake Taupo¯ was chosen to represent Mordor, home to the Dark Lord, Sauron. It’s an important Ma¯ori site.

Mt Sunday

In the Southern Alps, remote Mt Sunday was where Edoras, the capital of Rohan, was created. It’s about one-and-a-half hours south of Christchurch.

Kaitoke Regional Park

With babbling brooks, and light filtering through the canopy, it’s easy to think you spot elves in Kaitoke Regional Park, 50 minutes’ drive north of downtown Wellington. It became Rivendell, where Frodo recovers from a knife attack. The exact location is signposted from the car park.

Nelson

The city is home to Jens Hansen, the fine crafted jewellery company that created the 40 rings used in production. One of the original rings is on display here and the company continues to make Lord of the Ringsinspired pieces. Visit jenshansen.com.

Queenstown

The area around Queenstown includes several locations such as the northwestern slopes of Mt Earnslaw, which featured in the opening sequence of The Two Towers. From the village of Glenorchy, you can reach the forest that doubled as the elf realm of Lothlorien.