The 6 best film and TV locations to visit in New Zealand

New Zealand is home to an ever-growing film industry, with some of the biggest movies ever made being filmed in Aotearoa.

Visiting these locations in person is popular with travellers both from overseas and here at home.

Here's a list of the country's best locations from the big and small screen and how to see them in person.

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
 

It's probably the most visited place in the Waikato, with people coming from all over the world to step into the miniature world of Hobbiton.

The movie set is located on Buckland Road, near Matamata, just over two hours south east of Auckland.

Tours start from around NZ$100.

The Last Samurai
 

The star of this film wasn't Tom Cruise, it was Mount Taranaki, which did an amazing job filling in as Japan's Mount Fujiyama.

Other areas nearby also feature in the film, with a lot of filming taking place at Uruti Valley. The area was adapted slightly to appear like rural Japan in the 1860s.

The Piano
 

Classic Oscar-winning movie The Piano was filmed at the beautiful west Auckland beach of Karekare. Located about a 50 minute drive from central Auckland, Karekare is just one of a series of wild west coast beaches stretching up this coast.

Shania Twain fans may want to head further north to Bethell's Beach - it's here the superstar filmed her music video for 'Forever and Always'.

The World's Fastest Indian
 

Now to a beach at the entirely opposite end of the country - Oreti Beach was the location for Anthony Hopkins film The World's Fastest Indian. It's located right at the bottom of the South Island, just west of Invercargill.

Outragous Fortune House

 

It may be one of the most iconic houses in New Zealand pop culture history, but if you plan to pay a visit, the most important thing to remember is that this is still someone's actual house.

Nothing in the show was filmed inside of it, so there's no need to try and look inside. Do respect the neighbours and the homeowners by staying off their property.

Rebecca Black's 'Friday'
 

One of the most irritating music videos of the last decade, 'Friday' by Rebecca Black would have you believe it was filmed on the northern motorway of Auckland, citybound, just north of the harbour bridge.

It was, of course, filmed at a studio somewhere in Los Angeles using a green screen, but Auckland still sneaks in there and becomes the hometown of Rebecca Black, if only just for one Friday night.

Newshub.

Contact Newshub with your story tips:
news@newshub.co.nz