Český Hobitín - nutná rezervace

A Shire built by one hobbit-crazy craftsman

The whole village is the work of Svatoslav Hofman, a fan of Tolkien's books and Peter Jackson's films who, while still a student, set out in 2012 to dig a single hobbit hole in the garden of his family house. What began as a hobby grew, weekend by weekend, over some six years of work. He built from whatever came to hand — old materials scavenged from the barn, the attic and even the rubbish bins — shaping exteriors and detailed interiors, flower beds and crooked little fences until the place was complete in 2017.↗↗↗

The Orlické hory countryside, Hofman has said, always reminded him of the green, hobbit-haunted landscapes of the Shire, and the resemblance is easy to see when you stand on the slope and look down over the burrowed roofs.↗

What you'll see on the garden

The site today holds three smaller hobbit holes (nory) and two larger above-ground buildings, all dressed in the round-doored, turf-roofed idiom of Jackson's Middle-earth. You view the burrows mainly from the outside, but the atmosphere spills into every corner: a garden styled after the stories, full of flowers, herbs and whimsical planks and picket fences that make the whole slope look like a still from a fantasy film.↗↗

The showpiece surface buildings are the Zelený drak (Green Dragon) inn, finished in 2014, and U Sudu ("At the Barrel"), the highest and largest dwelling, completed in 2015. The inn is a set rather than a running pub — beer is tapped here only on rare occasions — but you're welcome to sit and share your own food and drink among the hobbit-style surroundings.↗↗

Stay the night in a barrel (sort of)

Inside the roomy U Sudu, the builder fitted a sleeping nook into a giant wooden barrel that holds two. Overnight stays are possible only by special prior arrangement, and they are an experience, not a hotel: don't expect five-star comfort, a shower or even electrical sockets. It's the kind of thing fantasy fans remember for life rather than the kind of bed you book by accident.↗↗

By long advance arrangement, the garden can occasionally host a small private themed event for a group, but capacity and time are limited, so this takes early planning.↗

A real film set, not just a photo-op

What lifts Český Hobitín above a garden curiosity is its use as an actual location. In 2018 and 2019 Hofman's fan film Stíny Kraje was shot across the burrows, with the village having grown partly to serve the production; the film premiered in 2023, and a "making-of" documents how the settlement was built and filmed. For anyone who has ever wanted to step behind the scenes of a homemade Shire, that adds a layer few other spots can offer.↗↗↗

Planning your visit

This is a private garden, not a daily-open attraction, so the single most important thing is to reserve. The village opens from around 15 April to 15 November, generally 09:00–18:00, but the creator's own hours vary and free slots must be booked through the reservation calendar on the official website (the phone line +420 494 663 354 works too). Arrival itself is self-guided — there's a tip box for voluntary entry at the entrance and no need to announce yourself.↗↗

To protect the spell, only up to eight visitors are allowed per hour, and the steep, unpaved terrain makes the place unsuitable for prams, crutches or big tour groups; dogs are not admitted. The setting is best for one or two fantasy-loving adults or older kids rather than a family day-out with toddlers.↗↗↗

By car, leave it at the signposted parking spot down by the main road on the approach from Dobruška and walk roughly five minutes up a gentle slope; the house parking is offered only occasionally. If you're travelling without a car, the bus stop Kounov–Šediviny (odbočka Prázova bouda) is a few hundred metres away, connected by a green-marked path. The site sits at about 600 m, near the small town of Dobré in the Dobruška area of eastern Bohemia, making it a good stop to pair with the wider Orlické hory region.↗↗↗↗