On foot and by underground through the streets of London or by visiting Warner Bros. studios, there are many possibilities to enjoy the adventures of the most famous wizard of today’s cinema.
London is more than one city. In fact, it is many cities in one. The city of great monuments, the city of Europe’s most famous royals, the city of must-see museums, the city of the most avant-garde art galleries, the city of musicals that have been performed successfully for years, the city of street markets, and also the city of famous characters from reality or fiction. In the British capital it is easy to follow in the footsteps of murderers like Jack the Ripper or the romantic scenes of films like Notting Hill. And straddling, or rather on the back of a flying broomstick, between the human world of ‘muggles’ and literary and cinematic fiction, there is Harry Potter’s London.
Yes, this century’s most famous sorcerer’s apprentice has made many places in London fashionable. Some were already in the UK capital’s top tourist guides, while others have been revitalised by J.K. Rowling’s seven-book, eight-film saga. Before you set off on a Harry Potter adventure, it’s worth knowing that there are a couple of ways to do it, both of which are compatible, although they require time, money and a good map. The easiest way is to follow one of the many Harry Potter routes and wander the streets and subways of the city. The other is to visit the Warner Bros. studios, where the films that have become a reference point for generations of children and not-so-children were filmed. We explain both below:
Harry Potter on the streets of London
If you’re a die-hard Harry Potter fan, you’ll need to travel around the English capital to be inspired by the magic of the character. You’ll recognise places from the films, but sometimes you’ll have to use your imagination and think of descriptions from the author’s books. You can do this on your own or with guides. In this mini-guide we won’t list places you can’t visit. For example, Gringotts Bank, the wizarding bank, which is in the first film, was filmed inside the Australian embassy, which is not open for tourists to snoop around.
- Platform 9 and ¾. If you like the Harry Potter saga, but you’re not a big enough fan to spend one or several days looking for the sets of the film, this is the place you can’t miss. It’s true what you’re thinking: everyone will have read this recommendation and will do the same, so queues are inevitable. But the people at King’s Cross station have organised it well, providing a space between platforms 9 and 10 so that you can have your photo taken holding half of the trolley that crosses the wall. The trolley is part of the actual props from the film. In case you feel the need, there is a shop next door with scarves and other souvenirs from the saga to make your photos more realistic. As you exit the real station, right next door, you’ll see the monumental, brick-fronted St Pancras Hotel, which in the films appears as the entrance to the station. King’s Cross is in central London and four tube lines (The Tube) stop at King’s Cross – St Pancras.
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- Millennium Bridge. Already one of the iconic landmarks of modern London since its controversial opening in 2000 (hence its name), the Millennium Bridge is the first pedestrian suspension bridge to be built over the Thames since the 19th century. Norman Foster’s pedestrian suspension bridge, the first to be built over the Thames since the 19th century, leads from the Tate Modern gallery to St Paul’s Cathedral, two of the most recommended visits in the city. The church is home to the famous geometric staircase from the Harry Potter films, but it’s off the standard tourist trail. The Millennium Bridge was closed for a few months shortly after its opening due to an unexpected sway. In the Harry Potter saga it fared even worse: it is the scene of one of the saga’s great battles with the Death Eaters and ends up being destroyed.
- Leadenhall and Borough Markets: Parts of Diagon Alley where Harry Potter goes to buy wands and do other things are filmed in the centrally located Victorian Leadenhall Market. In the first film, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, it is also the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron tavern, but in ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ the Borough Market, which in reality has many flower stalls, is used as the entrance. To finish off Diagon Alley, the shop windows are said to have been copied from those in Cecil Court, a central alleyway near Charing Cross that will instantly evoke memories of Harry Potter.
- London Zoo. The terrarium at London Zoo is where Harry Potter realises he can talk to a boa constrictor in Parseltongue and annoy his cousin Dudley in the process. The zoo is located in Regent’s Park, very centrally located.
- Claremont House. In North London, the Georgian-style façade gives away Sirius Black’s house, the dwelling at 12 Grimmauld Place, which Harry inherits to become the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Stop between numbers 23 and 29 and the building will be easily recognisable.
- Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. With the neon lights and advertisements of the real Picadilly, it might be hard to get into the magic of today’s most famous orphan, but you’re bound to see one of those red double-decker buses that nearly ran over Harry and his cronies Hermione and Ron as they teleported there to escape a Death Eater attack during a wedding. At one corner of Trafalgar Square is the South African Embassy, whose colonnaded portico once served as the exterior of Gringotts Bank. Trafalgar Square’s relationship with the J.K. Rowling saga is one for the initiated, for it was in this London square that the actors and writer made speeches to the crowds before walking to Leicester Square for the premiere of the latest instalment of the series, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (II)’. Piccadilly Circus, on London’s shopping route, and Trafalgar Square, in the Victorian heart of the city, are two unavoidable tourist attractions in the British capital.
The film factory
Harry Potter’s street routes will serve to inspire you from the world that J.K. Rowling wove, but if you want to wave your wand and be immersed in a parallel reality to the Muggles, it’s best to get your ticket to the Warner Bros. studios where many of the scenes from the eight films were filmed. It’s actually a Harry Potter theme park that lasts approximately four hours where you can see the film sets, peek behind the scenes, discover the costumes, props and props on display (such as the Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorbike), marvel at the special effects and enjoy immersive experiences.
As we said, in the city of London there are iconic places from the series that you can’t experience, but in Warner Bros. studios you can. For example, entering Gringotts Bank, walking the cobblestones of Diagon Alley and, of course, getting on the Hogwarts Express. The Great Dining Hall, the Forbidden Forest, Professor Sprout’s greenhouse, the boys’ dormitories… you’ll miss few of the scenes from the films.
Very important! If you arrive in London without studio tickets it will be almost impossible to get them. They are only sold online and it is recommended that you book your tickets weeks in advance. You should also plan to travel to the Warner Bros. Studios. It’s an hour and a half each way from central London. The last leg of the journey is by electric bus which is already part of the park outside Watford Junction railway station. When you buy your tickets online, you can also book your transport if you wish. Between the visit and the journey you can expect to spend almost 8 hours – a total Harry Potter day!
CONCLUSION
London has a lot of magic in itself, but entire families wander the streets to find little details from the eight Harry Potter films, released between 2001 and 2011. You can spend a few hours, a day or even a week, depending on how much of a fan you are of the saga. But between classic attractions such as the London Eye, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, you’re sure to enjoy following in the footsteps of the orphan wizard.
