Having Harry Potter fans with us when my husband, daughter, granddaughter, and I, visited London meant that we “had to go” to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour of Harry Potter. I tried to get tickets online before we left for London, but I had waited too late (1 month during their high tourist season) and there were no tickets available for the time we were there. Because I didn’t want to tell a seven-year-old that we couldn’t go see Harry Potter, I explored, and found, other ways of getting tickets. The best way that I could snag tickets was through a tour; in fact, the tour companies buy up tickets much in advance during high season so they are often the only option for those who want to see all things Harry Potter. If you can get tickets far enough in advance, public transportation makes it easy, and inexpensive, to get there and back from London.
We caught the Harry Potter-decorated tour bus near the Victoria Coach Station that was very close to our hotel. (Multiple companies offer these tours. I always check TripAdvisor before choosing the tour we book.) The hour-long drive passed quickly with the help of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone which played on the screens.
Entry tickets were included in the tour so we went right in at our appointed time. We were met by huge vignettes from the movies including the Great Hall, the Science Classroom, and Hagrid’s home. We all practiced our magical ability to lift our brooms and fly on them for a rousing game of quidditch. (To be honest, we may have been aided by movie-making magic!) One display featured Platform 9 ¾ and the train to Hogwarts. We had gone to King’s Cross Station before to take a picture of us going through the wall, but this display put everything in one place and looked just the same. Walking through the Forbidden Forest with colossal moving spiders, experiencing the mandrakes waking up and screeching, and walking down Diagon Alley were some of the many highlights of the day. The tour ended with a visit to the Hogwarts model, a large, room-sized model that shows the school and its surroundings in all their majesty.
We were prepared to take public transportation back to London if we needed more time, but the 3 hours they gave us was enough to see and experience everything and visit the gift shop where we could purchase chocolate frogs, customized wands, clothing from all the houses, and more!
While in London we visited other Harry Potter sites such as St. Pancras International Train Station and Piccadilly Circus. One of our best finds was Primark, a discount department store that features hundreds of Harry Potter products at a minimal cost—a great discovery for our seven-year old and us!
Have you visited Harry Potter sites or have questions about other possibilities? Please let us know in the comments!
