Harry Potter Movie Locations Travel Guide
Have you ever dreamed of visiting the filming locations for the most successful movie franchise in history? Although it’s true that the story of Harry Potter is just a fantasy from the mind of J.K. Rowling, there are many real-life locations any fans of the saga can visit and appreciate. With the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 on home video, let’s take a final trip down memory lane as we visit some of the most memorable places where the story of the boy who lived came alive.
The Reptile House at the London Zoo
This is where it all began for Harry Potter. In The Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry first becomes aware of his wizard powers when communicating with an encased Burmese python. The scene was filmed at the London Zoo’s Reptile House in November 2000 and a plaque was placed there to commemorate the moment. Of course, make sure to visit the rest of the zoo which contains over 750 species of animals and is located in Regent Park in the heart of the British capital.
Leadenhall Market (London)
Nearby is Leadenhall Market which was extensively used as Diagon Alley throughout the entire saga. While Harry and company make regular trips there to buy school books or withdraw gold from Gringotts Bank, this classy covered market has been a shopping area for Muggles dating back to the 14th century. If you intend to visit this spot, make sure to look up and admire the ornate roof structure which was designed in 1881.
King’s Cross Station (London)
King’s Cross Station is the place where Harry catches the Hogwarts Express at the end of every summer on his way to Hogsmeade. Naturally once you are there, you must check out the notorious wall that leads to Platform 9¾ which is invisible to these insufferable Muggles. There, a luggage cart poses half-way through the wall so make sure to bring your camera and pose for a picture!
Glenfinnan Viaduct (Lochaber, Scotland)
On the way to Hogsmeade, how can anyone forget the gorgeous 21-arch railway viaduct which is seen throughout the saga as the Hogwarts Express steams across the Scottish Highlands. Built between 1897 and 1901, the viaduct overlooks the Glenfinnan Monument and the waters of Loch Shiel. Best of all, you can ride the Hogwarts Express (a.k.a. the Jacobite Steam Train as Muggles call it) in the summer to see the landmark up close by traveling the scenic West Highland Line between Fort William and Mallaig.
26 Comments
Great post, I’m not sure if I’m as big of a HP geek to actually do a trip to any of these places just because of HP but in general they definitely are worth seeing! I thought there were more locations in Scotland! Glasgow University has a massive Hogwarts wibe so am not complaining.
I would totally do the LOTR tour in NZ though.
Yea, if you are in London, many of the locations are definitely worth seeing although yes, it can get pretty costly and exhaustive to travel all over the British Isle to see all the shooting locations. Not nearly as much as the LOTR tour though
Wow, this looks like it took a lot of research. Very cool!
Thanks John. This post took months!! I’m kidding ahah but it’s been staying as a draft waiting to be published since last summer. I guess the DVD/Blu-Ray release was the last occasion I had to release this
that’s the wrong Millenium Bridge. The one in HP was the one in London, near StPauls, and that pic you’ve got it a concept of the one made in Newcastle, I believe. Cool post thought!
and although Kings Cross was used for the interior shots of the station the outside shots were of StPancras… which is ionic given when she wrote it she was actually thinking of Euston when she wrote it…
Also, the platform at Hogwarts was filled in a place called Goatland, and it’s part of the same town that was used to film the long running british soap/drama ‘Heartbeat’…
Thanks Ben, I fixed that pic
And yes, you are correct that the exterior shots of King’s Cross are actually St Pancras. And the Goathland Station was actually used to portray the Hogsmeade train station.
You’re not wrong! See I sound like I know what I’m talking about, I just know the UK well, unlike the Harry Potter films lol but yeah, great post!
I’m afraid the Platform 9 3/4 has been removed while Kings Cross has some renovations.
Ooooh, you made me want to book a flight to the UK straight away Cas. This would be a dream trip, along with the LOTR tour to New Zealand!
I never made it to Oxford when we were in London, even though we planned on it, even asked a local guy as to which trains to take. Alas we ran out of time
Ah glad I did Ruth
Too bad you couldn’t make the trip to Oxford 
Next time, maybe?
Yeah hopefully, but London is sooooo expensive I don’t think we can afford going there anytime soon.
Lots of good film locations here, Castor! I can attest for the amazing Bodleian Library and Christ Church in Oxford. I was lucky to visit these places when I lived there.
Thanks Megan. You are so lucky to have lived in the UK
Great post Castor – I’ve been lucky enough to go to a few of these locations already but I really want to check them all out. This reminds me how much I’m looking forward to the Warner Bros studio tour in London in April.
I remember you talking about buying tickets a few weeks ago for the Warner Bros Studio Tour. You are so lucky!
Seriously great post, Castor (and congrats to you again for the IMDb linkage – I hate you). I would have thought that so many of the sets were straight-up re-creations (like the exterior cathedral shots and such), so it’s nice to know that when (if) I make it to the UK, I can check some of these spots out. My favorite one has to be the Diagon Alley market, though – would have sworn that that was entirely a soundstage. Very cool!
(Poo to you for the 3-page business, though – if I have one gripe about your site, it’s the traffic whoring that becomes obvious when you do that.)
Thanks Dylan. I’m sure you will get the opportunity to check out some of these locations one day.
I realize that laying down the post on 3 pages can be annoying but I simply can’t put 30 fairly large pictures on a single page without making it more difficult to load and navigate. I appreciate you dropping by and letting me know though.
Ok, fair enough…for this post. What about the top 10s?
Ah, this is so cool! I love Harry Potter and it would be so awesome to be able to actually visit these places!
Indeed, some awesome locations. Thanks for dropping by Matt!
Excellent job on this, and the pictures really show the connections between the places and the action. It’s hard to imagine them shutting down these places to the public for long enough to film the series, but I guess that is the magic of editing. I doubt I’d book a trip to hit all of them, but if I was already near one I’d definitely stop to check it out. Well done!
Glad you liked this post!
I think it’s same old Levy won’t spend the money. He makes managers wait till the last mintue of the transfer window to try and get knockdown prices, then we end up with nobody. Unless we can make Champions League every season, we are going to lose our best players. We’ll probably lose Harry as well.
This is all very very tempting. I’ll be taking pictures in every spot if I could go to these places. A really really nice spot, I’ll be adding Harry Potter’s movie location to the movie locations I would like to visit. Thanks Castor
I’ve been on the Glenfinnan Viaduct, it’s a stunning railway journey from Fort William to Mallaig. I was just on a standard train though, not a steam engine.
I also live a few minutes away from the cafe in Edinburgh where Rowling wrote the books, it’s become a bit of a tourist attraction! Always people taking photos of it.
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