4 Places Every Harry Potter Fan Should Visit

This year sees the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the latest film set in J K Rowling’s fictional world. In celebration of the film’s release and with Zak choosing on this website to include the first two books of the Harry Potter series in his ‘Top Ten Books for World Book Day’, I thought we could look at four places in the UK every Harry Potter fan should visit.

Lacock Village and Abby, Wilshire

Nesting in the rolling hills of Wiltshire is the village of Lacock. This small picturesque village has been used for many period dramas in the UK and has been featured several times in the Harry Potter films. According to HP Supporters, Slughorn’s home in The Half Blood Prince and the Potter’s House were filmed in Lacock. The Abbey was used for Hogwarts interior scenes for the first few films including Professor Snape’s classroom. The famous Abbey cloisters also made an appearance.

Kings Cross Station, London
Alongside the busy commuters using Kings Cross Station, visitors will find another long line of visitors. These people are not lining up for tickets but a chance to pose at a part of the station’s wall dividing platforms nine and ten: the entrance to platform nine and three quarters. Half a luggage trolley sticking out of the wall marks the spot where Harry Potter and his friends entered the hidden station platform.

Warner Bro’s. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
What better place to re-live the film series than on the film’s original sets. After Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 finished filming at Leavesden Studios, the studio created two new soundstages to create a public exhibit of the Harry Potter films. Inside these two soundstages are the sets of the Hogwarts Great Hall, Diagon Alley and Dumbledore’s Office, plus many models and props used in the film. After finishing the tour, guests can sit down for a glass of the famous butter beer from the books and films (it’s actually pretty gross but that’s not the point!). The Leavesden Studios are located just outside of London in Watford. Direct trains go from London to Watford Station where a shuttle bus picks up visitors. Tickets must be bought in advanced but this is a really great day out for Harry Potter fans like us.

The Elephant House Café, Edinburgh

The Elephant House Café was the place where J K Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter Book, The Philosopher’s Stone. According to the Elephant House she used to write in the backroom looking out to Edinburgh Castle. The café has now become a pilgrimage for Harry Potter fans from across the globe. Alongside its literary history the café also has a collection of over 600 elephant figurines. Trains and flights to Edinburgh go direct from London. Parking4Less, which operates out of all major airports including Edinburgh and Heathrow, recommends using the airport’s short stay parking if you are going away for weekend trips. These on-airport carparks are ideal because they are close to the flight terminals, thus families won’t have the inconvenience of lugging their baggage long distances. Additionally, there a bus and train shuttles that get passengers to their designated terminals if they were going away for longer durations and decided to park in the long-stay parking options.

So there we have it…four fun places to visit for the ultimate Harry Potter fans!

Have you been to any of these places? What did you think of them?

Until next time

xxx

Disclaimer: This is a Collaborative Content