Harry Potter : 8 Great Britain Film Locations

My Instagram Stories during our time in Great Britain were filled with 3 things: royal family history, countless craft beers and Harry Potter sights. We are big Harry Potter fans! Well, I am a big Harry Potter fan and I have turned the kids into fans. T and I read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban during the first months of our journey. And I re-listened to all of the audiobooks in the months leading up to our trip. From hours of packing for a year of travel and up to finishing Deathly Hallows hours before our Harry Potter tour in Edinburgh.

Here are our favorite Harry Potter sights throughout Great Britain to inspire your next trip, or at least a marathon rewatch of the films.

LONDON

While most of the exterior sites in Harry Potter movies were filmed in smaller English town and the countryside of Scotland, London does have a handful of sights from the movies to check out. Many of which are main sightseeing spots for Harry Potter lovers or not!

Top of the list for fans is the Warner Bros. Studio tour. About an hour outside of London, a journey that involves a metro and bus ride, the movie studio where a majority of the interior shots of Harry Potter were filmed has been preserved and can now be toured. It looks incredible, but we’ve never been. Mainly because our children haven’t read all of the books and I really don’t want the big plot lines to be spoiled for them. But also because tickets are pricey (£150 for a family of four) and hard to get. I looked for our upcoming time in London during the end of January and, more than two months in advance, they are already sold out!

Fear not! Below are a list of other sights to see throughout London.

King’s Cross station - famous for being the location of Platform 9 3/4, in the film the station’s exterior is actually St. Pancras train station. Located directly across from King’s Cross it’s easy to see why St. Pancras was chosen. It’s beautiful and much more whimsical than the exterior of King’s Cross.

Platform 9 3/4 - the iconic location is now a huge tourist draw in King’s Cross. You can pose for photo with the cart for a fee. Luckily, our children were happy with just seeing it. The line for a photo was hours long!

Piccadilly Circus and Millennium Bridge - the famous trio walks through Piccadilly Circus in Deathly Hallows Part 1 and the Millennium Bridge collapse is in the opening scenes of Half-Blood Prince. Both are sightseeing spots in their own rights and made even better by movie magic.

Reptile House at London Zoo - Who could forget Harry’s first magical moment of the entire film series? A visit to the Reptile House is high on our list for our next London trip.

Gringotts Banks - Gringotts! Scenes of the only bank in the wizarding world were filmed at the Australia House.

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

Located near the famed Cotswolds, Gloucester Cathedral is a beautiful church in its own right. The cathedral has many wonderful tours to explore (including its crypt). They also have an amazing children’s section on the second floor and a whispering tunnel, which is a must. But I also loved that they embrace their Harry Potter history while not letting it overtake they own, richer history.

Scenes from Sorcerer’s Stone and Half-Blood Prince we’re filmed here, but the most iconic scenes are from Chamber of Secrets. We had so much fun recalling our favorite scenes as we recognized different locations.

EDINBURGH

Scotland is full of Harry Potter sights. I mean, most of the books were written in Edinburgh! While the capital city does not have many film locations, it sure does hold most of the places that inspired J.K. Rowling’s work.

There is one movie sight outside of Edinburgh that I really wish we had seen. The famous bridge that the Hogwarts Express travels over on each trip to and from school. The Glenfinnan Viaduct is located in the Scottish highlands and you can even take a Harry Potter inspired train ride over it. How magical?!

On to Edinburgh sights! We took a small Harry Potter tour through Airbnb. Our family of four and two other Californians (by coincidence) were led by our guide for an hour tour throughout Edinburgh. Our guide wrote her thesis on Harry Potter tourism and its impact on Scotland. She was well versed in all things Harry Potter and also taught us about the witch trials in Scotland. It was the perfect balance of history and fun. And we also loved the size of the tour as most other tours are massive!

Diagon Alley / Victoria Street - Possibly the best sight, although it’s hard to pick, is the inspiration for Diagonal Alley! J.K. Rowling technically began writing Harry Potter in England, but all 7 books were completed in Edinburgh. And you can see the city in the books. Victoria Street with its curved shaped and specialty shops easily matches the description of Diagon Alley. Dig into the details on a tour and you will find many more connections and also some fun movie trivia.

Located on Victoria Street is Museum Context, an independently owned Harry Potter shop that is so magical to visit. There’s even a Chamber of Secrets on the top floor!

Greyfriar’s Kirk - this cemetery holds so much Harry Potter inspiration, although J.K. Rowling might not always admit so. The most famous grave bears the name Thomas Riddell (different spelling but if you’ve read the post to this post than you know who we are talking about). Which, of course, draws crowds and lines for photos. But there are many other memorable names to be found. Moody and McGonagall are among them. Also, there’s a sculpture that looks just like Nearly Headless Nick!

George Heriot’s School / Hogwarts - Directly behind the cemetery is the inspiration for Hogwarts. A private school which J.K. Rowling’s children have attended. The school even divides its students into four hours. Edinburgh Castle is also an inspiration for Hogwarts. Located high up on a hill, looming over the city, it sits much like Hogwarts does over the Black Lake.

The Elephant House - J.K. Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter in cafes all over the city. The Elephant House claims to be the birthplace of Harry Potter (it is not), but it does overlook the castle and cemetery giving Rowling all the additional inspiration that she needed to write about the magical world that we all know and love.

And just like that I’m inspired to start reading Goblet of Fire with my little ones. Tell me, have you visited any of these locations or are you planning to? Have you visited any other Harry Potter locations that didn’t make our list?