Harry Potter’s London
Harry Potter has become such a cultural phenomenon that when you mention London to some people, they no longer think of London Bridge or Big Ben, they think of Diagon Alley, platform nine and three quarters, and The Ministry of Magic.London is the location for a number of scenes in the Harry Potter movies, and you can visit them all taking uber or underground ride.
Every Harry Potter movie has scenes that were filmed in London. Locations range from Leadenhall Market (the entrance to Diagon Alley) through to Kings Cross Station (home of platform 9 3/4 and boarding point of the Hogwarts Express.
We will take a quick round up of such places in all the eight Harry Potter movies.
Most of these places are in Central London. In the heart of Regent’s Park, a little way north of central London, is London Zoo– one of the world’s oldest zoo. But you’re not here for a history lesson – you’re here to know what the Harry Potter connection is. Well, of course, it was in the Reptile House at London Zoo that Harry sets a Burmese python free in the movie Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. This scene was filmed on location in the Reptile House, and the actual enclosure used is home to the zoo’s black mamba. Which you probably don’t want to try and set free.
Lambeth Bridge . Remember when Harry Potter takes the awesome triple decker night bus in Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban ? As well as handy features that you don’t get on other London buses, including beds, candles, instant hails and super-fast speeds, the Knight Bus is also able to compress itself so as to avoid muggle traffic! In one notable scene, the Knight Bus squeezes itself between two standard double decker buses. And this scene takes place on Lambeth Bridge, which is the bridge upstream from Westminster Bridge.
Leadenhall Market. Whilst much of the Diagon Alley scenes were shot in a studio, a number of real life London locations were also used as Diagon Alley filming locations, and you can visit these quite easily. The first of these Diagon Alley filming locations was Leadenhall Market, a beautiful old covered market in the City of London, which actually dates from the 14th century, making it one of the oldest markets in the city. This was used as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. More specifically, the door to an opticians shop in Bulls Head passage was used as the Leaky Cauldron entrance.
Borough Market. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban, the entrance to Diagon Alley’s Leaky Cauldron moved from the real world location of Leadenhall Market to Borough Market. Well, it is magical after all!
In the film, after his ride on the Knight Bus, Harry disembarks in Borough Market at what is in real life the “Chez Michele” flower shop, and walks into the Leaky Cauldron pub. The remainder of the scenes for the Leaky Cauldron were filmed on a set at the Warner Bros Studio Watford. While you’re at Borough Market though, pick up something to eat – there are lots of excellent food vendors here where you can get something to suit all palates!
Whilst it is a bit tricky as a non-wizard to get into the Ministry of Magic, you can still visit the location in the films where magic wielders would enter this Ministry. This is found in Westminster, snuggled up against real-life government buildings, which seems appropriate.
Westminster. Whilst it is a bit tricky as a non-wizard to get into the Ministry of Magic, you can still visit the location in the films where magic wielders would enter this Ministry. This is found in Westminster, snuggled up against real-life government buildings, which seems appropriate.
Australia House. Gringotts! Who wouldn’t want to visit a goblin run wizard bank with vaults guarded by a dragon? Well, sadly, that’s not quite possible. As it is, you can take a look at the building that was used for Gringotts – the grand Australia House, which sits on the Strand and was where the interior scenes of Gringotts were filmed. Australia House, as the name hints, is home to the Australian High Commission, and you can’t actually go inside until and unless you have some official business . Still, you can look at it from the outside and know that just beyond the doors is a magical world of marble, chandeliers and goblins, which Harry visits in a number of movies, including Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and in the dramatic scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 .
Westminster. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and Mr. Weasley travel through Westminster tube station, with Mr. Weasley getting somewhat confounded by the Muggle ticket barriers at the station.
Because of this, London has become a global hub for Potter fans, with hundreds of tours, attractions and tidbits for you to discover.These scenes were filmed over a whole day at Westminster tube station, necessitating it being closed for the full day. Given how busy this station is, that must have caused quite the disruption!
Millennium Bridge. The death eater chase sequence in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was filmed across a great many London locations. Most memorable perhaps though is the sequence which has the Millennium Bridge being ripped apart and tossed into the river.
Thankfully, this was just a piece of movie magic, and the Millennium Bridge still stands tall , it is a pedestrian footbridge which links St Paul’s Cathedral with the Tate Modern Museum.
Of course, when the j K Rolling wrote his Harry Potter books, this bridge didn’t actually exist, but given how nicely it implodes, we’ll give them a pass for this artistic license to the movie.
King Cross Station. How do you get to Hogwarts? Why, you take a train from Platform 9 and 3/4 at Kings Cross station of course! The scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and HarryPotter and the Chamber Of Secrets were filmed on location at Kings Cross station, actually between platforms four and five.Of course, you’ll struggle to actually find a real Platform 9 and 3/4 at Kings Cross station today. For a long while there was a trolley located in the wall near platforms nine, however, as it became so popular, it was moved, and can now be found in the main concourse of the Kings Cross Station , just next to a Harry Potter Store.
You can have your photo taken pushing the trolley “through” the wall, although be aware that as this is probably the most famous Harry Potter location in London, queues can be lengthy! Lines can be 1 hour to 2 hours long to take a photo so be prepared.
The Film folks are really tricky. When Harry arrives at “Kings Cross” to catch the Hogwarts train, the exterior shots are actually of St. Pancras, which just happens to look a bit nicer.
St. Pancras. It was also where the magical Ford Anglia takes to the skies in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It’s just next door to Kings Cross, so worth the wander across.
Whilst you’re in the Kings Cross area, you might want to take the ten minute walk up to Claremont Square.
This was the setting for 12 Grimmauld Place, which any Harry Potter fan will of course recognise as being the home of Sirius Black, and the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.
Piccadilly Circus. Continuing with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Piccadilly Circus was a key location in the film when Ron, Hermione, and Harry narrowly avoided being hit by a London bus. Piccadilly circus is of course a hugely busy and well known location, which made for a challenging real world filming location. Definitely a must on tour of Harry Potter filming locations in London!
Palace Theatre: It is not a filming location of any of Harry Potter movie, but Palace Theatre at Shaftesbury Avenue in Soho is a very popular attraction for Harry Potter fans in London. The Theatre has been showing the play since 2016 . It has since expanded to locations around the world, including Broadway in New York.
The play is set nineteen years after the events of the final movie in the series, and tells the story of Harry Potter as an adult, and his son Albus, who is just starting at Hogwarts. The play is in two parts, each of which is over 2.5 hours long.
The House of MinaLima. It is a gallery which showcases a lot of the graphic art that was featured in creating Harry Potter world.
MinaLima is the the design team consisting two prolific designers viz.,
Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. They started collaborating in 2002, and were responsible for creating the graphic style that featured in all the Harry Potter movies, as well as the later Fantastic Beasts movies. They have also worked on pieces for the Wizarding World theme park. They have opened their gallery in SoHo, London, as a gallery where you can explore some of the art they created. It’s free to visit, and they also run free guided tours on Mondays and Tuesday.
Warner Bros Studio Watford. Last but not the least , include Warner Bros Studio on your list of Harry Potter filming locations in London. This is twenty miles from Central London , the closer train connection is Watford Junction. Take a train from Euston Station for Watford Jn. , you will find especially commissioned double decker buses outside the station to take you to the Studio.
This film studio was where all eight of the Harry Potter films were actually filmed, and studio has retained a great many of the sets, clothing, and props from the movies and made it a kind of permanent attraction which includes the Great Hall, the railway station, numerous filming locations from inside Hogwarts, the Forbidden Forest, and even Diagon Alley.
You also have an opportunity during the Studio tour to learn many of the secrets of how the films were made, also to drink Butterbeer, and generally get all the Harry Potter magic you could imagine. There are also place inside the Studio to stop for Harry Potter memorabilia and eat .
The visit to Warner Bros Studio At Watford lasts for about three hours and is largely self-guided, so you can take as much or little time as you like. There’s lots to see and do though, so I recommend three and half hours to plan for, also add the travel time.
To attract Harry Potter fans to revisit the Studio , few more attractions added April this year. The have added Gringotts Wizarding Bank to allow fans to walk through the original set of the Diagon Alley staple.The bank provided many of the series' most iconic moments, including Harry's first visit to get his Hogwarts gear in The Philosopher's Stoneas well as the famous dragon escape from the Lestrange Vault in The Deathly Hallows: Part 2. During the tour, do not skip the main marble hall and the famous Lestrange Vault – the movie had to create 38,000 rubberised pieces of treasure, as well as 7,014 Hufflepuff Cups alone. As well this, fans will get to look at the costumes and prosthetics for the Goblin bankers such as Griphook and Bogrod.
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