a trip to the harry potter studio tour london

Friday, 16 June 2017


Obligatory nine and three quarters photo. 

So, last month I finally visited the Harry Potter Studio Tour! The tour was a little expensive at £39.99 per person (depending on what expensive is to you) but this was luckily a belated birthday present, and one I had been looking forward to for nearly two months!

After being ushered into a cinema room and watching an introductory film, the tour itself is completely self guided. You are first guided into the Great Hall and from there on you are free to explore the sets. The place is absolutely huge, comprising of two buildings and one outside area, as well as a (v expensive) cafe, and two gift shops. We sneakily brought our own food because we thought this would be the case. The tour allows you to explore some the key sets for filming, see the behind the scenes of how the films were made, and so many props and little extras from the films. 



Hufflepuff pride in the Great Hall! I obviously had to take a photo of the Huffepuff uniforms. The great hall was set out as it would've been during filming and looked exactly the same, with the exception of the magical ceiling of course. 


The Goblet of Fire is my favourite film and I loved seeing all the outfits and the ice sculpture. Some staff also explained how props were made and used and how they achieved the effects.


Portraits and the magical stairs! Also the guy at the top in the red is a portrait of Lord Byron, the poet! Was he a wizard in the Harry Potter universe, or was he just admired by the wizarding world? Who knows!?


Dumbledore's Office was amazing and quite breathtaking.


So many ingredients, the pot was actually self stirring. Most sets had info points and some video explanations of  how the set was created. It was very informative and really gives you an idea of how the film was made without ruining the magic of the films.



More potions and an inanimate Snape.


Reflections in the potions dungeon.


Umbridge's office! It would be kinda cute if I didn't belong to an absolutely atrocious human being.


Cheering myself up by the Ministry of Magic statue. 


The iconic platform nine and three quarters sign!


On the knightbus! 


Privet Drive and all the letters suspended in the air for dramatic effect.


This iconic bridge where Hermione says breaking the rules is kinda fun. In true Hermione spirit I may have broken the rules and walked up the stairs that had a 'no entry' sign on them. Oops.


Waving to my fellow Hufflepuffs.


When your sisters boyfriend isn't good with the camera. But nonetheless I made is to Diagon Alley and Olivanders!


In awe at one of my favourite sets from the films: Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.


And finally a really breathtaking model of the Hogwarts castle. There is a pathway going from the top floor to the bottom so you can really look at every angle and just wow.

I also saw the Hogwarts express and a lot of behind the scenes of how props were made and created, as well as concept art and lots of the designs for the castle and sets. There was also a gift shop opposite the Hogwarts express with ample nine and three quarters merch.

At the end of the tour you reach the main gift shop and there is just so much stuff. I was temped to get a Hufflepuff mug or badge but couldn't decide and ended up buying a Honey-dukes lollipop. It was supposed to be cherry cola flavour but it tasted more like sugar with a hint of cherry cola! I did enjoy the novelty though. Some things were a little expensive (jumpers) but some smaller things (pins) were more affordable. I was planning on buying a chocolate frog but £7.99 was just too hard to justify!

Overall, it was a magical day and an amazing experience if you're a Harry Potter fan!

Have you ever been to the Harry Potter studio tour. 

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