Eight films, ten years of filming, and one certainty: the Harry Potter saga is an almost entirely British affair. From the Leavesden studios to the Scottish Highlands, by way of the Oxford colleges and Gothic cathedrals, the production travelled across the UK to bring Hogwarts and the wizarding world to life. The good news for fans: the vast majority of these places can be visited today, often for free. Here is the complete guide to the real filming locations, region by region, along with a few myths to clear up, because not every "Harry Potter" place you are sold has ever seen a camera from the films.
This article was produced in partnership with Trip-Planner.io, a tailor-made trip planner. If this guide makes you want to follow the Hogwarts Express, the tool builds a complete UK itinerary in a few minutes, from London to the Scottish Highlands, with stops, accommodation and travel times. And to organise the rest of your stay, the England page gathers all the tips for planning your trip.
34 filming locations and 1 fake locations not to be confused with them. Click a marker or a name in the list.
It all starts around thirty kilometres north-west of London. Leavesden Studios is a former airfield built in 1940 to produce Mosquito bombers, abandoned in the early 1990s and then revived by the filming of GoldenEye. Warner Bros moved in from 2000 for the first film and eventually bought the site in 2010, with a major investment. This is where the sets often thought to be "real" were built: the Great Hall with its real stone floor, the whole of Diagon Alley, Dumbledore's office, the Ministry of Magic, and the famous 1:24 scale model of Hogwarts used for wide shots of the castle.
Since 2012, the Warner Bros Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter has shown all this to the public, expanded over the years with Platform 9 3/4 and the real Hogwarts Express (2015), the Forbidden Forest (2017) and a large Gringotts bank of 1,500 m² (2019). In practical terms: online booking is required and slots are often full several weeks ahead in high season; allow 3h30 on site. Get there by train from London Euston to Watford Junction, then take the dedicated shuttle bus, which is included.
At King's Cross station, the run through the wall to Platform 9 3/4 was actually filmed between platforms 4 and 5: the real platforms 9 and 10 are separated by tracks, not a wall. The station has installed a trolley half-embedded in the wall, free to photograph if you take the picture yourself (an official photographer offers paid prints), right next to the official Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 3/4. A fun detail: the "King's Cross" frontage seen on screen is actually that of its neighbour St Pancras, considered far more photogenic. It is in front of St Pancras that the Ford Anglia takes off in Chamber of Secrets.
In the City, the Victorian Leadenhall Market was used as the way to the Leaky Cauldron in the first film: the blue door at 42 Bull's Head Passage, a former optician's, was its entrance. Also nearby, the marble hall of Gringotts bank is that of Australia House, the Australian High Commission on the Strand, a working diplomatic mission and therefore closed to visitors (the version destroyed by the dragon in the last film was a studio replica). The Millennium Bridge, twisted by the Death Eaters at the start of Half-Blood Prince, can be crossed freely between St Paul's and Tate Modern. It is a deliberate anachronism: the bridge did not yet exist in 1996, the year the story takes place.
Round off the walk with Piccadilly Circus, where the trio Apparate in a hurry after the attack on the wedding in Deathly Hallows; Westminster Underground station, closed for a whole day for the scene of Arthur Weasley struggling with the ticket barriers; and the corner of Scotland Place and Great Scotland Yard, where the red telephone box of the Ministry of Magic stood. Don't look for it: it was a prop, removed after filming. As for London Zoo, the 1927 Reptile House where Harry speaks to a snake for the first time has been closed since 2023. The reptiles have moved to a new area, so the exact enclosure from the film can no longer be visited.
At Christ Church College, the staircase below the Bodley Tower, where McGonagall welcomes the first years, can still be climbed, and the Tudor hall that inspired the Great Hall is still used as a dining hall by students. Timed tickets must be booked online, and for the most devoted fans: outside term time, the college offers bed and breakfast, with breakfast served in the hall.
The Bodleian Library provided two major sets: Duke Humfrey's Library, Oxford's oldest reading room (1488), is the Restricted Section where Harry slips in at night under his Invisibility Cloak; the Divinity School, with its Gothic ceiling of 400 carved bosses, is the Hogwarts hospital wing in the first three films, and the room where McGonagall teaches Ron to dance before the Yule Ball. Guided tours are available. At New College, the cloisters and the large holm oak hosted the famous bouncing ferret scene from Goblet of Fire (entrance via Holywell Street). And a few kilometres away, at Blenheim Palace, the large cedar by the lake is the tree from Snape's worst memory in Order of the Phoenix; a free public footpath lets you get close to it.
Lacock Abbey, in Wiltshire, is packed with early Hogwarts: the Chapter House is the Mirror of Erised room, the Sacristy is Snape's Potions classroom, and the Warming Room is Quirrell's, with a huge 16th-century cauldron that really belongs to the abbey. The neighbouring village, so well preserved that it is regularly used as a period setting, played Godric's Hollow in the first film's flashback and the village of Budleigh Babberton where Dumbledore recruits Slughorn in the sixth. It is a National Trust site; the village is free to visit.
The fan-vaulted cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral are the Hogwarts corridors in three films: this is where Harry and Ron flee the troll, and where the bloody message "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened" appears. In 2000, the announcement of filming led to protests from religious groups; the dean stood firm. Entry is by voluntary donation, making it the cheapest Harry Potter location in the country.
Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland, is the outside of Hogwarts in the first two films: it is in its courtyard that Madam Hooch gives the first broomstick lesson. The castle now offers "broomstick training" sessions on the very lawn used for filming. Durham Cathedral lent its cloisters for the snowy courtyard where Hedwig takes flight, and the Victorian station at Goathland, on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway steam line, plays Hogsmeade station in the first film. Finally, the large limestone cove of Malham Cove hosts Harry and Hermione's camp in Deathly Hallows. It is free to visit after a steep climb; walking boots are recommended.
A word on York: the Shambles, a beautiful medieval street, is often sold as "the real Diagon Alley". This is a myth. No scene from the films was shot there, and J.K. Rowling has herself denied any link: she had never seen the street before writing the books. The wizarding shops that have opened there keep the legend going. The atmosphere is worth the trip, but not as a filming location.
The Glenfinnan Viaduct and its 21 curved arches are probably the most famous filming location of the saga: this is where the flying Ford Anglia almost crashes in Chamber of Secrets, and the Hogwarts Express crosses it again in several films. The Jacobite steam train still runs on the exact line used for filming between Fort William and Mallaig (2026 season from June to October). The locomotive seen on screen, Olton Hall repainted in red, is on display at the Studio Tour in London. Arrive before 9.30am: the car parks at the viewpoint fill up in summer.
All around, the whole of Lochaber is a set: Loch Shiel stands in for the Black Lake at Hogwarts, chosen because no road runs along its shores; in Glencoe, opposite the Clachaig Inn, the production built Hagrid's hut and his pumpkin patch for Prisoner of Azkaban, and guests at the inn discovered the smoking hut on the hill opposite one morning; the shores of Loch Etive hosted the camp where Ron leaves the trio, and later the landing place of the Gringotts dragon; Rannoch Moor, described as "the last wilderness in Britain", is where the Death Eaters stop the Hogwarts Express; and Steall Falls, a 120-metre waterfall in Glen Nevis, is the backdrop for the fight against the Hungarian Horntail. All these sites are free to visit.
The final chapter of the saga spread across the whole country. On Freshwater West beach, in Wales, the production built a solid Shell Cottage, since dismantled, and filmed Dobby's death there: the "grave" put together by fans still exists in the dunes, and in 2022 the National Trust officially decided to keep it, while asking people to stop leaving socks there. Burnham Beeches hosted the camp after the break-in at the Ministry, and Swinley Forest the capture of the trio by Snatchers played by free-running champions. The medieval village of Lavenham, in Suffolk, is the Godric's Hollow of the Christmas night visit; De Vere House, whose frontage is Harry's birthplace, is now a bed and breakfast. More unexpected: the "seven Potters" sidecar chase goes through the Queensway Tunnel under the Mersey, closed for four nights with 500 crew. As for Malfoy Manor, its frontage is that of Hardwick Hall, an Elizabethan house in Derbyshire heavily darkened in post-production; the interiors were sets at Leavesden.
For completists: the real 4 Privet Drive is 12 Picket Post Close in Bracknell (first film only: the production then recreated the street in the studio, and the owner even sold pieces of the house to fans in 2023); the Charms classroom from the Wingardium Leviosa scene is the Fourth Form Room at Harrow School (1615), which can be seen on a guided tour; the Forbidden Forest in the early films is Black Park, next to Pinewood Studios; the Portkey arrival at the Quidditch World Cup was filmed at the top of the Seven Sisters cliffs; Virginia Water lake was used for Harry's first flight on Buckbeak; and the street where Hermione erases her parents' memories is Heathgate, in Hampstead Garden Suburb, the exact address appearing on her Hogwarts letter. The only trip outside Great Britain in the whole saga: the Cliffs of Moher, in Ireland, home to the entrance of the Horcrux cave in Half-Blood Prince.
Something to continue the journey at home: here are the most popular Harry Potter products of the moment from our partner shops.
From the hall at Leavesden to the bogs of Rannoch Moor, the saga has left its mark all over the UK, and most of these places can be visited for a few pounds, or even for free. Opening times and conditions can change: check the official websites before planning your trip.
0 comments
Loading comments...
Complete itineraries by Trip Planner, our travel partner, with stages, accommodation and travel times.
Angleterre14 stages
Angleterre19 stages
Écosse11 stagesHarry Potter Children's Collection
£34.13LEXIBOOK, Harry Potter Nightlight Alarm Clock, RL800HP | Sounds & Melodies, LCD Backlit screen, Luminous, Snooze, Black
£27.99POP figure Harry Potter: Harry Potter #1 (2016)
£6.26LEGO Harry Potter: Collection - Xbox One
£17.16LEGO Harry Potter Collection (Nintendo Switch)
£27.04POP figure Harry Potter: Hedwig #76 (2018)
£12.00Harry Potter et Les Reliques de la Mort-1ère Partie
£14.90Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort - 1ère partie - Blu-ray 3D
£21.60Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort - 1ère partie - Edition simple [FRENCH]
£8.35GRINT RUPERT - WATSON EMMA-HA
£36.16Harry Potter et Reliques de la Mort - 1 Partie - Brd
£17.13Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort Première Partie - Blu Ray
£13.63
Arnaud Bruckler
![Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort - 1ère partie - Edition simple [FRENCH]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geek-planet.com%2Fmedias%2Fthumbnails%2F019566ee-0563-7cfc-9a8a-0cb32dae11e9.jpg&w=640&q=75)
