The Harry Potter Studio Tour
For today’s post, I’m taking it wayyyy back to the Summer of 2012. I went on a great trip through Europe with a group of college kids. One of our stops was London, and THE single most epic day of our London rendezvous started with a double-decker bus tour that led us to seeing THE QUEEN, and ended with the Harry Potter studio tour.
OK, so this tour isn’t technically in London, but it’s a super easy journey from central London. And obviously any journey is worth seeing a Harry Potter landmark such as this.
Getting there
First, you take a 20-minute train from Euston Station in Central London (not King’s Cross, unfortunately) to Watford Junction in Leavesden where the studio is located. Then, from Leavesden station there’s a return bus (a purple double-decker bus, to be specific) that drops you off directly at the studio. That journey takes about 15 minutes and costs £2 return.
When you first approach the outside of the studio, you really take in just how HUGE this place is. This is the place where the movies were filmed, after all. So it’s basically sacred ground!
About the Tour
The first part of the studio tour is guided. Tour guides give you a lil intro and explain certain things in detail. You could tell that the tour guides were super enthusiastic and huge fans of the books themselves, which made the tour even better.
The tour starts with a room explaining the impact of the movies, including footage from the last World Premiere in London, WHICH I ATTENDED!!!
AND HOLY SHIT, I ACTUALLY SAW MYSELF IN THE VIDEO!!!
Then, you’re led into the Great Hall set where the tour really begins. The tour guides give you facts about the filming and certain trivia about costumes and whatnot. You then go through many different rooms that everything from costumes, to sets like the gates to Malfoy Manor and Diagon Alley, to random props like all main characters’s wands, the golden snitch, the Horcruxes, and much more!
There’s even an outside area that houses bigger things such as the chess pieces from the first movie, the bridge, the Knight bus, Hagrid’s motorcycle, andddddd 4 PRIVET DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is obviously a must for any die-hard Harry Potter fan (A Pothead, if you will…). They literally have everything from the movies here. Every newspaper cover, every textbook, every prop, costumes, sets….it is all here. I loved that once I saw a prop, even if it was a newspaper cover, I would immediately remember it from one of the movies.
To me, the best part of the tour was the miniature Hogwart’s model. All panoramic or zoomed out shots of Hogwarts were actually of this miniature replica. It’s BEAUTIFUL and so detailed. You can spend a long time walking around it and taking in all of the tiny details!
This tour is a dream for any Harry Potter nerd (like myself). It’s a really cool experience being able to see all the actual props and actual sets and actual costumes in the actual studio where the movies were filmed!
Oh and of course, make sure to try the (non-alcoholic) Butterbeer!
Beware of the gift shop at the end of the tour. One could spend a LOT of money on unnecessary Harry Potter items……ye have been warned.
