Harry Potter Britain: London to the Highlands in Eight Days

Overview

From the soundstage to the Highland viaduct

This is the long way to Hogwarts. You start in London, where Platform 9 3/4 is a trolley in a station wall and the Leaky Cauldron is an optician's door in Leadenhall Market, and you spend an afternoon at Leavesden, on the public studio tour, among the sets that were built for the films. Then the real buildings: the staircase at Christ Church and the Divinity School in Oxford, the cloisters of Lacock Abbey and Gloucester Cathedral, where the corridors of Hogwarts were filmed.

From Oxford the train takes you north to York and a steam ride on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Goathland, which played Hogsmeade station. Alnwick Castle, where Harry had his first flying lesson, is on the way to Edinburgh, the city where J.K. Rowling wrote much of the series in cafes. The last full day is the one many people book for: through Glencoe to Fort William, and in the morning the Jacobite steam train over the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Oliver Pryce leads the whole trip, and the group never has more than 14 people.

Itinerary

Harry Potter Britain tour: day by day

A 14-seat Mercedes Sprinter with a professional driver in England, a CrossCountry train from Oxford to York, a second van and driver from York to Glasgow, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and the Jacobite steam train. Ticketed times shift with the season; your final timetable comes two weeks before departure.

Day 1LondonArrive in London

• Our driver meets you at Heathrow and brings you to the hotel near King's Cross, about an hour by road.
• Check in from 3 p.m.; bags can be left earlier.
• 6 p.m. welcome walk with Oliver along the South Bank to the Millennium Bridge, which the Death Eaters destroy at the start of Half-Blood Prince, then dinner nearby.

Meals: dinner

Day 2London and LeavesdenKing's Cross, Leadenhall Market and the studio tour

• 8 a.m. Platform 9 3/4 in the Western Concourse of King's Cross, before the line builds.
• Van to the City for Leadenhall Market and the Leaky Cauldron door on Bull's Head Passage.
• Early lunch, then the drive to Leavesden, about an hour, for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, The Making of Harry Potter: allow three to four hours inside.
• Back at the hotel by about 7 p.m.; the evening is free.

Meals: breakfast, lunch

Day 3OxfordChrist Church and the Divinity School

• Drive to Oxford, about 1 hour 45 minutes.
• Christ Church: Tom Quad, the Bodley staircase and the dining hall that inspired the Great Hall, when it is open to visitors.
• Lunch in the covered market, then the Divinity School of the Bodleian Library, the Hogwarts hospital wing.
• Free late afternoon in Oxford; the Radcliffe Camera and the Bridge of Sighs are a short walk away.

Meals: breakfast, lunch

Day 4Gloucester and LacockHogwarts corridors in stone

• Drive to Gloucester, about 1 hour 15 minutes, for the fan-vaulted cloisters of the cathedral, the Hogwarts corridors in three of the films.
• On to Lacock, about an hour, for lunch at a village pub.
• Lacock Abbey: the cloisters, the sacristy where Snape taught potions and the chapter house of the Mirror of Erised, then the village streets from Pride and Prejudice.
• Back to Oxford by about 6 p.m.

Meals: breakfast, lunch

Day 5York and the North York MoorsThe train north and Hogsmeade station

• Late morning CrossCountry train from Oxford to York, about 3 hours, with seats reserved together.
• Our Scottish van and driver meet us in York and drive to Pickering, about 50 minutes.
• Steam train on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Goathland, the Hogsmeade station of Philosopher's Stone and the Aidensfield of the TV series Heartbeat.
• Evening in York, with dinner near the Shambles.

Meals: breakfast, dinner

Day 6Alnwick and EdinburghBroomsticks at Alnwick, then Scotland

• Drive to Alnwick Castle, about 2 hours 30 minutes.
• The Outer Bailey where Harry and his classmates had their first flying lesson, a broomstick class for anyone who wants one, and the state rooms.
• Lunch in Alnwick, then up the coast and over the border to Edinburgh, about 2 hours.
• Evening at leisure in the Old Town.

Meals: breakfast, lunch

Day 7Edinburgh, Glencoe and Fort WilliamThe Old Town and the road through Glencoe

• Morning walk in the Old Town with Oliver: Victoria Street, Greyfriars Kirkyard and the grave of Thomas Riddell, and the cafes where J.K. Rowling wrote.
• Lunch in Edinburgh, then the drive northwest through Glencoe, where the Prisoner of Azkaban crew built Hagrid's hut, to Fort William, about 3 hours 30 with photo stops.
• Dinner together in Fort William, at the foot of Ben Nevis.

Meals: breakfast, dinner

Day 8Glenfinnan and GlasgowThe Jacobite and departure

• Breakfast and checkout.
• The morning Jacobite steam train from Fort William over the Glenfinnan Viaduct to Mallaig, about 2 hours, with a short stop at Glenfinnan station.
• Our van meets the train in Mallaig and drives to Glasgow, arriving around 5 p.m. at Glasgow Airport or the city center.
• Flying home tonight? Book a flight after 8 p.m., or add a night in Glasgow, which we can arrange.

Meals: breakfast

On screen

Films and series on the Harry Potter Britain tour

The productions behind the stops on this tour, where they filmed and what you see there today.

Filming spots change over time: storefronts get new owners, sets are rebuilt and some interiors were shot on stages elsewhere, so your tour leader tells you on the day what is still there.

Hotels

Hotels on the Harry Potter Britain tour

7 nights, rooms with private bathroom, breakfast every morning. We name the class and the area; the exact hotel, or a similar one, is confirmed with your booking.

What is included

What the Harry Potter Britain tour price includes

Meals: daily breakfast, 5 lunches, 3 dinners. The price is per person sharing a double or twin room. Flights to the start of the tour and home are not included.

• 13 things in the price
• 7 hotel nights
• Daily breakfast, 5 lunches, 3 dinners
• 8 productions on the film list

Dates and prices

Harry Potter Britain tour departures and prices

Price per person sharing a double room. Single room: +$890.

• $250 deposit

  Confirms your booking after the free 72-hour hold. The balance is due 60 days before departure. See the booking terms.

• Guaranteed means it runs

  A guaranteed departure goes ahead whatever the final numbers.

• No surcharges

  The price you book is the price you pay. No fuel surcharges after booking.

• Free date change

  Move to another date of this tour up to 30 days before departure, once, at no fee.

Before you book

Straight talk about the Harry Potter Britain tour

What the days are really like, so there are no surprises.

• Pace and walking

  Easy to moderate, 2 of 5. Three to five miles on foot on the town days, with stairs at King's Cross, Christ Church, Alnwick Castle and the steep lanes of Edinburgh's Old Town.

• What can change

  Filming, events and closures can move a stop or close an interior on the day. Your leader swaps in another location nearby and tells you why.

• Inside or outside

  Museums, studio tours and open businesses you enter as a visitor. Working businesses that ask for quiet, and every private home, are seen from the public street or not at all.

• Getting there

  Flights are not included. Plan to land in London by mid afternoon on day 1 and to fly home from Glenfinnan and Glasgow after lunch on the last day.

Practical information

Before you go on the Harry Potter Britain tour

Your travel pack, with ticket times and hotel addresses, arrives two weeks before departure. Weather, airports and the best months are on the Britain page.

• Weather

  Expect 55 to 70 F and at least one rainy day. Scotland is cooler and windier than London, and the Highlands can be wet even in June. A light waterproof jacket is the most useful thing you pack.

• Studio tour

  Allow three to four hours. Photos are allowed everywhere inside, and there is a cafe with Butterbeer halfway round. Bags go through a security check at the entrance.

• Luggage

  One medium suitcase each, please. We change hotels four times, and the van and the train to York have limited space. A small day bag is enough on the Jacobite.

• Money

  Pounds sterling; cards and phone payments work almost everywhere, including market stalls. A few pounds in coins help for small purchases on the steam railways.

• Before you go

  Apply for your UK Electronic Travel Authorisation online at least a week before you fly, and check that your passport is valid for the whole trip.

Tour FAQ

Harry Potter Britain tour: questions and answers

More answers on the FAQ page and in how to book.