Visiting the Harry Potter Studios next to London is a must do for all Potter fans. This Harry Potter tour is a fantastic experience, sold by tour operators as a 3 hours visit, but honestly, a Harry Potter fan will actually need at least 5 to 6 hours to enjoy this huge Potter Museum.
The tour is located outside the city. You will have to take a train and a bus to get there or book one of the many packages which include transportation and your tickets. These special packages are sold by tour operators like Get Your Guide or Golden Tours.
The Warner Bros Studio Tour London is a permanent exhibition with real movie sets like the Hogwarts Great Hall, the Forbidden Forest, King’s Cross and the 9 3/4 Platform.
The Studios recently opened a new part in the tour: Gringotts. This new area was not opened when I went so I have not included it below.
Spoiler alert: If you plan on visiting the studios, I advise you to skip the pictures below. For the others, please enjoy the tour!
More info on the official website.
Exterior
These huge statues set the mood as you walk to the front to start your tour.
Introduction
Once inside, you enter a room where a short film is projected, telling how the books came to life thanks to the eight Harry Potter movies and how they choose to recreate some movie sets in this exhibition. Then, a great door appears, and the experience begins!
The Great Hall
As you go through the Great Hall you can enjoy all the wizardry wonder.
All costumes for each of the houses are presented along with those of the Hogwarts staff.
The Sets
The Great Hall visit is quite short, and guests must hurry to make room for the next tour group. But once you exit the Great Hall, you can take all the time you need to enjoy the sets.
Some details will be familiar for those who went to Universal Parks like the Leaky Cauldron or the paintings on the walls.
Gryffindor Boy’s Room
Movie Props
There are props everywhere! It really will take hours to see take it all in. Some even say that you need to visit several times.
Gryffindor Common Room
Welcome to Dumbledore’s office
Step inside the office of the most powerful wizard of his time, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
More Props
Props, props and more props again! Will you recognize what movie each of these props come from?
Potion Class
And now, the favorite class of all wizarding students, potion class!
Portraits & more
As you leave the potion class you will get to see many of the portraits that adorned the walls of the Castle along with the resumes for some of the animal actors.
Hagrid’s House
We now leave the Castle and journey towards Hagrid’s house.
Quidditch
Climb aboard your broomstick and get ready to try and catch the elusive Snitch.
The Weasley’s House
Let’s leave Hogwarts and say hi to the Weasleys.
Special Effects
Let’s take a special effects break before entering the Death Eaters world.
Death Eaters
Muggles beware as you enter the presence of the Death Eaters!
Ministry of Magic
Now let’s cross over to the Ministry of Magic.
Forbidden Forest
Will you dare entering the Forbidden Forest? I must warn you, if you are afraid of spiders, don’t look above your heads and once inside take the first path to your right!
The Gift Shop
Make sure to leave enough time for a shopping break after this dark journey.
Kings Crossing Station
Take a look at Hogwarts Express and the famous Platform 9 3/4. Tip: if you want to have your photo taken with the kart through the wall at Platform 9 3/4, you can wait hours and hours in London or come here and get directly to the kart without waiting!
Movie print elements
Take a minute to discover the amazing job the Graphic Designers did for all the printed elements on Harry Potter movies. It is truly amazing the number of details that are included in them all. They even created tiny coins, newspapers, real books, and more!
You’ve hit the halfway point of the tour!
Take a break and taste a Butterbeer before going outside for your Insta moments at Privet Drive.
Creation of props
In the second part of the tour, you will see how they created all the assets and props. Sketches, models, and prototype are exposed here.
Diagon Alley
Just like in Universal Parks, welcome to Diagon Alley! Well, you won’t be able to enter the shops here but the Alley is quite the same. Gringotts opened here a few weeks later.
The Model Rooms
Last room before the end, you will enter is the room for all the models. It is quite amazing the detail that goes into each model before it gets made into part of a full-size set.
The Final Room
Be prepared to be speechless when you enter the final room it is quite breathtaking!
The tour ends with a gift shop, where you will find much the same merchandise as you would in Universal Parks at similar prices in GBP.
I hope you enjoyed this in-depth Harry Potter tour. If you’re a Potter fan and happen to be in London make sure to check out this tour in person!
Maureen is a French Disney influencer, known in France for her blog Hello Disneyland and her videos about Disneyland Paris! Former Art Director, she is now fully dedicated to her blog, providing tips and advice about the best way to enjoy Disneyland Paris! Follow her at Disneyland Paris on Instagram and Youtube.