If you don’t know me personally, I am a huge, nerdy Harry Potter fan. I cried at the end of the Deathly Hollows movie because it was the end of my childhood. So this post is for all you, like me, who want to combine two loves. Harry Potter and traveling. Not a very hard task if you ask me.
As you should all know, Harry Potter was written and filmed in the beautiful (yet sometimes gloomy) Great Britain. I would give up a fully paid trip to Harry Potter World in Orlando to scrap together money in order to take the Harry Potter self-guided tour of Great Britain.
Who needs tour groups? I definitely don’t.
Here’s my plan.
I want to start off in Scotland. I know a few of the scenes were filmed in Scotland so it sounds like a great starting place. Also, it’s absolutely gorgeous. This just happens to be the famous bridge the Hogwarts Express crosses every year on its way to Hogwarts (in reality it’s Glenfinnan Viaduct). Located in between Fort William and Mallaig, Scotland.
Another scene of Scotland related to Harry Potter is Glencoe. Dramatic scenes of Hogwarts, sign me up! Steal Falls, used for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, let’s go! Fun fact, the area was also used for Braveheart.
Moving onto England. The bulk of the Harry Potter adventure. From the countryside to London, Harry Potter was mainly filmed here.
On this lovely little list from VisitBritain, we have castles and markets and King’s Cross and the London Zoo.
1. Durham Cathedral: one of the locations used as Hogwarts, exterior and interior scenes
2. Bodleian Library: used as the Hogwarts library and infirmary
3. Alnwick Castle: exterior and courtyard was used for the flying lesson scene in the Sorcerer’s Stone
4. Leadenhall Market: the exterior of an optical shop was used as the entrance for the Leaky Cauldron
5. King’s Cross Station: I don’t even think I have to talk about this one (Platform 9 and 3/4 duh!)
6. The Reptile House of the London Zoo: another self-explanatory location (our first experience with Harry the parseltongue)
7. Glouchester Cathedral: another location used as Hogwarts castle
And for our last stop along the way. Wales. It might also be the coolest location.
Freshwater West. Shell Cottage.
This is the hideaway of Harry and pals in the Deathly Hallows. This is also where Dobby is buried (yes I definitely cried at this scene).
The cottage was built specifically for Harry Potter but I would have gone hear even if it had no ties to HP.
So I just found these locations from a couple different websites but I would love love love if anyone could help me out and give me more locations you think it’s worth visiting in relation to Harry Potter, both book and movie.
I look forward to hearing for you awesome HP nerds.