If you’ve ever wanted to step inside the magical world of Harry Potter, see the sets, props, and details that brought the stories to life, there’s a place where you can! The Harry Potter London Studio Tour offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the films were created, with a focus on highlighting the craftsmanship and imagination that turned the books into something you could see and feel.

If you were anything like me when you first read the books or watched the movies, you probably found yourself wishing you could go to Hogwarts Express too. Now you can and it’s even better than you imagined!

We visited during a trip to London. We are Harry Potter fans, but not superfans, and visiting the studio was on our must-do list. Spoiler alert: we’re glad we did!

I had high expectations, but walking through the real sets and seeing the level of detail was something else entirely. This isn’t a theme park with rides and attractions; it’s a chance to explore the actual locations where the magic was made, and to appreciate the work that went into the making of Harry Potter films. The tour offers a nostalgic experience and a chance to reconnect with the stories in a new way.

About the Studio Tour

About 20 miles northwest of London, in a quiet spot called Leavesden, sits the studio where all eight Harry Potter films were made. The Harry Potter London Studio Tour offers a chance to walk through the actual sets, see the real props, and trace the work that brought the books to life on screen.

The tour is self-guided, and while most people spend around three to three and a half hours, there’s no rush. You move at your own pace, stepping into the Great Hall dining room, wandering through Diagon Alley, peeking into the Gryffindor Common Room, and boarding the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾. 

Every set and display shows the level of craft and thought that went into the films. You notice things you might have missed while watching, such as the textures on the walls, the hand-painted signs, the way small details make the world feel full and lived-in. We saw how visual effects were carried out, how magical mischief was made, and were impressed with many of the unique props used in the films. As we were going through the tour, we remarked several times that we need to go back and re-watch the movies.

While the movies often have a frenetic energy or impart a sense of imminent doom, the studio tour is a calmer experience, meant for wandering, looking closely, and seeing the films from the inside out. Perfect if you’ve ever wanted to slow down and see how stories are built, frame by frame, set by set.

Ticket Options and Booking Tips

There are a number of ticketing options, all with pros and cons. The studio tour is a HOT ticket, so advance planning (and I mean way in advance) or a bigger budget will likely be required.

Here are options:

Studio Tickets

Tickets for the Harry Potter London Studio Tour tend to sell out months in advance, especially if for times during school holidays or one of the special seasonal events. You can find a calendar of ticket availability on the official website here. A quick glance right before writing this showed availability on one day each month for the remainder of the year. If it coincides with your travel plans, you’ll want to act quickly. There are no tickets available at the door, all must be purchased in advance.

Tickets are for timed-entry, and once in, you can stay as long as you’d like in this magical world. Well, don’t try to hide out in Professor Dumbledore’s office (it’s impressive), the studio does a sweep before closing to make sure everyone is out.

Price based on the exchange rate  at the time we visited was approximately $75 per person for an adult ticket. When purchasing online, you’ll be met with a host of add-on offers to enhance your experience. These range from souvenirs to priority parking, from digital guides to afternoon tea. Souvenir items range from about $8-27, and a tea reservation runs from $54-74 per person. Tea reservations can also be hard to find.

You’ll need to arrange independent transportation to the studio; it’s not included with your ticket. Two options:

• Drive. Free parking available onsite.
• Taxi or car hire. If you’re staying in Central London, this is an expensive proposition. But, it gives you ultimate control of your schedule, if that’s what you value most.
• Train. Take the train from London Euston to Watford Junction (about 20 minutes). You don’t need to buy train tickets in advance, they cost about $17, depending on existing exchange rate. Then, from Watford Junction, take a free shuttle bus that runs directly to the studio (15 minutes).  Shuttles run every 30 minutes. You will need to show your tickets or booking confirmation to board the shuttle.

We used mileage for our flights to London (act quickly when you see a great redemption option), so we only had a couple of weeks to pull things together. There were no individual tickets available through the studio tour site. We checked every single day, hoping something would open up, but it never did.

Packages with Tickets

Tickets for the studio tour are more readily available when purchased as part of a package. Packages will combine the tickets with hotel, meals, transportation, and other amenities, or for special events. It will be a bit more expensive this way, but adding on the cost of transportation, any additional amenities, and often times, a visit to an additional location, this may be a value option for you.

It was for us. 

We were looking for a package that included transportation from Central London (we were staying at St. Ermin’s in Westminster), a visit to the studio, and a side trip to somewhere interesting. It was going to be our only day trip from London on this trip, and we wanted to make the most of it.

Our Package Tour

Our tour was: Harry Potter Studio & Oxford from London: Magic Behind the Scenes. It was an all day tour, and included transportation, a morning tour of Oxford (both a guided walking tour and free time) and a half day at the Warner Bros. studio. You can find specific details about the tour here. 

Note: We were shopping around to find a good fit when we were contacted by The Tour Guy about going on one of their new tours offerings. Instead, they offered to host us on a Harry Potter tour and we took them up on it. At the time of booking, the price of the tour was $230 per person. We know that this is beyond the budget for many. To be very clear, we would have paid for the tour and our comments are reflective of how we regard the value at full price. We feel there’s value here.

We were looking for an easy day trip from London and when we say the studio tour combined with Oxford, it piqued our interest. 

The tour began at the South Kensington tube station (just two stops from where we were staying at St. Ermin’s). It made it easy to get to our early morning meet up, and we appreciated that we didn’t have to allow extra time to cross the city to a stop farther away. Our guide met us as the tube stop, checked us in, we got settled on our coach, and headed off to Oxford. Tickets were digital, she also had a name list, and it was super-easy, no drama, grabbed a cup of coffee and we were on our way.

Visiting Oxford

What fascinated about Oxford enough to choose this tour? We’ll have a post about visiting Oxford, but one of the compelling reasons was visiting and learning about the University of Oxford. Founded in 1167, it is the oldest – and some would argue the most prestigious – university in England. We were intrigued by the different colleges at Oxford (their university system is so much different than what we are accustomed to) and the Bodleian Library.

It is a small enough city to enjoy for a morninig, we probably wouldn’t think to visit it independently, and there are additional Harry Potter locations there. The decision was fairly easy.

Studio Tickets

Since our tickets were part of our tour, once we arrived, our guide took care of picking up and distributing the tickets. We arrived early enough to stretch a bit before heading into the tour. 

Highlights of the Tour

The whole tour was a highlight for us, and we were eager to re-watch all the movies to see how all the special effects (or filmmaking trickery, if you’d prefer) came across.

Here are a few of our personal favorites:

• Great Hall – The is the starting point for the tour, and as those iconic doors open and you walk through, you can just imagine hundreds of Hogwarts students having dinner, loudly talking, or perhaps waiting for the sorting hat to assign them their house. It makes a great first impression. The stone floor is original, but the ceiling was digitally added in post-production. 
• Gryffindoor Common Room and Dormitory – It looks like a huge space in the movies, but on set, it’s quite small. I could just imagine the planning and plotting that went on here.
• Forbidden Forest – It’s huge and filled with all sorts of magical and terrifying beasts, but thes set is smaller than you might expect. Hagrid’s hut hut is on the edge of the forest, and evoked all the cozy feels associated with the safety and guidance he provided to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The forest had lighting to create its eerie atmosphere, making it seem bigger than life for the animatronics that were added to create those wonderful mythical beasts.
• Gringotts Wizarding Bank – We had seen the bank display at Universal Studios Orlando, so we new what to expect here. The marble pillars and intricate details are impressive.
• The Potions Classroom – Hundreds of potion jars on shelves framed tables with self-spinning cauldrons. I could picture Severus Snape creating something dark and evil there.
• Pixies – This was one of the demonstations on the tour, showing us how these blue flying creatures created mischief. While they are a bit naughty, you have to appreciate their efforts at pranks.
• Special effects – We loved the demonstrations that showed how certain effects were done, whether it was floating candles, flying acceptance letters, or how the invisibility cloak worked.
• Costuming and Makeup – Watch the multi-part videos that explains how the varying masks were made. Learning the intricacies of creating realistic looks – for example, the eyebrows on the masks were create one hair at a time and took days to create – was a lesson in patience.
• Hogwarts model – The tour ends with a model of the castle that was used for the wide shots in the film. It was created in exacting detail, so look closely at th texture of the stone and how the light interacts with the towers. It provides a great wrap up of everything you saw on the tour.

Tips for the Harry Potter Studio Tour

Here are some of our tips for making the most of your time at the studio:

• If you are able to purchase tickets directly, try to purchase a timed entry ticket for early in the day. Since the entrance is timed, but you can stay as long as you wish, the crowds will back up a bit later in the day. BUT, if the only time you get there is the afternoon (which was our arrival time), it’s absolutely still worth going.
• Arrive a few minutes before your scheduled time slot.
• Most people will spend 3-4 hours going through the studio, but die-hard fans may want to stay far longer. If you’re on a structured tour and want to stay longer, talk with your guide about arranging the return to the city on your own. We were there for four hours, and had plenty of time to see everything.
• There is a free coat and bag check area to the right of the entrance. Depending on your arrival/departure time, the line can get long.
• Pick up a passport when you enter (they’re free) and then get stamps as you proceed through the tour. There are embossing stations throughout, and you slip in your passport, press down (hard) on the embossing lever, and it embosses your passport. It makes a nice sourvenir of your trip.
• Your admission ticket is just the first of many opportunities to fall under the spell of Harry Potter and spend additional money. There are numerous photo opportunities (the crowd favorite seemed to be riding a broomstick over Hogwarts or playing Quiditch in the Triwizard Tournament.
• You can use your own camera or phone for photos (saves a lot of money).
• Look for demonstrations and performances throughout the studio. There will be signage with times, so you can plan to return to catch them.
• The Backlot Cafe is located at about the halfway point of the tour. Even if you don’t want a full meal (they serve burgers, hotdogs, snacks), it’s a good stopping point to sit down and plan out the second half of the tour. You can find Butterbeer here as well. Despite the name, it’s non-alcoholic, and tastes like carbonated butterscotch and shortbread. I find it far too sweet for my liking, but I do like the frozen slushy version on a hot day. There’s also an ice cream version.
• The studio tour is accessible, wheelchair rentals are available, and BSL (British Sign Language) tours are offered. Contact the studio directly to confirm your needs are met.
• The gift shop is one of the most extensive we’ve ever seen. Buy your Hufflepuff (we’re both Hufflepuffs), Slytherin, Griffindor or Ravenclaw apparel and acessories here. In addition to typical souvenir items (tshirts, mugs, stuffed animals, and small collectibles), you’ll also find robes, wands, luggage, and jewelry. We resisted all temptation. If you can’t head off to London, but still want to do some Potter shopping, the official Harry Potter shop can be found here.
• The studio tour changes things up for the holidays and also hosts special events. Christmastime (Hogwarts in the snow must be amazing) and Halloween (the Dark Arts take center stage) are the most popular. Tickets are even harder to come by, so you’ll need to more detailed advance planning to make it work.

More Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Potter Universe has become a billion dollar franchise. In addition to the Studio Tour in London, there is also a Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Tokyo.

There are books in varying formats (in order):

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Halllows (2007)

And movies:

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Halllows Part 1 (2010)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

And theme parks: The most robust Harry Potter attractions are at Universal Orlando Resort: Hogsmeade at Universal Islands of Adventure, Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida, and a Hogwarts Express train that connects the two. Opening soon with be the Ministry of Magic at the new Universal Epic Universe. There are also Potter attractions at Universal Studios in Hollywood, Japan (Osaka), and China (Beijing).

There’s a theater production (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), currently playing in New York City, London, and a touring production, numerous traveling exhibitions, three Fantastic Beasts spin off movies, merchandise, television deals, games, numerous themed-tours, and countless licensing agreements. Harry Potter is big business.

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