You can create your own Harry Potter tour of London, if you want to see some of the locations used in movies such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azbakan, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. You can easily find where the Hogwarts Express departs from, or visit the Little Whinging Zoo and track down the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron Pub.
Grimmauld Place
Sirius Black's home at 12 Grimmauld Place was filmed for 'Order of the Phoenix' in Lincoln's Inn Fields, an old square tucked away near Holborn tube station.
Gringott's Bank
These interior shots in 'Philosopher's Stone' were filmed in the Exhibition Hall at Australia House, which is the High Commission of Australia in London, on the Strand. It isn't open to the public but they do have daily guided tours.
The Hogwarts Express
The splendid old steam train that takes the pupils to Hogwarts in 'Philosopher's Stone' leaves from Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station in London. In boring old real life there is no such platform, and the filming was done between platforms 4 and 5, but there is a sign for the magical platform on the wall alongside Platform 9, with a luggage trolley sticking out of the wall underneath. In 'Chamber of Secrets', the exterior of the station was next door at St Pancras Station, which is now London's Eurostar terminal.
The Leaky Cauldron
Only wizards and witches can see the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron pub, and perhaps that's because in 'Philosopher's Stone' the film-makers used the outside of an optician's at 42 Bull's Head Passage – different kinds of glasses altogether! Bull's Head Passage is underneath the famous Lloyd's Building in the City of London.
When they filmed 'Prisoner of Azkaban', they moved the Leaky Cauldron to 7 Stoney Street in Borough Market, a really atmospheric old part of London. The tower that can be seen through the window of Harry's room is Southwark Cathedral, on the other side of Borough Market. Next door at 8 Stoney Street is the Third Hand Bookshop.
Little Whinging Zoo
This is where Harry Potter first discovers his magic powers, in the reptile house where he talks to a snake, and the filming was done at the Reptile House of London Zoo in Regent's Park.
The Ministry of Magic
The scenes in 'Order of the Phoenix' when Arthur Weasley takes Harry Potter to the Ministry of Magic were filmed in Westminster tube station.
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Mike Gerrard - Mike is an award-winning travel writer who has worked for National Geographic, the London Times, and many other clients. ...
