Harry Potter Filming Locations (London, UK) - Our top 13 locations to visit!

Harry Potter Filming Locations (London, UK)
 

The Harry Potter films were filmed all over the UK and many locations you can visit. Some of the fictional locations like Diagon Alley were sets filmed at Leavesden Film Studios, but many of the external shots can be found in locations around Oxford, London and Scotland. If you love everything Hogwarts, then a trip to the capital to view some of the best Harry Potter attractions and locations in the world is a must!
 

For the Harry Potter fans who want to visit London, here are some of the top 13 destinations below

1. King’s Cross Station

The Hogwarts Express departs from Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Station, which is in the arched wall between platforms 4 and 5. If that seems short on magic, head towards the real-life entrance to platforms 9, 10 and 11 on the west side of the station. There you’ll find a trolley disappearing into the magical realm through a wall with the sign: Platform 9¾.

Closest tube station: King's Cross St. Pancras, 1 min walk

2. St Pancras International

Next door to King’s Cross Station is London’s favourite Destination Station, St Pancras International. Outside you’ll see the neo-gothic facade of St Pancras where the Weasley’s magical Ford Anglia takes off in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Closest tube station: King's Cross St. Pancras, 5 min walk

3. Piccadilly Circus

One of the most memorable scenes in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I where we see Harry, Hermione and Ron rushing through London’s West End was filmed in Piccadilly Circus. Remember the scene in which our 3 heroes have to jump out of the way to narrowly miss being hit a London bus?

Closest tube station: Piccadilly Circus, 2 min walk

4. Reptile House, London Zoo

London Zoo’s Reptile House is where Harry first discovers his gift for talking with snakes in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Home to more than 650 different species, you’ll have the chance to chat to all sorts of weird and wonderful mammals, birds, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians and fish on a visit to the zoo.

Closest tube station: Camden Town, 5 min walk

5. Millennium Bridge

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens with a dramatic sequence of London's Millennium Footbridge collapsing. A pedestrian-only steel suspension bridge crossing River Thames, the Millennium Bridge links Bankside with the City and offers dramatic views of St Paul’s Cathedral as you walk from the south side to the north.

Closest tube station: London Bridge, 4 min walk

6. Charing Cross Road (The Leaky Cauldron)

The Leaky Cauldron pub and inn for wizards, which serves as a gateway between the non-wizarding world and Diagon Alley is located on the Muggle street of Charing Cross Road in London’s West End. Charing Cross Road is renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops and more general second-hand and antiquarian shops giving the street an intriguing charm.

Closest tube station: Monument Station, 10 min walk

7. Diagon Alley

Leadenhall Market in the City of London was used as Diagon Alley in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The entrance to wizard’s pub, the Leaky Cauldron, is in real life an optician in Bull’s Head Passage in Leadenhall Market. Leadenhall is a superb example of a Victorian covered market with an ornate painted roof.

Closest tube station: Monument, 3 min walk

8. Gringotts Wizarding Bank

Scenes for Gringotts Wizarding Bank (the only known bank of the wizarding world) in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone were filmed in the grand interior of Australia House on Strand in central London. A major landmark on this famous street, Australia House was officially opened by King George V in 1918.

Closest tube station: Temple, 5 min walk

9. Westminster Tube station

Westminster Tube Station is one of the main locations Harry Potter uses when travelling in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and had to be closed to the public for an entire day during filming. Westminster is one of the most historic areas in London and is close to endless attractions including the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, Downing Street and the London Eye.

Closest tube station: Westminster, 1 min walk

10. Lambeth Bridge

It’s on Lambeth Bridge that the Knight Bus has to squeeze between 2 oncoming double-decker buses in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The next bridge downstream is Westminster Bridge. Fun fact: The bridges are painted red and green respectively to represent the colour of the leather benches in the 2 houses of the Palace of Westminster - the House of Lords (red) and the House of Commons (green).

Closest tube station: Lambeth North, 25 min walk

11. London City Hall

London City Hall, the headquarters of the Greater London Authority, was featured in one of the first scenes of the Half-Blood Prince with exterior shots. It was only built in 2002.

Closest tube station: London Bridge, 15 min walk

12. Great Scotland Yard

It was on this corner, at the junction of Scotland Place and Great Scotland Yard, that Harry and Mr Weasley entered the phone box to descend into the Ministry of Magic.
Unfortunately for those who seek to recreate the scene there has never been a phone box at this junction. The one in the film was a special prop that was removed once filming had finished.
Closest tube station: Charing Cross Station, 10 min walk

13. Claremont Square

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the rows of houses on Claremont Square appear as the exterior of Grimmauld Place. Screenwriters were inspired by the façade of Claremont Square to film the Grimmauld Place scenes on a set.
Closest tube station: Angel, 5 min walk