Can you buy Warner Bros. Studio Tour tickets on the day?

Almost never — the studio releases timed tickets and popular dates sell out weeks in advance, especially around school holidays and Christmas. Book a package with return transport from central London as early as your dates are fixed.

Where was Harry Potter filmed in London?

Key sites include Leadenhall Market (the approach to Diagon Alley), Australia House (the inspiration for Gringotts), the Millennium Bridge, Borough Market and King's Cross station, where the Platform 9¾ trolley photo spot now stands.

How long does the Warner Bros. Studio Tour take?

Most visitors spend three to four hours at the studio. With coach transport from central London, allow around seven hours door to door — treat it as most of a day.

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Harry Potter in London: Studio Tour & Filming Locations

London is the home of Harry Potter — from the real sets at the Warner Bros. Studio to the streets that stood in for Diagon Alley. Here is how to plan a full wizarding day, with the studio tour, walking tours of the filming locations and the tickets to book before they sell out.

At a glance

1Warner Bros. Studio Tour
2Platform 9¾ at King's Cross
3Leadenhall Market & film spots
4Locations bus tour

The Warner Bros. Studio Tour

The Making of Harry Potter studio in Leavesden, about 20 miles northwest of central London, holds the original Great Hall, Diagon Alley, the Forbidden Forest and the Hogwarts Express. Plan on three to four hours inside. Tickets are sold with return coach transport from central London from around £99, and dates sell out weeks ahead in school holidays — book this first and build the rest of your day around it.

Filming locations on foot

Back in the city, a guided walking tour covers the locations the films actually used: Leadenhall Market as the way into Diagon Alley, Australia House behind Gringotts, the Millennium Bridge destroyed in Half-Blood Prince, and the Platform 9¾ trolley at King's Cross. Tours run about two to two and a half hours, cost from around £16, and guides fill in production stories you would walk straight past on your own.

Bus tours and going further

A locations bus tour links the spread-out film sites without the walking, useful with kids or on a tight schedule. Dedicated fans can push on to the filming locations beyond London — Oxford's colleges doubled as Hogwarts interiors and the village of Lacock appears in the early films. Whatever you choose, pair one studio experience with one locations tour: they cover completely different ground.