Fly on a broomstick and taste Butter Beer on this absolutely magical Harry Potter studio tour! The world of wizards wands and crazy creatures comes properly to life when you go on a tour of the very studios where the amazing Harry Potter movies were filmed. And yes they are the real sets!
As soon as you step in to the reception area you know you are in for a treat with huge pictures of the Harry Potter stars all around you and a very cinematic feel to the whole place. All studio tours are self-guided so Harry Potter fans can walk around at their own pace. And in case you were wondering photographs are allowed everywhere on the tour except for the inside the studio’s cinema and in the famous Harry Potter green screen room.
Before heading into the studio where the tour starts proper you pass through the pre-show cinema and then it’s straight out and into the wonderful Great Hall that was built in 2000 for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. This vast set at Hogwart’s is where the students ate their meals received daily owl post and gathered daily in this impressive hall that has featured in six of the Harry Potter films. We think this is a real highlight and it’s just the start of your studio tour!
Next up is Dombledore’s office which is as full of dusty old books as you’d imagine. Then try your hand at a little bit of Harry Potter alchemy in the Potion’s Room before continuing your studio tour to the somewhat cluttered but very welcoming Burrow home to the Weasley family.
Props play a huge part in Harry Potter films so the next part of the tour where you see the studio’s backlot is a real eye-opener. There’s that purple tripe decker bus goblin masks hundreds of wands and even a life-size fully animatronic Buckbeak who you’ll meet too as part of your amazing Harry Potter studio tour.
It is such a creative place here that you’ll soon start to wonder who comes up with all ideas to bring to life the gizmos and gadgets described by JK Rowling in her Harry Potter books? Well on this tour you’ll be let in to all the studio’s secrets from the initial drawings and sketches from the art department to how the crew build the sets including the brilliant Hogwart’s Castle and the higgledy-piggledy buildings on Diagon Alley.
Each Harry Potter studio tour is also very interactive. You’ll get to see where Butter Beer is brewed (one of only two places in the whole wide world!) and may even be able to sample it. But be warned we think it is definitely an acquired taste! We also love the fact that you can try you hand at riding a broomstick. Built on special moving rigs you will be filmed in front of a chroma green screen. A little wizardry in the post-production suite and you will be flying through the star-lit night sky cape billowing in the wind.
With enough to see and do for around three hours our Harry Potter studio tours are bound to delight HP fans of any age – even Mums and Dads love it. You will also love the two course luncheon at the nearby Hunton Park Hotel – a short drive away from the wizard world of Harry Potter so you can your studio tour before or after your meal.
