Growing up, I was the biggest Harry Potter fan. I fell in love with the franchise from the moment when I read the first book in one sitting, and for many years I read all of the books available at the time in a never-ending loop. I must have read the very first book over 50 times (I stopped counting after 33). In fact, Harry Potter books played a big part in me becoming fascinated with the British culture and eventually, I moved to London. And now, I finally managed to visit the place where the magical films came to life. The Warner Bros Studio Tour – The making of Harry Potter – located in north-west London, is the place to go if you’d like to re-live the magic. Here’s everything about my visit to the Studio, some practical information if you’d like to go yourself, and of course – lots of photos!
Where is the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio and how to get there
The Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio is located in Leavesden, near Watford, in north-west London. The best way to get there is to catch a train from London Euston to Watford Junction. There are frequent services with journey times around 20 minutes. Make sure to check your journey – there are also some slower trains which take nearly an hour to get from Euston to Watford.
Once you get to Watford, you can use the shuttle bus to get to the Studio. The journey takes around 15 minutes and is free if you hold a valid ticket for a Studio visit. The shuttle buses are double-deckers painted in Harry Potter graphics. You’ll easily spot them.
Alternatively, you can drive to the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio. There’s a car park available, free of charge. You’ll just need a Studio tour booking confirmation.
How to get tickets for the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio
Tickets need to be bought online, well in advance, on the official website: https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/. They sell out quickly! There are no tickets available at the door.
The Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio is incredibly popular. It’s possible to buy tickets for up to a year in the future. Tickets for visits at weekends, bank holidays and school holiday periods are best purchased 4-5 months in advance. Other weekdays are best booked 2-3 months ahead of time.
I visited the Studio mid-November, after booking the ticket in July.
What to expect when you get there
Once you get to the Studio, you’ll go through a security check including a bag check and walking through an airport-like scanner. During my visit, it went smoothly and there was no queue.
Once you’re inside, you’ll be able to grab some food and drink before you begin your tour. There’s a Starbucks cafe, as well as a wizard’s cafe and a large eat-in restaurant serving magic-inspired foods. I strongly recommend that you have a meal before you embark on the Studio tour. It will be a while until you have a chance to eat again. You don’t need to spend money in the on-site cafes, you’re allowed to bring your own food and drink.
Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Activity Passport
Before you begin your tour, make sure to search for the Activity Passport. I’m not sure if they’re always available or if it was a seasonal treat during my visit, but it was fun! You can grab a small booklet and then collect stamps throughout the tour. The passports were located on the wall opposite Starbucks, in the main hall after the entrance to the Studio. They were well hidden! I would have never spotted them if it wasn’t for some of my friends who had already been to the Studio before.
Enjoying the first part of the tour
Once you’re fuelled and have your activity passport ready, you can join a queue and wait to begin your tour. It can be a bit slow as they wait for a large group to gather before the official welcome talk and the start of the tour. Then, once you’ve watched a few short films preparing you for the tour, the door opens and you can enter the Studio.
The first room we saw was probably the most breathtaking one. It was the Great Hall, the magical dining room, decorated in carved pumpkins – a temporary seasonal treat around the Halloween period.
In the first part of the tour, we saw many popular places from Hogwarts castle, such as Dumbledore’s office, Gryffindor common room or Hagrid’s hut. There were also many random props – from floating flights of stairs to the mirror of erised or Godric Gryffindor’s sword.
I was amazed with the amount of detail in every inch of every prop. Everything looked extremely realistic, and the longer I looked around, the more familiar objects I could spot.
Cafe break
After walking through the Forbidden Forest and Platform 9 3/4, we reached the break area of the Studio. There was a small cafe/restaurant serving basic foods like hot dogs or Butterbeer (which wasn’t great, by the way). I have a lot of thoughts about the food and drink options at the Warner Bros Studio Tour and wrote a whole paragraph about it further down in this post.
The cafe area had a lot of tables, indoor and outdoor. We reached that point of the tour after over 2 hours from when we began to queue to start our sightseeing, and a short rest was well needed.
Outdoor attractions
Then, it was time for the outdoor part of the tour. There’s a small patio with more familiar props, places and objects. There was Dursley’s Privet Drive house, with two famous scenes recreated in the living room. There were models of the Knight Bus and the Burrow (scaled down). There was also a herbology greenhouse, where you could try pulling mandrakes by yourself!
Whilst the outdoor area isn’t huge, you may need to spend some time there, queuing for the different buildings – do keep it in mind when deciding whether to leave your coat in the cloakroom.
Second part of the tour
In the second half of the tour, we got to learn more about the special makeup used on set, including extremely realistic silicone masks and prosthetics. We also saw how computer-generated characters were created, with Dobby used as an example.
This part of the tour also featured Gringotts bank and Diagon Alley, which was probably my favourite part of the studio. It actually resembles streets found in some of the small English towns, which is something I love about exploring this country.
Hogwarts Castle
And finally, we reached the final room of the studio tour, which is home to a huge model of Hogwarts Castle. It was stunning! We walked around the castle, admiring all the little details, and how realistic they all looked.
Shopping time
Then, in order to exit the studio, you need to walk through a souvenir shop. But not just any souvenir shop! It’s enormous, and filled with Harry Potter themed items, from wands to chocolate frogs and Gryffindor robes. It’s really hard to resist spending a fortune there. I decided to buy some sweets and of course, fridge magnets – because no daytrip is complete without a magnet.
Food and drink disappointment
If there’s anything that disappointed me at the studio, it’s the food and drink options. I fully expected Warner Bros to use the opportunity and go all in with Harry Potter themed items. There have been so many feasts mentioned in the books, there’s plenty of foods to choose from. I’m sure that huge fans of the franchise, like myself, would happily spend a fortune on a magic-inspired food. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to choose from.
During the tour, there’s only one opportunity to stop for food and drink. And it took us ages to even get to that point. I was starving, and hoped to get a nice meal. And yes, there were a handful of items inspired by Harry Potter’s butterbeer. There was the butterbeer itself (tasted like sugary water, I wouldn’t recommend it), butterbeer ice cream (tasted like sweet vanilla ice cream – not bad, but not amazing either) and butterbeer cupcakes, which I didn’t try. Other than that, there was regular food like hot dogs and chips. Certainly not what I had hoped for!
There’s a dine-in restaurant at the studio too, and it serves more creatively named foods (e.g. Herbology Burger or Hagrid’s Pumpkin Patch Salad). However, you can only eat there before or after the sightseeing tour. I didn’t know that food options would be so limited during the tour, so didn’t eat a full meal beforehand. And once we finished the sightseeing (after 4 hours), it was already pretty late in the day and we needed to go back.
I definitely recommend making sure you eat before the tour – either have a meal at the Harry Potter-inspired restaurant at the Studio, or eat your own food, which you’re allowed to bring to the Studio. And don’t have your hopes up for having a chance to eat a Hogwarts feast – like meal.
Final thoughts
Now, let’s summarise my visit to the Warner Bros Studio. First of all – it was much bigger than I expected it to be. It took us over 4 hours to complete the tour. The makers of the Studio really made sure to include as many various sets and props as they could! It was amazing to see them all in person and learn more about how the Harry Potter films were made. Next time I watch them, I’ll think back to my visit at the Studio and compare items on the screen with what I saw during the tour.
The merchandise shop at the exit of the tour was also incredible. Expensive, naturally, but if you happen to need to find a gift for a fellow Harry Potter fan, it’s perfect. And even if you don’t want to spend any money, it was fun to just walk around and admire all the items.
The downside of the tour was definitely the food and drink, and the crowds. Naturally, I can’t blame anyone for wanting to visit the Studio like I did, and it’s understandable that Warner Bros want to sell as many tickets as possible, whilst preventing overcrowding at unsafe levels. Tickets sell out months in advance and every day is sold out, which shows just how popular the Studio is! However, it does mean that throughout the whole tour, you move in a large crowd. And if you hope to be able to have nice pictures taken, that’s nearly impossible!
Overall, I had a great time at the Studio and it was a dream come true. I will definitely return in the future, armed with some practical knowledge to better prepare for the visit. There are seasonal events happening throughout the year at the Studio and I’d love to come back around Christmas time one year, when the Great Hall is dressed up for the festive season.
If you’re a Harry Potter fan yourself – definitely consider visiting the Warner Bros Studio in Leavesden, London! It is rather pricey and requires planning the trip in advance, but any Potterhead will love the experience.
You can purchase your tickets on the official website: https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/.
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