Harry Potter Studio Tour in London
If you’re a Harry Potter fan or a movie buff in general, you have to check out the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Leavesden, about 45-minutes outside of London.
I am a HUGE Harry Potter nerd (multiple city-wide trivia champion with my best friend, Mary Beth - For Fawke’s Sake for life!) and this was something I had been dying to see. I’m so thankful my travel buddy, Ro, was willing to go with me because it is easily a half-day trip. We’re going to breakdown how to get to the studio, how much it cost, what you see and experience, other ticket options, and give you the entire break down.
Note: GBP means Great British Pound - the currency in London. At the time of writing this post, the exchange rate is 1GBP = $1.20. When we visited, it was 1GBP = ~$1.13
Ticket Options
We got the basic ticket, which was around 50GBP (at the time of writing this post, this equals out to around $60). They offer a variety of ticket options, but we got the basic studio tour ticket.
2 options that are interesting to me are the Deluxe Tour (250GBP), which includes a guide, butterbeer and snacks, and some green screen photos, and the Afternoon Tea (60GBP), which includes tea in the Great Hall with snacks, sweets, tea, and can opt for a glass of Champagne, but I don’t think this includes a studio ticket... If you don’t care about either of those options, I’d just opt for the basic ticket.
Gryffindor Boys Dormitory
How to Get There
Since this tour is outside of London, it can be a bit confusing on how to get there. There are buses that offer you rides, and you can certainly get an Uber; however, both of those options are around 100GBP each - way too much for me.
We took the train from the Euston train station to Watford Junction. Euston is in the center of London, just a few blocks away from King’s Cross station. Tickets to Watford Junction were ~22GBP. The train took about an hour to get to Watford Junction, but it is the very last stop, so just stay on the train until it ends! The ride back doesn’t stop so you get back in about 15 minutes :)
Once you get to Watford Junction, exit the train station and you’ll see buses to the Harry Potter studio. These buses are free if you show your ticket - which you must have bought prior to visiting as you have to pick your tour time in advance.
The bus ride takes about 15-20 minutes, so give yourself plenty of time to make your tour time taking into account traffic to the train station, the train ride, and the bus ride.
What to Expect
Man oh man… this was such a beautiful experience for me. It was truly a love letter for fans and the people who worked behind the scenes on these movies. I teared up a couple of times waiting for the tour.
You’ll see props, sets, costumes, hair & makeup, and learn behind-the-scenes stories, tips and tricks, and exciting anecdotes.
One of the coolest things I learned was that the marble entryway to Gringotts is actually all paper!
We spent a good 3.5 hours at the actual studio, but maybe 5.5 altogether including travel time, time in the gift shop, and the tour. I also just didn’t want to leave :) Our tour time was at 3:30pm and I felt that was a good time since we got back in time for a later dinner.
Things to Know
Buy ticket in advance - you have to have a ticket in order to board the bus to the studio and you have to have a predetermined tour time. It does sell out, so you must book this in advance.
It is massive - there is so much to see and you will walk at the very least a mile. Wear comfy shoes and be mindful of how much walking there is. It’s one of the largest sets in the UK.
They don’t allow drinks or snacks during the tour, but they have 2 cafes and 2 restaurants at the studio - 3 at the entrance/end and one in the middle
