If you have a child who is a Harry Potter fan, the studios located in the North of London are worth visiting! Well afterwards, I am part of the generation of books that I devoured before watching the films and I was as excited as my son at the idea of making this visit. As a quick aside, if you are a moderate fan, know that we met lots of “normal” people and they were unanimous in the fact that they did not regret this visit in the Harry Potter Studios.
Let’s prepare
You will see on the Warner Bros website that they offer several packages. We took the “visit + transfer from London” formula (visit from 53 € + full ticket with transport more than 100 €). Because yes, if you were wondering how far the studios are from the central of London, it is. Like “you can get there on foot or by taxi”, the answer is yes but it will either be long or expensive.
So, the easiest way is to get on one of the chartered buses, which are completely decorated in the colors of the Harry Potter universe. You see them coming from afar and it’s an adrenaline shot for everyone. For information, we boarded the bus at the stop sign at the Allsop Arms Pub. It is not far from the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, on the edge of Regent’s Park. This bus stop was indicated to us when purchasing tickets on the WB website.
By the way
When you book your entrance tickets for the studios, you must choose an arrival time. You will quickly understand that the studios are very busy all year round (and yet, at no time did we feel suffocated by the crowds). In fact, their organization is very well established since an entry ticket allows you to stay 4 hours in the studios. I was afraid that 4 hours would be too short but no. We can definitely take the time, return to the rooms, go shopping, have lunch there… And yet, there is a lot to see.
But back to the beginning, remember to arrive 5/10 minutes before the bus time. To get on the bus, you must give your name and the time of entry into the studios. In fact, the bus driver refuses people who board in advance of the reserved slot to avoid having a crowd waiting at the studio doors.
Then, when you board, you receive your tickets for the studios (in the formula we had chosen in any case). Then you sit and watch the scenery during your hour of transportation (because yes, it takes more than 1 hour to get to the studios).
Some information when you arrive
When you get to the studios, there are lots of buses coming from everywhere. They all stop to the left of the main entrance. There are a few cars in this area too but nothing like buses. And above all, children can walk or run in complete safety on the large paths.
Nothing to see but a little practical information: there are toilets outside the studios. So before queuing to enter and especially after your bus hour, you can relieve yourself. Then you just wait in line to enter the studios. It goes pretty quickly honestly. We had booked for July 16th (a busy visiting period for travelers from all over the world – many of whom are on vacation in July) and we waited barely 5 minutes for entry at around 10:15 a.m. There’s no point in arriving very early (if you come on your own) because you won’t get in. They systematically control the time written on your tickets to regulate the flow of visitors.
Let’s enter the Harry Potter studios
Then, when your tickets are validated, you enter the main hall. Remember to open your backpack because there are security checks. Then you are in a very large hall where everyone arrives and leaves. If you are hungry, there is a coffee shop. And if you want to start your visit straight away, look for the dragon, go right and follow the arrows.
And there the show begins
No detailed spoilers in this article to keep the mystery and magic of the discovery but they did a huge job of collecting the props, the costumes, and even the filming locations. So many emblematic places from the films are revealed before your eyes for 4 hours. It’s crazy. They also added special effects to relive certain scenes. They presented such well-known cars, buses and houses. You will even have the opportunity to understand certain effects, how certain costumes work, and to board the train! In short, you’ll be amazed for 4 hours.
4 hours later
Once your visit is over, you exit into the large main hall at the beginning. As I said, you can take a break and eat at the coffee shop. Personally, that’s what we did and it made the fun last. Then we went out to get back on the bus and head back to London.
To conclude, it’s a day that started at 8 a.m. on our side. First to go to the bus stop, then drive, visit the studios then return to London around 4 p.m. We came home exhausted from the crowd, the excitement, the transport but so happy. And I still see the stars in my son’s eyes shining every time we talk about the Harry Potter studios in London. Priceless !
Good to know
FYI
Some places during the visit are in the dark so hold the hands of the smallest children to avoid losing them. Little tip: I bought an entry ticket mid-morning because I knew that around noon the families would stop to eat. And as a result, there were definitely fewer people in the other universes.
Since we are talking about lunch, you can take food with you because halfway there is a large outdoor area where, if you are not eating in the restaurant, you can sit quietly and have lunch on the benches. We did it, lots of other families and groups of children did it too. It also makes me think that you can take photos. Again, there is no ban. We came back with my son with more than a hundred photos because we wanted to keep memories and everything was so well done.
Extra info
By the way, nothing to see, but there are staff to monitor certain rooms and to manage certain activities. If you speak English, simply go say hello and exchange a few words. They are all super friendly and happy to chat with the fans.
As for shopping, you have shops on the route before the restaurant and you have a gigantic one at the end of the visit. When I say gigantic, it’s true. You have a “baguette” universe, a “jewelry” universe, a “clothing” universe, a “confectionery” universe, a “trinkets of all kinds” universe, a universe per house…. Just be patient because everyone stops to buy souvenirs and even though there are many cash registers to pay, it took us a good 15 minutes to reach the cash registers and get out.