Between Harry Potter-themed experiences and events and the release of 2023 role-playing game Hogwarts Legacy, there are already plenty of ways to immerse yourself in the Wizarding World. But when you want to see where exactly Harry Potter was filmed?
Discover all the Harry Potter film locations in London, so you can visit the sites that helped bring Wizarding World magic to life on our screens. Follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and more by creating your own themed tour of the UK capital, spanning everything from Platform 9 3/4 to the Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley and Grimmauld Place.
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Where Was Harry Potter Filmed In London?
1. Platform 9 3/4 / King's Cross & St Pancras Stations
- Location: Euston Road N1 9AL & N1C 4QP
- How to see: both stations are free to visit, other than the platforms themselves, where you'll need a ticket to enter.
Perhaps the most iconic of all the Harry Potter filming locations in London? King's Cross, of course. From our first look at the Hogwarts Express surrounded by plumes of smoke in the Philosopher's Stone to Harry and Ron taking off in Arthur Weasley's flying car to get to school in second year, Platform 9 3/4 is part of many key scenes.
Scenes that used St Pancras station and St Pancras Renaissance Hotel as King's Cross station:
- Exteriors of 'King's Cross station' when Harry boards the Hogwarts Express in the first film.
- Exteriors and clocktower of 'King's Cross station' when Harry and Ron return to Arthur Weasley's Ford Anglia, flying off in the car in pursuit of the Hogwarts Express, in the Chamber of Secrets.
- Exterior shots of 'King's Cross station' in the 19 years later epilogue of the Deathly Hallows, where it was revealed filmmakers had aged the characters like milk (sorry, not sorry).
Scenes that featured actual King's Cross station as King's Cross:
- The archways between platform 4 and 5 of King's Cross station marked the entrance to platform 9 3/4 in the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, including iconic moments like Harry asking a muggle station worker how to get to Platform 9 3/4 in the first film and him and Ron crashing into the closed barrier in the second film.
- When Harry meets Dumbledore in 'Limbo' in Deathly Hallows Part 2, the scene looks like a King's Cross setting - although was recreated elsewhere.
Top tip: Get a picture with the unofficial Platform 9 3/4, which is marked by a trolley embedded in a wall near platforms 9 and 10 in King's Cross station. Although not strictly featured in the films, it's fun to pose with - emulating the magical passage to Platform 9 3/4.
2. Gringotts Bank / Australia House
- Location: Strand WC2B 4LA
- Not open to the public.
Used as the interiors for Gringotts Bank in both the Philosopher's Stone and Deathly Hallows Part 2, Australia House is a Grade II-listed building on Strand and currently the home of the Australian High Commission. Though not open to the public and reserved for appointment-only embassy business, you can rest assured that those famous marble floors and hanging chandeliers do exist in real life (sans goblins and dragon crashing through the floor from the vaults below, of course).
3. The Order Escort Harry From Privet Drive to Grimmauld Place / Thames
A chance to enjoy sweeping views of London is when key members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, take Harry from 4 Privet Drive to 12 Grimmauld Place, where newly free Sirius Black now resides in his ancestral home-turned Order headquarters. This is an early scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Locations seen on screen for the flight of the Order:
- London's Docklands
- Location: 9 square-miles of former Thameside docks spanning Greenwich, Canary Wharf, London City Airport, Royal Docks and more
- How to see: attractions in the area include the O2, London Museum Docklands and English National Ballet.
- Tower Bridge
- Location: Tower Bridge Road SE1 2UP
- How to see: free access by foot or book a Thames river cruise that goes underneath it.
- HMS Belfast
- Location: The Queen's Walk SE1 2JH
- How to see: museum entry is £29 for adults, or you can view the vessel for free from The Queen's Walk.
- Houses of Parliament
- Location: The Palace of Westminster SW1A 0AA
- How to see: tours, talks and events are offered to see inside the Houses of Parliament.
4. Grimmauld Place / Claremont Square
- Location: Claremont Square N1 9LX
- How to see: freely viewable 24/7.
Although not an actual filming location, as the exteriors of 12 Grimmauld Place were created as a special set at the Leavesden Studios, Claremont Square has been widely cited as the basis for this famous street. The Order's headquarters appear in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.
5. Death Eater Attack / Millennium Bridge
- Location: Thames Embankment EC4V 3QH
- How to see: free to use.
Another time we sneak a peek at London landmarks is the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which shows Death Eaters mounting an attack on Muggle London. A particularly memorable moment is the collapse of Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian-only suspension bridge over the Thames linking the likes of the Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe and other Bankside spots with the City of London - St Paul's Cathedral visible in the distance.
Image credit: Warner Bros.
Other London locations used in the Death Eater attack on Muggle London:
- Muggles gather under darkening clouds outside The Old City
Hall.
- Location: The Queen's Walk SE1 2AA
- How to see: not accessible to the public, although free to view from The Queen's Walk and Tower Bridge.
- The Dark Mark appears above The Gherkin.
- Location: 30 St Mary Axe EC3A 8EP
- How to see: free to view from the outside, or you can visit Searcys' Helix Restaurant and Iris Bar on the building's top floors.
- Death Eaters swoop across Trafalgar Square (WC2N 5DN), with
views of Nelson's Column and the National Gallery.
- Location: WC2N 5DN
- How to see: both Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery are free to view and enter.
- Death Eaters enter Diagon Alley to capture the wandmaker
Ollivander.
- Location: gated alleyway at 12 Great Newport Street WC2H 7JA
- How to see: free to walk past, although you can't access the passage itself.
5. The Golden Trio Flee Bill And Fleur's Wedding / West End
- Location: Shaftesbury Avenue (W1D 7ET)
- How to see: free to see on a wander from Piccadilly Circus tube station.
When Harry, Hermione and Ron flee the reception of Bill and
Fleur Weasley's wedding following an attack by Death Eaters, it
marks the start of their time on the run hunting horcruxes.
Hermione 'apparates' them to Shaftesbury Avenue's Piccadilly
Circus end, where they have a near-miss with an oncoming bus. They
fight Death Eaters in a cafe, before continuing on to London
Trocadero - a famous entertainment complex that's since been turned
into hotels.
Other Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone Filming Locations
Left-hand image credit: Warner Bros.
- Leadenhall Market (Gracechurch Street, City of London EC3V 1LT) was used as Charing Cross Road. Harry and Hagrid make their way to the Leaky Cauldron while Harry looks at his school supplies list and asks, "Can you find all this in London?". Glass House Optician's in Bull's Head passage, which was an empty shop at the time, was also used as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron itself.
- The Reptile House at London Zoo was the setting for Harry's conversation with a Burmese Python, which he subsequently let loose on his cousin by accident; releasing the snake and trapping Dudley behind the glass of its enclosure.
Other Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Filming Locations
- The Knight Bus goes over Lambeth Bridge (SE1 7SG) and squeezes flat as a pancake between two oncoming double-decker buses. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.
- 7 and 8 Stoney Street (SE1 9AA), right at the back of Borough Market, is used as the location where Harry exits the Knight Bus for the Leaky Cauldron.
Image credit: Warner Bros.
Other Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Filming Locations
- Wondering where Arthur Weasley got confused by Muggle transport? Westminster Underground Station (SW1A 2LW) is the filming location for this scene, where Harry and Mr Weasley are making their way to the Ministry of Magic for Harry's hearing on his use of underage magic.
- Great Scotland Yard (Westminster) is where Harry and Arthur then descend into the ministry by the visitors' entrance - a red telephone box added to the area for filming.
Other Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Filming Locations
- Great Scotland Yard, Scotland Place and Horseguards Avenue (Westminster) are used in the scenes where Harry, Hermione and Ron sneak into the Ministry of Magic using polyjuice potion, stunning three ministry employees and flushing themselves down the toilet to enter.
Hungry for more of the Wizarding World? Experience Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on the West End.
