Harry Potter and 25 Years of Magic: A Journey Through Filming Locations

It has been 25 years since we first opened the volume of magical adventures of the eleven-year-old wizard Harry Potter. And with him, dove into discovering the world of spells and charms. The nostalgia! Some of us were the same little squirts as Harry himself back then, having the unique opportunity to grow up alongside him.

On the other hand – let's be honest, if I didn't have to wait so long for each subsequent book (and read the already published Harry stories over and over), I wouldn't mind at all. Although, today I can at least be a satisfied reader – I got to the final installment in a reasonably short timeframe. Certain gentlemen, George R. R. Martin or Patrick Rothfuss, could take inspiration from Ms. Rowling – it is not a bad authorial skill at all to serve your fans the entire book saga. And yes, I still hope that I will see their next follow-up books one day – even if Sanderson has to finish them.

When else, if not this year, is the perfect opportunity for another expedition to the beautiful island of Albion? Since it has been a while since my last English adventure in the footsteps of Harry Potter (which I wrote about here), it was time to pack my robe and wand again (and of course some Muggle clothes and other bits and pieces so we could at least occasionally blend in with the crowd), fly to Stansted, and take a train to London and beyond.

This time, after arriving, we walked from Liverpool Street, which is a stone's throw from Leadenhall Market – a beautiful market used during filming as the exterior for the Leaky Cauldron inn, though that wasn't our main destination. Along the Thames, we made it almost to St. Paul's Cathedral (we know its spiral staircase winding up to the Divination classroom from the films), but we didn't quite reach the Millennium Bridge. You surely remember it from the sixth film, where Death Eaters give Harry a proper beating right at the beginning. We just enjoyed the view from afar, soaked up the London atmosphere, and off to the next train.

The goal of the day was to get to Oxford, a university town not only with a rich literary history but, of course, full of places where the Harry Potter films were shot. At Paddington station, I was pleasantly surprised when the gentleman at the counter recommended I buy a return ticket right away – it saves you almost the full price of one ticket, which was around 60 pounds, and that's quite a lot.

In Oxford, all that remained was to find our booked roof over our heads and get a good night's sleep, because we had a plan for the next day. In the afternoon, our first stop at the university awaited – Christ Church college and the associated tour. We were looking forward to it very much, as it includes the iconic staircase where Professor McGonagall welcomes first-year students upon their arrival at Hogwarts. Yes, there were plenty of tourists trying to snap a picture there – but we were the only ones who pulled out our wands (which, thankfully, they didn't confiscate at airport security) and robes, and started taking photos on a whole different level. Above this staircase is also the Great Hall, where students still dine today, albeit somewhat more boringly – without floating candles overhead or a starry sky on the ceiling – but the room is full of portraits of personalities significant to the university, such as King Henry VIII (the one with the bad marriage habits), and there is also one of the stained-glass windows dedicated to Lewis Carroll and his Alice in Wonderland – he also lived, studied, and later taught and wrote here.

Before leaving for England, it is good to know regarding Christ Church that tour tickets are purchased in advance – online tickets for the following week go on sale every Friday evening around 11 PM – which I happened to find out by chance two weeks before our trip and thus had the opportunity to secure tickets in time here. We went on the tour with a guide in headphones – you save money and still move through the college at your own pace, ideal.

Since our tour was after lunch, we had time beforehand to walk through the center, and I climbed to the top of Carfax Tower (alone, as my companion doesn't like stairs you can see through, so be careful if that doesn't sit well with you either) – a remnant of the medieval St. Martin's church, of which unfortunately nothing more remains today – but the view, that was really worth it.

In the afternoon, we treated ourselves to a cup of coffee in a nearby alley, but before that, we couldn't resist visiting the Alice's Shop nearby – if you are a fan of Alice in Wonderland like me, you will leave a few dozen pounds lighter, but happier with a lot of beautiful little things you absolutely need.

The next day, the Divinity School was on the program in the morning – a place that served as the infirmary, where Professor McGonagall taught students the art of dance in the fourth film, and in reality, Oxford students took their exams here. We made sure to arrange tickets online here for the first available slot, and that was a good idea – our group was small, and we could enjoy the tour without crowds of tourists.

Subsequently, we walked around the nearby Radcliffe Camera buildings (a beautiful library, which unfortunately wasn't open for tours at the time) or the Sheldonian Theatre (a ceremonial theater originally used for graduations, which of course has nothing to do with Sheldon Cooper, yet it immediately came to mind).

In the Weston Library, we also looked at current exhibitions while waiting for the next tour – in the lobby of this library, they sell tickets to the Bodleian Library complex, including the Divinity School, and you can choose from many tour options offered that day.

So this time, we looked into the Divinity School again with the crowd (and greatly appreciated our morning visit without people), this time with a commentary – our British guide was a great well of information, and when she led us through the library where J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis studied and started sketching their stories on paper, I was thrilled. Moreover, the restricted section of the Hogwarts library was also filmed here. If I ever get the chance to visit Oxford again, I must register for that library and go explore further behind the librarian's desk, which only allowed readers of their library in (which is freely accessible to the public, not just university students, which is good to know for next time).

The next stop that day for us was New College, for which, for a change, it wasn't necessary to buy tickets in advance, and they could easily be paid for by card on the spot (be careful, they don't take cash at all). We were interested in the courtyard of this college mainly because it is not only a truly beautiful Gothic cloister, but it is also dominated by a certain memorial tree, under which Draco had the luck to turn into a ferret for at least a moment and even levitate thanks to Professor Moody's intervention. It's just a pity that during our visit to this college, we were caught in a nice downpour, and the light was very bad for capturing any nice photos. Well, bad luck, because otherwise, we managed to enjoy beautiful spring weather in England at a time when it was really nasty back home.

Oxford, of course, offers much more – a castle that we only looked at from the outside, many beautiful religious monuments that we had the chance to walk around and enter some – after all, university spaces are the landmark that we shouldn't miss on a journey in the footsteps of HP film locations.

I personally wanted to visit the pub where Tolkien met with his friends, the Inklings (Lamb and Flag or The Eagle and Child on St. Giles Street, conveniently opposite each other on the same street), unfortunately, one establishment was closed for renovation and the other was full. So I was out of luck and couldn't have a pint in the same place as the professor used to. Hopefully, it will work out next time…

After a thorough exploration of Oxford, we returned to London, where the next day a return to the film studios awaited us, which we enjoyed very much for the second time, as the visit was not the same at all – this time the beginning of our tour was themed around Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and in the Great Hall, we had the honor of watching the epic fireworks that the Weasley brothers set off when leaving school. New places were also added to the exhibits, such as the Divination classroom, the Knight Bus, or Harry's room from the Leaky Cauldron and the Monster Book of Monsters under the bed. However, it was great to return to Privet Drive, Gringotts Bank, and the Forbidden Forest again.

It was definitely visible that work is being done at the studios and things are constantly moving forward – for example, the refreshment station in the middle of the route has changed for the better – whether in terms of the interior and its decorations or the queue management with a calling system. You can still mainly get fast food there, but I've come to terms with the fact that a Hogwarts feast simply won't be available there, period.

If you are a Harry Potter fan and, after visiting the studios, are looking for where to take a wizarding vacation next, I definitely recommend Oxford. So dust off your broomstick and off you go!

author Jana Mrkvicová