Harry Potter is loved all over the world. How do I know this? Because anywhere in the world that I travel, I find real-life Harry Potter themed places.
And of course, I go out of my way to visit them.
If you’re a die-hard fan, allow me to share with you a list I’ve been keeping of all of the Harry Potter themed places I came across in my travels—from Europe to the US to Asia.
Evidence of the worldwide Harry Potter fandom is everywhere, and you can find it all, “if yeh know where to go.”
So, my fellow Potterheads. Here we go. Get your bucket list ready and grab your brooms, because you will want to visit every single Harry Potter themed place on this list!
P.S. Have you heard of DIFF Charitable Eyewear’s Harry Potter collection? Find blue light glasses and sunglasses characteristic of your Hogwarts house and wear them while you visit these Harry Potter themed places!
[This post contains affiliate links.]
Pure heaven. I visited the Wizarding World back when it first opened and again when the new Diagon Alley section opened. Both of these Harry Potter parks hold enough magic to keep a true Harry Potter fan occupied for an entire day (or week or month or year–or, let’s face it, lifetime).
The first part of the Wizarding World to open, and here you’ll find several rides (Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, Flight of the Hippogriff and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey).
There are also several Harry Potter themed shops and places to get yourself a yummy butterbeer! Don’t leave without a pic at the Hogsmeade Station.
This second part of the Wizarding World just gives you a reason to spend even longer at the Wizarding World. Eat at the Leaky Cauldron, go on a trip at King’s Cross Station (no need to go all the way to London…but there kind of is–keep reading!) and visit the ride at Gringotts Bank.
Did you know there’s such thing as Muggle Quidditch? There is, and honestly, the reason why I chose the university that I did was because it had a Quidditch team.
It’s a pretty legit sport with a very long rule book, and it even has worldwide tournaments.
Every year (when there isn’t a pandemic), there is a Quidditch US cup, so check out the website to see if it will take place near you!
What does this castle in Poland have to do with Harry Potter? It hosts as annual Hogwarts Larp event. The College of Wizardry at Czocha Castle is an unofficial role play of Hogwarts and the Harry Potter world, so if you want to pretend that you’re living at Hogwarts, this place is the closest you’ll get in real life!
Poland has yet another reason for you to visit if you’re a Harry Potter fan. Dziorawy Kociol means Leaky Cauldron in Polish, and this underground café is as magical as it sounds!
Ever since I first found out about its existence in the city where my dad is from, I have gone to this Harry Potter café every time I visited Krakow. The dimly lit interior is made cozy with Harry Potter ambience: magical music, Harry Potter décor and hanging candle lights.
Choose snacks and drinks from the Harry Potter inspired menu. Not only butterbeer on the menu here, but lots of other Harry Potter themed treats too!
Did you know that J.K. Rowling used to live in Portugal? She did, and she worked on the first Harry Potter book while living there!
People say J.K. Rowling got inspiration for the bookstores in Harry Potter at Livraria Lello. While that’s not true (confirmed by Rowling), it’s still a magical bookstore to visit, and a wander around Porto is worth it!
The school uniforms worn by university students are likely the inspiration for the Hogwarts uniforms, and Majestic Café is meant to be one of the cafes Rowling wrote in.
I bet you’ve heard of the Cliffs of Moher. But did you know that a scene in Harry Potter was filmed here?
It was in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince when Harry and Dumbledore apparate on rock in front of the sea cave where a horcrux was hidden. The rock was CGI-ed in, but the cliffs and the sea cave opening were the Cliffs of Moher!
The best way to see the sea cave as it was portrayed in the film is by boat, although you can see the sea cave from the cliff walk too.
For more tips on how to best see the Cliffs of Moher (and the Harry Potter sea cave), check out this post.
I didn’t give the UK its own category because it’s not part of Europe, but because it has the most Harry Potter related locations to visit. Here they are.
Located just outside of London, this is a must-visit for any Harry Potter fan. The first few films had a low budget, so they were filmed in some of the places listed below. But especially with the later movies, most were filmed in this very studio.
While many sets were demolished, the biggest one, the Great Hall, is still around for you to walk through. And it was the coolest thing ever!!! I was freaking out the whole time and was too emotional to get a good picture there! Oh well, just a reason to return one day.
You’ll also see a ton of props, go on the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 ¾, see the Dursley’s house and a replica of Hogwarts, among other things!
And London itself also has a TON of filming spots.
These include:
You can do a self-guided tour, but if you’d like to do a more in-depth tour with a guide, check out this Harry Potter walking tour.
The Jacobite Steam Train in Scotland is the actual train filmed in the movies, and the route it takes from Fort William to Mallaig might look familiar because many locations on this route were filmed in the movie! This includes the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct.
To learn more about how to do this train journey (and a cheaper option for it!) check out my guide.
This absolutely gorgeous part of Scotland will make even non-Harry Potter fans fall in love with this Harry Potter landscape. The nature in the Sottish Highlands is stunning, and Glencoe has some of the most beautiful views.
So naturally, a lot of shots were filmed here, most famous being the location Hagrid’s hut.
Like I mentioned above, although it may be hard to believe, the first Harry Potter films had a low budget, so they were filmed at existing castles around the UK. Alnwick Castle is one of the most popular ones.
It is perhaps most recognizable as the place where Harry had his first flying lesson, and the interior was also used, so head inside too! (Although note: only the exterior is accessible during Covid; the ticket is discounted as a result though!)
Oh, and they also have (muggle) flying lessons. What the perfect spot for that!
The interior and the courtyard of Durham Cathedral were also used in the films. The courtyard was closed due to Covid when I visited, but this cathedral was still worth visiting.
Okay, so Harry Potter wasn’t filmed here, but it may as well have been. The Shambles is a medieval, narrow street that seriously looks like Diagon Alley. And, it’s packed with Harry Potter merchandise selling stores!
Also, its train station was filmed for the movies!
And if you’re a writer, check out my Writer’s Travel Guide to York.
Another cathedral where Harry Potter was filmed, Gloucester Cathedral is massive and absolutely stunning.
The courtyard is (in my biased, Harry Potter obsessed opinion) the best part of it. You’ll immediately recognize the halls, particularly the hallway where Mrs. Norris was found petrified in the Chamber of Secrets.
Edinburgh is the place most associated with J.K. Rowling writing the books. And the Elephant House is the most famous café out of the confirmed places where Rowling wrote Harry Potter.
Sure, the prices are higher than normal, but this is where Harry Potter was written! I thought the food was great, and the bathroom was full of evidence of how far-reaching the Harry Potter fandom is.
More on the Elephant House in my Writer’s Travel Guide to Scotland.
And the last place Rowling wrote Harry Potter was also in Edinburgh, but rather than in a café, Deathly Hallows was written in a suite at the Balmoral Hotel.
You can actually stay in the same suite where Rowling finished the book (although be prepared to pay handsomely for it, of course).
Yet another place to see where Rowling got her inspiration from is at the Greyfriar’s Kirkyard. Rowling got inspiration for character names from the tombstones at this very graveyard.
Oxford is a pretty famous place, and so it’s common knowledge that some of the scenes in Harry Potter were filmed here. The Bodleian Library, Chirst Church and the New College Cloisters were all used in the films!
Another place where the interior of Hogwarts was filmed was at Lacock Abbey. Specifically (and most recognizably), its courtyard.
Lackock is also a charming little place to wander around, and you’ll find several Harry Potter film featured houses too! Most famous is the Potter’s house, and also Slughorn’s hideout in Half Blood Prince.
This “Harry Potter” beach was used to film the sites of Dobby’s grave and Shell Cottage. Although both the cottage set and Dobby’s gravestone are now gone, there is a memorial in the spot where Dobby’s grave was.
The area is so beautiful too, and you can find an in-depth guide on reaching this Harry Potter film location without a car here.
This magical little café made a city I already liked become my favorite in Asia. Sure, it has culture and history and all that, but it also has a Harry Potter café!!!
The butterbeer was delicious, there are Harry Potter decorations galore, and if you donate second hand clothes which they give to charity, you even get a coupon voucher!
If I traveled to Hanoi alone, I would probably have spent all day every day in this café. I didn’t, so I had to make do with just a few hours of bliss. But I will come back for you one day, Always Café!
I did travel to Singapore alone though, so I spent my entire last day at Platform 1094, just pretending that I was in a real-life Harry Potter location and writing the day away.
P.S. Even if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, Singapore is an amazing place for a solo writing retreat!
Platform 1094 is more like a restaurant than café, and I very much enjoyed the soup served in a cauldron and the tea served with an owl-shaped infuser.
Located in Kuta, this Harry Potter themed bar is a reason in itself to go to Bali.
If you need more reasons to visit, just check out my non-touristy spots in Bali post.
If you’re somewhere in the world where a trip to Japan is more reasonable than a trip to Florida, Japan now also has a Wizarding World at its Universal Studios! I haven’t been, but I will when I finally make it to Japan!
These are constantly changing, so make sure you do a Google search to see if there are any going on around you right now! Since Harry Potter is so massively popular, there are always Harry Potter themed events you can find somewhere in the world.
This traveling Harry Potter exhibition came to Chicago years ago, and it was one of the best days of my teenage years. The studio tour in London was of course better, but this exhibit also shows lots of props used in the films.
I went to one in Chicago. It was awesome. Harry Potter themed drinks enjoyed in a room with Harry Potter decorations and filled with Harry Potter custome-clad people and Harry Potter music? That is my kind of bar.
So, how many of these Harry Potter themed places did you go to? Any not on here that I should add to my Harry Potter bucket list? Comment below!
Amazon Prime Day is here, so here is a list of deals every travel lover…
Are you planning to travel through Australia but worried about safety? So was I when…
What I love about Sydney is that it’s so vast and packed with exciting things…
Perth is the biggest city in Western Australia, which boasts some of Australia’s most beautiful…
Lightning Ridge is one of the most unique places in Australia—nowhere else is quite like…
Australia is a massive country, much bigger than most expect. As such, most travelers in…
View Comments
Harry Potter is much loved so I can understand why there are so many 'Harry Potter' places around the world. Many of these in your post I never knew existed. I will be adding them to my list when I visit these countries.
Love it! I grew up reading Harry Potter and it's actually one of the inspirations of moving to the UK and studying English Literature :D I've been to quite a few of the places you mentioned, but definitely not all :O May have to make a new bucket list ;) Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh that's sooo awesome! I always dreamed of going to school in the UK too because of Harry Potter ;) I hope you get to visit all of these places one day! :)
I'm a huuuuuge HP fan too but unfortunately I haven't been to any of these places. :( I've been to Krakow but didn't know about the places there, such a pity!
It's a hidden place! I only found out about it because someone handed me a flyer advertising it. I hope you get to go to some of these places one day!
Also a huge Harry Potter fan here, and I absolutely love this list. I've been to a few of them now including Durham Cathedral and the Always cafe in Hanoi. I can't wait to start visiting some of the others though, although riding the Jacobite steam train is probably top of the list. I saw it go by last time I was in Scotland, but it would be amazing to take the train myself
Ooh lucky! I missed seeing it go across the viaduct. I did go across the viaduct but on the diesel train, not the steam one, so I also want to return to do that one day :)
I didn’t realize there were so many different places! This is so much fun for Harry Potter fans! Thank you for compiling this list.
I am a massive Harry Potter fan as well. I want to go to all these places! I'm going to share this with my sister so we can plan some trips for the future. I do the same thing when I travel, there are some great Harry Potter spots around the world!
its so cool that there is harry potter inspired things all over the world!
I am not that big of a fan but I still would love to visit all these cool places. It's amazing to see some inspirations of movies in real life.
Such an amazing list! I'd love to go on a Harry Potter-themed trip and ride the Jacobite train in Scotland. Hopefully, I can visit the UK soon and travel to these spots.
I am not familiar with Harry Potter and didn't have a clue there are so many references! A great source for the Harry Potter fan!