Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour

Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour

Leavesden near Watford, London

A 3.5 hour self-guided walking tour

 

After your initial guided introduction, you will take yourself on a 3.5 hour self-guided walking tour of The Studios which offers visitors a unique experience to explore two soundstages and a backlot filled with original sets, costumes and props, animatronic creatures and breathtaking special effects. Along the way, you’ll enjoy interactive activities such as the opportunity to ‘fly’ a broomstick like a member of the cast and there’s also the chance to purchase a frothy cup of Butterbeer! Some parts of the tour are interactive and give you a fully hands-on experience, whilst some items on display can't be touched because of their unique and precious nature.

 

Step onto iconic sets like the Great Hall and Diagon Alley. Spot your favourite props from the films. See up close the intricate detail hidden in every costume. Discover how the special and visual effects teams made Harry and his friends fly. Learn how magical creatures were brought to life on screen. From technical drawings to scale models, learn how your favourite sets were created.

 

Join us at the Studio Tour between 15th May – 8th September 2025

This Summer, we’ll be uncovering how filmmakers brought the action-packed scenes from the Triwizard Tournament to life. to discover new behind-the-scenes secrets as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Want to know how filmmakers shot underwater and created the Hungarian Horntail Dragon? Experience our brand-new Backlot Stage, where our Interactors will reveal the Secrets of Special Effects. Enjoy this new indoor space, with a digital screen, stage and tiered seating, as we share filmmaking magic that has never been seen before at the Studio Tour. As well as Mad Eye Moody’s entrance to the Great Hall, famous wizarding schools will also be brought to life. Experience demonstrations reminiscent of the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students’ arrival at Hogwarts and look out for their iconic blue dresses and fur accessories, as seen on-screen. Wizarding journalist, Rita Skeeter, will also be poised, ready to write her next poison pen article. Keep an eye out for her iconic costumes and self-writing quill.

 

Join us at the Studio Tour 15th November – 18th January 2026

The beloved Hogwarts in the Snow feature will return for the festive season. The spectacular Great Hall will be transformed into scenes from the Yule Ball as seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The Gryffindor common room, Forbidden Forest and Diagon Alley will be dressed for Christmas and the Hogwarts castle model will be coated in snow using the same technique used in the Harry Potter film series. Let The Magic Begin. Enter the Great Hall, bedecked in the gold decorations from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, you’ll find a mouth-watering banquet of roast potatoes, peas, turkeys, and puddings aflame set up as it was to celebrate the end-of-term feast at Hogwarts. Christmas trees will tower over you in the Great Hall topped by authentic flying witches and inviting fireplaces will be adorned with festive holly, mistletoe, and wreaths.

From the Gryffindor Boys’ Dormitory to the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms, discover how these sets were dressed for Christmas scenes in the film series. You’ll have the chance to spot authentic decorations and Christmas cards made by the crew during filming! Prepare to impress with your dance moves as you learn the dance steps meticulously studied by Neville Longbottom ahead of the Yule Ball in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, or how the invisibility cloak Harry Potter receives as a Christmas present was used to create the illusion of invisibility on-screen.

Step into the Forbidden Forest, where the woodlands will be covered in snow, or stroll down Diagon Alley with its snowy shop fronts and cobbled stones. Stop by the Christmas shop which has returned this year to provide you with a premium and exclusive selection of Christmas gifts, souvenirs, and stocking fillers. Learn how a never melting snow was created by the set decorators for the film series using three various materials each serving a different purpose onscreen. Your visit will end with a walk around the Hogwarts Castle model, which is blanketed with snow, this meticulous transformation takes place at the Studio Tour each year, the same process as the one used in the films. Don’t forget to find the minuscule snowman figures hidden somewhere new on the model.

 

The Hogwarts Express locomotive transported hundreds of students from Platform 9 ¾ to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most of the scenes that take place on Platform 9 ¾ were actually shot on location at King’s Cross Station in London, however, during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, part of the station platform was recreated on a soundstage here at Leavesden, complete with the track and the train. The Hogwarts Express provided the background for the very first shot ever captured for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and then, ten years later, for the very last shot of the entire series in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The real locomotive and passenger carriages were used on locations throughout the United Kingdom to create the exterior views of the train while a special interior carriage set (built on the soundstages at Leavesden) was used for all of the scenes that take place inside the train. Visual effects artists replaced the green screen background in the windows with moving backdrops and special effects like hopping Chocolate Frogs and flying Dementors.

 

The Diagon Alley set constantly changed throughout the film series. Since its construction, walls have shifted, shop fronts have moved and entire buildings have been carefully tweaked, leaning just slightly, to create the street that is seen in the films. Many of the Diagon Alley set pieces were also re-dressed for use in the village of Hogsmeade for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The original design of the street combined the rich details from the Harry Potter books with inspiration from the streets described in the works of Charles Dickens. Diagon Alley is home to not only Gringotts Bank, Flourish and Blotts and Mr Mulpepper’s Apothecary but also the dusty Ollivanders wand shop, where Harry’s wand famously chose him. The shop was home to more than 17,000 individually labelled wand boxes during filming.

 

Gringotts Wizarding Bank played an important role in the Harry Potter film series. Lined by towering marble pillars, the grand banking hall is decorated with three magnificent crystal chandeliers and finished with real brass leaf. Inkwells, quills, ledgers and piles of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts complete the goblin tellers’ desks as seen on screen. The Prop-making Department, led by Pierre Bohanna, created over 210,000 coins for the final two films alone.

 

The greenhouse is a fan-favourite set from the Harry Potter film series, where students were taught their Herbology lessons with Professor Pomona Sprout. Built by the original Harry Potter filmmakers, the greenhouse is home to many exotic and magical plants. Just like a Hogwarts student, you will be able to step into the greenhouse and stop to pull out a potted Mandrake as part of an interactive display. Based on the scene in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, you will recognise the Venomous Tentacula hanging from the ceiling as you walk through the greenhouse. During filming, various techniques were used to achieve the movement of the magical plants. The sinuous grasping movement of the Tentacula’s tendrils was computer-generated however, the movement of the Mandrakes was achieved using animatronic controllers hidden beneath the table.

 

Refreshments are available from the Studio Café, with a full selection of coffees, hot and cold drinks can be purchased at two locations within the Studio Tour. There's also an extensive shop stocked with a wide range of gifts and souvenirs to remind you of the day you spent immersed in the making of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter Experience FAQ's The sets