Magnificent Gloucester Cathedral has been a place of worship for more than 1,300 years and is renowned for its stunning Gothic architecture.

The interior and exterior shots of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are taken from a number of locations around England. The village station itself has barely changed since it opened on July 1, 1865. It is the station for the village of Goathland in Yorkshire, already well known as the fictional village of Aidensfield from the British TV series, Heartbeat. The train arrives at Hogsmeade Station where Harry and the other students disembark for Hogwarts School. In the film, the steam train leaves from Platform 9¾ and takes the students to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This central London station was built as the Great Northern Railway’s London terminus in 1851- 2. The scene where Harry catches the steam train Hogwarts Express was also filmed in London, at Platform 4 at Kings Cross Station. It is in the reptile house here where Harry first learns of his ability to talk to snakes. Set on the edge of Regent’s Park, historic London Zoo is home to more than 600 species of rare and beautiful animals. The scene early in the film when the Dursleys go to the zoo and Harry talks to the snake, was filmed at London Zoo. Several locations in London were used for the filming. Our Harry Potter tour starts at the Dursley’s house, Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey which is in fact an ordinary house in Martins Heron near Bracknell, Berkshire. There, he meets new friends, learns new skills ( broomstick flying, for example!) and ends up confronting the evil person who killed his parents. He is amazed to find out that his parents were also wizards and that he has inherited magical powers of his own! He is transported from his ordinary life to Hogwarts, a boarding school for wizards. Harry’s own parents died when he was a baby, not as he believed in a car crash but in a fight with a powerful evil wizard who also tried to kill Harry. The books follow the adventures of an 11 year old boy, Harry who lives in a cupboard under the stairs in a house with his aunt, uncle and spoilt cousin Dudley.

Rowlings’s Harry Potter books are some of the best selling children’s books in history. You’ve read the books, you’ve seen the film – now discover the superb film locations.

Harry potter filming locations london