Are you a Harry Potter fan? Are you going to London anytime soon? If you answered yes to these two questions you absolutely need to visit the Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour at Leavesden studios, just outside the city. I took the studio tour the last time I was in London and left blown away by the scale and scope of what is on display. The fact is, the tour could have been some bland and boring way to suck money out of Harry Potter fans and people would still pay, but that’s not what they did. Instead of doing some cheap version, the tour is loaded with the iconic sets, props and costumes that were created especially for the films, and as you walk around you feel like you’ve been transported to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You can literally spend hours walking around and you’ll leave thinking you missed something.
The other thing I loved about the tour is you don’t feel rushed as you walk around. Once you get inside you’re left alone, so you can take as little or as much time as you’d like to see all the things on display.
If you didn’t know, when filming wrapped on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 in 2010, the production was left with a treasure trove of thousands of intricate and beautifully-made props and sets, many of which wouldn't have been saved on a typical production. But knowing they were going to be setting up a tour for the fans, the team behind the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London -The Making of Harry Potter made sure to preserve these iconic props, costumes and sets so fans could experience the magic of filmmaking first-hand, and it seems like they saved everything.
One of the reasons is that while they were filming the movies, the books were still being written and the production never knew what might be needed in a future installment. To protect themselves, the production saved everything, which is why the tour is so special and why all Harry Potter fans are blown away as they walk around.
Finally, while it’s a little bit of a journey to get to the studio and it’s not cheap to buy a ticket, I absolutely think it’s worth your time and hard earned money. There is no way you leave this tour and feel like you got shortchanged. And when you go, make sure to get the frozen Butterbeer. Trust me. You want this. Even if that’s the only thing you buy.
Since I know most people will never have the chance to take this tour, while there I took a ton of pictures. As you’ll see in the 350 photos below, this tour is loaded with the iconic sets, props and costumes. Let me know what you think of the tour in the comment section.
For more on the Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour in London, here’s the official website. And if you can't make it to London but are still a huge Harry Potter fan, check out our big photo gallery for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park.
