Hi everyone,

I'm visiting Edinburgh for a couple of days and I am a huge Harry Potter fan so I'm looking for recommendations. What's a good HP walking tour? I see the Potter Trail is called the original one but there are also a lot of them on tripadvisor, getyourguide, etc. Does anyone have a recommendation for which one is good/has tried any, etc?

Also, is there any other Harry Potter-themed stuff I can do in the city?

Thank you!

I know this might not be interesting for everyone but the tour was super cool. There was a lot of awesome places on the tour and I just wanted to share it with everyone!

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/IRR6Gt5

In 2017, when I was backpacking Europe, I went on a Harry Potter Tour and the best thing happened to me. The story goes like this.---When penning down the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling is in the Balmoral Hotel, Room 552, in Edinburgh, Scotland. As she finished the last word, she closed her laptop and sobbed — you can imagine, the end of a legendary series, arguably the most successful and popular fantasy children book of all time. Finished.

In her emotional state, she did the unthinkable — she grabbed a marker and scrawled at the back of a bust sculpture by Romanelli da Firenze in the hotel room, which says "J.K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows in this room (552) on 11th Jan 2007." (see photo below).

When she checked out of the room, the hotel crew spotted the vandalism and, in their genius, instead of asking Rowling to compensate for the bust, they put a glass case over it and named Room 552 the "J.K. Rowling Suite". Now, this room is probably the most special room in the Balmoral, with all 7 books of the Harry Potter Series on the shelf, some flairs and sculptures of the Wizarding World, and of course, the vandalized bust.---The story doesn't end there. Why? Because I went there. I went to the Balmoral to see for myself because why not? I went to Room 552, and there it was, a plaque that reads "J.K. Rowling Suite", adorned with a golden owl.

I see a grandfather with his grandchild walking along the corridor, and I asked them to take a photo of me with the door, which they graciously did and I thanked them profusely.

This is when I lost my marbles.

The grandfather took out a keycard and tapped the door — THEY ARE STAYING THERE.

I'm frozen, but I knew something had to be done. So, in my greatest act of courage (or more possibly blind fanaticism), I asked if I could have a look inside.

They said yes.

This remains one of the most amazing and unbelievable things that happened to me and is a memory I hold on to fondly. I was at the right place, at the right time, this will probably never happen again. All I needed to do was to have the guts to take that leap and ask. The worst he could say is no. The best is what has happened, and I couldn't be more grateful.

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/IRR6Gt5

Traveling to Edinburgh soon and we are huge HP fans. We see there are endless options of HP tours and don’t know where to start and making a decision on which one is best. Anyone with experience that would or wouldn’t recommend a specific tour would be very helpful.

Huge HP nerd here. We took this amazing walking tour in Edinburgh and the guy giving it was so full of enthusiasm and passion for HP. He even gave out wands at the beginning of the tour and included so much background for Rowling's life and inspirations. Best part, it was free!! Video and pictures below.

https://itsaritchlife.home.blog/2019/07/19/two-harry-potter-nerds-and-the-quest-of-edinburgh-uk/

Just a wee piece about JK Rowling denying places in Edinburgh inspired her Harry Potter books - despite the locations being visited daily by walking tours. https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/celebrity-news/jk-rowling-dismisses-harry-potter-27448042 Has anyone ever been to Edinburgh? It couldn't be more Harry Potter-ish if it tried!

I am visiting Edinburgh this Christmas and I'm wondering if there's a non-guided tour of Edinburgh that you walk yourself?

What are the must sees and must dos? Anyone that’s done this how was your experience? Suggestions? Words of wisdom? I’m so excited! TIA!

Via PinkNews: https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/12/edinburgh-harry-potter-tour-lgbtq-pride-jk-rowling/

Fraser Horn, founder of tour company Street Historians based in the Scottish capital, said he was “really conflicted” about whether or not to continue giving the tours due to Rowling’s contentious views on trans rights.

Commenting on his decision to halt the tours in June, Fraser wrote on his blog: “There’s an increasing amount of negativity around the [Harry Potter] series which is making it much harder to conjure up affection, and for that reason the Edinburgh Street Historians are having internal discussions.

Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Fraser said it felt “good” to make his position on the issue clear.

“Some companies have put out statements [about Rowling] and others have said nothing and seem to feel it’s not their business to comment. I think it is our business. We’re in a position to say things and we have a responsibility. If the world is becoming a less welcoming place, it’s our job to make the world more welcoming,” he said.

The LGBTQ+ tours that will take place in June focus on the stories of queer Scots from throughout history and takes guests across the city.

The Harry Potter tours are set to resume after June but Fraser is unsure whether to continue with them, saying whilst he enjoys how passionate guests are for the content there “comes a point where it’s harder to justify.”

“I’m really conflicted on this and a lot of tour guides are thinking similar. Not all, but some definitely are,” he added.

Of course the studio tour is top of the list. What other recommendations do you have?!?

*That is reasonably affordable and can be snuck in to 2 weeks.

Back in late 2019, my partner and I planned a summer 2020 trip to London and Paris that included a little bit of Harry Potter - we were gonna do the WB studio tour, and book a Harry Potter tour of London (to see filming locations around the city), though most of the trip wasn't necessarily going to have anything to do with Harry Potter.

For obvious reasons, that trip was postponed, and has been rescheduled then postponed a couple more times since. The latest iteration takes place in June 2022, has added a few days, and has swapped out Paris in favor of Edinburgh (2/3 days in London, 1/3 in Edinburgh). Also, it's become a blatantly, excessively Harry Potter themed trip - each newly planned attempt at taking this trip has brought with it more Harry Potter-themed activities and itinerary items.

Now we're just going all in on the Harry Potter focus of the trip, so I wanted to see if anyone here had suggestions on itinerary items we might try adding, tours we might try taking, places we might want to be sure to visit, etc. Maybe there's even something like a weekly Harry Potter fan coffee shop gathering that might take place while we're there, local groups in London or Edinburgh, and so on someone has knowledge of?

Here's what we have scheduled so far:

• Arrive in London, spend 4 nights at a hotel attached to Kings Cross station. Originally we'd planned to stay at a hotel that is part of St. Pancras station (which doubles as Kings Cross in the movies) but their summer 2022 rates were... not appealing. Plus, Kings Cross itself is where Platform 9 3/4 is, where the Harry Potter store is, and where our train to Edinburgh departs from a few days in to our trip. When we return from Edinburgh to spend several more days in London, we'll be staying at Hazlitt's Hotel in Soho (apparently JK Rowling's favorite hotel in London - booked purely by coincidence, mind you. Didn't read about it being her favorite until long after I'd selected it cuz I could use credit card rewards points for the booking :D )

• Do a Harry Potter-themed escape room. We each really enjoy escape rooms and there are a number of witchcraft/wizardry/inspired-by-Harry Potter themed options to choose from, including one near our hotel by Breakin' Escape Rooms.

• All day Harry Potter tour, including WB Studio Tour. Tour guide will pick us up from our hotel in the AM to visit some sights in and around London on our way to the studio tour, drop us off there so we can visit the studio tour for a few hours, then retrieve us afterwards to continue the Harry Potter-themed tour of London. Tour includes filming locations, spots that were inspirations for locations in the books, etc.

• Have a potions-themed afternoon tea and Cutter & Squidge in Soho.

• Visit the House of MinaLima in Soho.

• See Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre. This one I'd held out on for the longest time as I wasn't sure I wanted to see it, spend the money on it, or dedicate most of a day to it (since it's in 2 parts through the afternoon and evening). Since this latest attempt at the trip added some additional days we figured why not?

• Visit the Harry Potter On Location exhibit at the London Film Museum (assuming it'll still be open come June).

• In Edinburgh we'll likely do a walking tour, though a whole bunch are on offer so I haven't picked one yet. We'll be staying just off the Royal Mile, about a block or two from the Elephant House, short stroll from Greyfriar's Kirkyard. Edinburgh originally took the place of Paris because I didn't want to involve more international borders/immigration checks/covid testing requirements than needed but still wanted to travel by train from London to another big city. The opportunity for additional Harry Potter stuff was a bonus.

• We've booked a day trip from Edinburgh that leaves very early in the morning, visits some filming locations around Scotland on the way to Fort William, where we take the Jacobite steam train, aka Hogwarts Express on a return trip to Mallaig. Spend time seeing some lochs and wilderness featured in the movies and so on, plus just spend a nice afternoon on the train (I like trains!). Back in Edinburgh in the evening (though the sun will still be out!).

That's mostly it... so far! Got some other things on tap, like a ghost tour (I always find those immensely fun), checking out some of the usual tourist sites, castles, curries, other spots we want to see and things we want to do. But I'd love suggestions on walking tours, places we might want to visit, things we might want to see related to Harry Potter (either film locations, or relevant to the books). If anyone here is local to London or Edinburgh and knows of things, or has done a tour/activity they'd highly recommend or insist we avoid, I'd love to hear it!

(also hello! First post here hehe)

From May 27 to June 9 I was in London and Edinburgh on my "Ultimate Harry Potter Fan Vacation" - two weeks packed full of Harry Potter sights and activities, the studio tour, filming locations, and more. I wrote up a (not so) little summary of it here:

https://www.trippingontravel.com/home/the-ultimate-harry-potter-fan-vacation

And there's also loads of pics there. Suffice to say, the trip was wonderful. It was a long time coming, also - originally set about planning this in late 2019 to take place during summer 2020!

We did the studio tour, the photographic exhibition, rode the "Hogwarts Express", ventured around the Scottish Highlands, spent multiple days exploring London and seeking out filming locations, explored Edinburgh and spots where the books were written, did loads of shopping and more. And somehow we managed to avoid covid and safely return to the US. I've been slammed with work since getting back home (2 week vacations do that to ya!) but finally finished my little trip report thingy linked to above!

Here's a handful of images, but I don't wanna overwhelm this thread so there's dozens more with the trip report!

Harry Potter fans are still surprised to see Edinburgh because it is a real-life Harry Potter World. Apart from the fact that Edinburgh looks identical to scenes from the Harry Potter films, there is a link between J. K. Rowling and Edinburg city, as she began writing about Harry Potter in cafes in Edinburgh. The city architecture of gothic styles may have influenced her to write a world-class Harry Potter story.

Source: https://knovhov.com/harry-potter-edinburgh-sites/

I’m going to London and Edinburgh next month. I’d like to do some sort of Harry Potter tour/experience but don’t want to make it my whole trip. What’s the best one? What ones aren’t worth it? Let me know!

Hi Everyone! I’m going to Edinburgh, Scotland & I was wondering if anybody has been there/has any recommendations on where to visit? (Can be both Harry Potter related or just in general). Thanks ☺️

My husband and I are fulfilling our childhood dreams via a trip to Scotland and London where we are dedicating time to see a lot of HP sites! Would love to hear any recommendations (foods, sites, or experiences) to add to our list.

The Jacobite steam train won’t be running at this time, & the London HP potion and tea experiences are booked full, but So far we have planned:

Scotland (1 day will be spent in Edinburgh) -trip to the highlands/isle of skye -Elephant house where JK wrote at

England: -WB studio tour -kings cross for the “real” platform 9 3/4 -house of MinaLima -Oxford to see some of the places the movies were shot -eating treacle tart