The Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour - Leavesden Studios

I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. I love the world that J.K. Rowling has created and how it has been transformed for the big screen. For my birthday in May Neil brought me tickets for the tour at Leavesden studios and we finally visited this weekend.

After the amazing Queen of Teen after party on Friday we drove straight to the Village hotel in Elstree which was to be our bed for the night in preparation for the Harry Potter tour. I had a very restless sleep as I was so excited, like a kid at Christmas. After waking up at 7am and a quick breakfast we finally got on the road luckily the hotel was only 15 minutes from the studio.

The tour is situated in two purpose built units aptly named J and K, we headed inside, had a quick look round the gift shop and then got straight into the queue.

The Great Hall

The tour starts at the huge Great Hall which took my breath away, unfortunately you are guided for this bit of the tour and they do tend to move you on quickly so make sure you have your camera ready. After the Great Hall the rest of the tour is self guided, I would say give yourself at least 3 hours to go round the sets and props which includes a green screen area where you can ride broomsticks and the Wesley's flying car (we queued for about 45 minutes for this, but as we were leaving the queue had doubled). Between the two units there is a back lot where you we finally be able to taste Butterbeer and knock on the door of 4 Privet Drive.

The second unit has a lot of information on the creatures from the films and how they were brought to life and the famous street everyone wants to see Diagon Alley, which was as impressive as I thought it would be. I really wanted to go on a huge shopping spree - Of course starting at Flourish and Blotts!

Diagon Alley

  Overall I think the tour is a must see even if you are not a huge Harry Potter fan I believe you will still get some enjoyment out of it. I'm already planning my next visit!