Harry Potter in England
 

I am taking several middle school kids to London starting in May and was wondering if anyone has visited any of the new Harry Potter sites. I've heard they have remodeled the 9 3/4 platform and they have opened a the movie sets about twenty miles outside of London. Are these worth visiting and the price? (The movie set is about $44 a person) Thanks so much.

Not been, I think its only just opened but hopefully someone here will be able to report.
There is a Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross, but not worth a special trip just for that.
One suggestion, if you have a lot of Harry Potter fans with you, contact London Walks by email - see their details at walks.com. They do organise tailormade walks for groups. They have a Harry Potter expert and have 3 different HP walks on their regular schedule - however, these walks are very very popular and the groups can be way too big. (London Walks do other walks that may suit kids.)

If only I could report in person...but there is a good write-up of the movie set exhibit (calling it a "mostly self-guided tour") in the April 1st issue of the NYTimes travel section. If you haven't seen it, take a look! It sounds like it's totally worth visiting for HP fans.

Thanks for your replies. I will look up the "walks" website. I will be traveling with three middle school girls from our school and 29 kids and adults from another. We have a couple of afternoons off and Harry Potter is of extreme interest. There is a new article on the blog today about the Warner Bros exhibit, it looks great.

The slide show and article in The Telegraph (UK) is better than the NYTimes' - and you won't get spammed with subscription ads if it's the 10th article you've looked at (down from 20 previously)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/c...ry-Potter.html

and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/h...udio-tour.html

Remember, peak visitor volume for the studios is expected to be about 5,000 per day - it will be a lot more crowded than shown in these slide shows. We plan to visit it someday, but probably on a week-day in November, making sure it's not a school holiday in the UK or elsewhere. It does seem worth the price.

I went by the original platform 9 3/4 many times before I'd seen a HP movie or read a book and wondered why the heck they had a trolley stuck halfway in a brick wall. All was revealed not long afterwards.

Thanks, really does look awesome. I've been looking into trips to get to Warner Bros and one company charges 150$ (including admission) and the other $90. I also read that we can catch a bus, but I am not sure how complicated that will be yet or how much the tube plus the bus will run. It would be the cherry on top for my daughter in particular. She has read every book at least 7 times and seen each of the movies more than that. We even dressed up for the midnight premier of the last one and went to Chicago to see it.

I appreciate all of your input. This is my first trip abroad and we are doing a whirlwind trip, cramming as much in as possible in a short amount of time with time to sleep when we get home.

Hi Shelnscott,

Our editor Maria just returned from a trip to London where she was lucky enough to do the Harry Potter Studio Tour. You can see her highlights here: http://www.fodors.com/news/story_5392.html

Hope you have a good trip!