I'm planning to take my kids to London this summer to see the city, and hopefully scout out some of the Harry Potter sites - Oxford, King's Cross and possibly Gloucester. I've only spent 2 days in London - could someone offer suggestions for 1) where to stay - good central location, reasonably-priced, family hotel (for 4 people) where we can walk to main sites in town, 2) recommendations for best sites to see related to Harry Potter, and possibly a tour company - or if it is possible to do on our own. For example, could we just take the train to Oxford? How far are Oxford and Gloucester from town?
I'm just planning now, so any advice and personal experience would be appreciated!

We took our kids to London in June 2001 when they were 11 and 14. I would highly recommend the Travel Inn London County Hall. It's nothing fancy, just a Motel 6 type chain place, but it was clean, reasonably priced, and the location was great. We took pictures between platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross station but you have to be quick. They don't like you doing it or at least they didn't then. Apparently the crowds of Harry Potter fans were getting in the way of people trying to catch trains.

There is no one place in London from which you could walk to most of the major sites. London is a HUGE city. But don't worry about that because the public transport is very good and you can get anywhere in a matter of minutes.

The best areas for a family visit (besides the already mentioned County Hall Travel Inn which is in a marvelous location) are South Kensington, Victoria and Russell Square.

Oxford is less than an hour from London by train. But to be able to visit both Oxford and Gloucester as a day trip you would do better to rent a car. You could take an early morning train to Oxford, visit for 3 or 4 hours that would give you a BRIEF overview. Then pick up a car and drive to Gloucester through the Cotswolds - you see lots of nice scenery and lovely cotswold villages and get to Gloucester in the afternoon. Then that evening drive back to Oxford and take the train back into London. But it would be MUCH better if you would do this as a 2 or 3 day (1 or 2 nights) trip instead of a daytrip.

There is now in King's Cross train station a wall with a sign that actually states "Platform 9 3/4" I discovered it in 2003 when I was planning to, like Pat in Mich, take photos between platforms 9 & 10 for my niece, a big Harry Potter fan. I haven't been to Gloucester but for Oxford, you can take a train there from London, takes about an hour, and there is a city sightseeing bus available to tour the town if you don't care to go on foot. I wouldn't be surpised if there are Harry Potter themed day tours from London that a Google search might yield. I know there's one from Edinburgh that takes you to Alnwick Castle which was used for Hogwarts.

Found this website with some good Harry Potter info including a list of filming sites etc.
http://www.classbrain.com/artmovies/...ticle_74.shtml

Many families choose to stay in an apt. with a kitchenette instead of a hotel. The Dolphin Square is very popular and has the added benefit of being an apt/hotel with breakfast & daily maid service I think but it's not very central-although not inconvenient. They have a swimming pool which could be nice.

The Rubens at the Palace hotel is well liked for good value and location.

On distances:

London-Oxford is 60 miles: an hour by (very frequent) train, a bit longer by (even more frequent and cheaper) bus.

Oxford-Gloucester is a further 50 miles, though almost twice that if you take the scenic route implicit in Janis' very sensible recommendation. There isn't a proper train between the two: you have to go all over the place and it takes 2.5 hours. There are a copuple of buses a day, taking 2 hours, and on a slightly more scenic route than the direct road. There is, though, a reasonable train service back to London from Gloucester

Harry Potter tours

http://www.britishtours.com/harry_potter.html

http://www.londontaxitour.com/london...otter-tour.htm

Our family recently stayed in So. Kensington. As already said, no one location is walking distance to the major sites. London IS huge! But the tube system is great and can get you just about anywhere very quickly. We stayed in 2 connected rooms at the Cranley Gardens hotel. I would not say it was any great value (89E per room), but then again, nothing seems to be a bargain in London (except the family tube pass). This hotel was pleasant, the rooms were on the small side but adequate. It was very clean, and quiet, walking distance to 2 tubes stops, the V&A museum, museum of nat'l history, harrods, many shops and restaurants. It's more of an upscale residential area but there are several smaller hotels. We were only there for a 3 full days and didn't do any Harry Potter things. We did take a hop on/off bus tour our first full day just to get orientated (and it was a nasty, rainy days). Through the bus tour, we purchased 'fast track' tickets to the tower of London (which was a mobe scene) and also took the included rivier cruise. We did a lot of walking in different neighborhoods. We went to teh V&A, Tate MOdern, British Museum, toured Shakespeare Globe, museum of design and saw 'complete shakespeare abrideged with discounted tickets. My kids loved London. I enjoyed the So. Kens area. I would have liked to have spent more time in the neighborhood, but our 3.5 days there just wasn't enough.

That should be 89GBP not 89E per room.

Elaine-
Thanks for those links - I've done all the google searches and contacted all the tour companies. The prices are outrageous and I'm trying to figure out, and get advice, to see if I can't just do some of the touring alone. For example, Oxford offers their own tours for a nominal price and I'm sure they'll cover the Harry Potter stuff.If I can just get there by myself, we'll take their tour. I'm hoping others have done the same or had experiences that will help me in planning mine.

Why do you need a tour?

You're not planning on going to the far-off locations, like Alnwick, Carnforth or the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Everything you're likely to have on your list in London, Oxford and Gloucester (if you head for there)is open to the public in exactly the same way as it is to tour groups, and your kids probably know the HP oeuvre better than any guide. Getting into Gloucester Cathedral requires no skill other than the ability to follow the "cathedral" signs from a Gloucester car park.

If they're old enough to read the books, they can plot out most of the logistics from the web.

Why not get them to sketch out a sequence of visits, using this forum for the occasional reality check?

PS: The web sites all seem to make one mistake. The establishing shot for The Station isn't Kings Cross. It's the next-door, truly extraordinary, St Pancras station. To see it from the outside, you need to emerge from KX station, fight the traffic and stand on the other side of Euston Road. Getting inside seems almost tricky at present, as there are messy construction works going on, but www.lcrproperties.com/html/bodies/spc/tours.html claims you can still get in.