LiteraryTrip guides

Harry Potter's London: a walking route through the real locations

Walk the London of Harry Potter, from the Leaky Cauldron door in Leadenhall Market to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross, with book locations, film locations and fiction kept clearly separate.

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Who this is for

Harry Potter readers and film fans who want a self-guided walk through central London that separates real places, filming locations and fiction.

What this approach helps with

  • One walkable central route from the City to King's Cross, with every street stop free.
  • Book locations and film locations labeled honestly, stop by stop.
  • Practical notes on queues, access and what you can actually see.

A practical path

  1. 01

    Leadenhall Market and Stoney Street

    The Victorian arcades of Leadenhall Market played Diagon Alley in the first film, and the blue door of a former optician's in Bull's Head Passage was the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. In Prisoner of Azkaban the pub's doorway moved to Stoney Street, beside Borough Market, under the railway bridge.

  2. 02

    Millennium Bridge, Lambeth Bridge and the Ministry

    Death Eaters bring down the Millennium Bridge at the start of the Half-Blood Prince film, the Knight Bus squeezes between two buses on Lambeth Bridge, and the corner of Great Scotland Yard and Scotland Place is where the red telephone box marked the visitor entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Westminster station, which Harry uses on his way to his hearing, is a short walk away.

  3. 03

    Piccadilly Circus to King's Cross and Claremont Square

    The trio disapparate into Piccadilly Circus in the first Deathly Hallows film. The walk ends at King's Cross, where the books place the barrier to Platform 9 3/4 between platforms 9 and 10 and a luggage trolley waits in the main concourse for the classic photo, beside the Harry Potter shop. A short detour north reaches Claremont Square, the Islington square the films' 12 Grimmauld Place exterior was based on, while St Pancras next door provides the films' station exterior and the flying Ford Anglia scene.

Frequently asked questions

Is Platform 9 3/4 a real platform?

The barrier is fiction, but King's Cross is real and leans into it: a trolley half-buried in the wall stands in the main concourse for photos, next to a dedicated Harry Potter shop. Go early and on weekdays to avoid the longest queues.

Are these book locations or film locations?

Both, and this route keeps them separate. The books put the Leaky Cauldron on Charing Cross Road and the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross. Most other stops, from Leadenhall Market to Piccadilly Circus, are real filming locations from the eight films; Claremont Square inspired the Grimmauld Place set rather than appearing on screen.

Does the route cost anything?

The street stops are all free. The Reptile House at London Zoo, where Harry first speaks to a snake in the first film, charges entry, and the Warner Bros Studio Tour is in Leavesden outside London and needs to be booked well in advance.