The success of the Harry Potter
films has resulted in a spate of tour operators organising tours of Harry
Potter film locations – and don’t forget there’s a third Harry
Potter film coming out in June 2004. There’s no reason why you cannot
see some of these locations yourself without joining a tour. Here is where
some of Harry Potter’s movie locations can be found:

Hogwarts school was shot in and
around Lacock Abbey with some additional computer graphics to add to the
mystery. Some of the scenes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the
third soon to be released movie were shot around the narrow streets and
stalls of south London’s Borough Market – a favourite movie set where
much of Bridgit Jones was filmed.

Platform 9-¾ was filmed at
London’s main line station, King’s Cross between platforms 4 and 5. This
is where Hogwarts students catch the train to Hogwarts boarding school. These
days you will see, as the Beetle did the other day, a simple Platform 9-¾
sign hanging on a brick wall in a corner of the station. The adjoining
railway station, the Gothic-style St. Pancras, was used for exterior shots. Australia
House in central London provides the façade for Gringott’s Bank.

Various sites around Oxford were
used in the first two films. Christchurch College was a model for the
Hogwarts dining hall. Parts of the Bodleian Library were used for Hogwarts
school scenes (the Divinity School as the Hogwarts hospital wing; Duke Humfrey’s
Library as the Hogwarts library. The cloister and other parts of 900 year old
Gloucester Cathedral were used in Hogwarts scenes. Up in the north
east of England, the exterior of Alnwick Castle was used for Hogwarts’ Quidditch
games and flying classes.

• The British tourist office can
  provide information, including a map of some Harry Potter film locations (0800-462-2748)
  or go to www.travelbritain.org/moviemap).
• Warner
  Brothers’ official Harry Potter movie site has previews and more: www.harrypotter.com.
• The BBC has Web pages with useful information and photos on Harry Potter
  sets, including Lacock, Oxford and Gloucester. See: www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/harry_potter/index.shtml