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I’m SO excited to review this tour. First of all, I’d describe myself as a middle-of-the-road Harry Potter fan. I’ve read all of the books and I enjoy watching the movies about once a year in the fall, but by no means am I a super fan. I love the magic of Harry Potter and the whimsical creatures in the films. I love Hermione, Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape. But when planning my trip to London, this tour was sort of at the end of my to-do list. It was in the back of my mind as something we could do if we “got around to it”. But it ended up being one of the highlights of our entire trip!
My husband and I spent 15 days in England, 10 of which were spent hiking the entire 103-mile Cotswold Way trail. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of content coming for that whole experience. We weren’t sure if we were going to be too tired at the end of our journey to spend half a day on a Harry Potter tour outside of the city. But as the end of our trip was coming to a close, I wasn’t looking forward to going back into the busy city after a lovely and peaceful hike in the Cotswolds. Getting out of the city on a quiet bus ride actually sounded kind of nice. So, I booked the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour with Transport from London for the very last day of our trip. I’ve heard people talk about this tour selling out but somehow we got lucky! Our bus was completely full so maybe we got the last two spots! Though I think Viator books the buses on demand, so I’d just recommend booking at least a week in advance to make sure to secure your spot.
Ok, where do I begin! It was so much better than we expected! I’d read quite a few of the reviews and everyone seemed to think it was amazing, especially if you were a Harry Potter fan. But I was seriously questioning whether it was really going to be that great. Were we going to be bored? Were we going to feel out of place as 36-year-olds amongst young families and children? Was is going to be lame? But it was none of those things! We went on the early morning tour at 8:15am and got back to London around 3:00pm. After about an hour long bus ride, we were given from 9:15am to 2:00pm to do the full Harry Potter experience. Can you believe that we wished we had more time?! But I’ve been raving about this tour to everyone I know since we got home, so I’d be more than happy to go on it again if we ever go back to London with friends or family.
Now, one of the things some people complain about when it comes to this tour is that it is not a “guided” tour. Yes, the bus ride is simply a bus ride. There is no tour guide to talk to you on the bus ride and hype you up about the experience. It’s just a bus ride. Honestly, I enjoyed a nice and quiet bus ride. I put my headphones in and closed my eyes for an hour, which was much needed after our 10 day hike. When you get to the Warner Bros. studio, we were handed our tickets into the building and were told to meet back at the bus at 2 pm. There is no specified tour guide throughout the experience so you’re pretty much on your own. But we preferred that, as we were exhausted from our hike and just wanted a calm and quiet day. Once you get inside though, you realize that you’re about to go on an epic journey. There’s a huge dragon hanging from the ceiling right as you walk in! And if you’re parched or starving, there’s a little cafe with Butterbeer lattes and lots of snacks so I was immediately stoked. I’m glad we didn’t grab anything right away though because you aren’t allowed to bring drinks with you into the experience, so I’d recommend holding off until the cafeteria midway through the experience. Don’t worry, you can get your Butterbeer latte there too!
We waited in a small line for a few minutes before being ushered into a room where there was an introduction video into the experience. So while it’s not necessarily “guided”, the whole experience is set up to keep you moving throughout the entire thing. You start off in the Great Hall where you get to see the magical hanging candles, the long wooden tables, and real clothing and props worn by the characters. I wished we could have stayed in this room a little longer but the next tour group was coming in behind us so we were pushed out a little quickly. However, after this room, the rest of the day was fully at our leisure. We weren’t pushed along anymore and could take everything at our own pace.
Now, I don’t want to ruin or spoil the experience for you because part of why it was great was because I wasn’t expecting it. I’ll just include a handful of photos and let you experience it for yourself and be surprised along the way! But let’s just say you will be fully immersed in the world of Harry Potter. You will get to walk through Diagon Alley and the Forbidden Forest. You’ll see thousands of incredible props. You’ll learn about the insane attention to detail and the great lengths the cast and team went through to make the movies magical. I will say this, don’t stop and read every single plaque or you’ll run out of time! There’s SO much to see and do. Just do your best to keep moving along at a normal pace so that you can see everything. Once you’ve made it to the cafeteria, you’re about midway through. We ate our lunch relatively quickly because I was anxious to keep moving along and I’m so glad we did. At the end, we were rushing a little bit because I wanted some time in the gift shop. Unfortunately, my husband is extremely slow and wanted to read every single sign and plaque, so we ended up with only about two minutes in the gift shop. I was the last one back on the bus after buying a few wands and treats for my friends and family back home. Luckily, the line at the gift shop moved quickly. Oops… sorry to anyone riding on our bus if you had to wait for me!
Butterbeer Doughnut & Cafeteria Area
SO, WOULD I RECOMMEND THIS TOUR?
Umm, YES!!! It was an absolute blast. I came home wanting to watch documentaries about the making of Harry Potter because I just didn’t realize how much work went into making them. Somehow, this whole experience made me an even bigger Harry Potter fan. And I never felt bored, lame, or embarrassed for going on the tour either. There were people of all ages from all over the world on the tour. And honestly, not as many kids as I would have expected. Just genuine Harry Potter fans of all ages. And! I finally got to try Butterbeer and even got a Butterbeer cupcake AND a Butterbeer doughnut. It was nice that the cafeteria had vegan and vegetarian options as well. I got a vegan burrito and it was actually pretty good! While it seemed a little pricey when we first booked it, I now realize WHY it costs about $150 a person. Warner Bros. has worked extremely hard to make the experience magical for everyone and I will never forget it. I’m so glad they have forever encapsulated the incredible props and history behind the making of these films. Plus, it was so nice that I didn’t have to worry about finding my own transportation out to the studio. Just as a tip though, make sure you click through the app all the way through to your ticket to find out the exact gate to meet at the train station. When we got to the Victoria bus station we didn’t realize how gigantic it was and we were wandering around for a while trying to find our bus. But once I looked at the final ticket on our app, I saw the gate number and was able to find our bus. We almost missed it though, so just make sure you know the gate number! And give yourself an extra half hour when traveling to the bus station, just in case.
WERE THERE ANY CONS TO THE TOUR?
The only thing I’d say is that I wish we had more time! I think if the experience were just one hour longer we would have been able to enjoy those last few rooms a little better and would have had more time in the gift shop. But at the same time, it left me wanting more and I kind of love that. It wasn’t too long that I got bored and tired. It was exciting the whole way through and I never wanted to leave! Other than that, there was truly nothing negative about the experience! It was incredible.
I’m also bummed that I missed out on the Sorting Hat experience at the end because there was a line and I was rushing to the gift shop. But I’ve been playing the amazing Hogwarts Legacy video game (a GREAT gift idea for the Harry Potter fan in your life) and according to the Sorting Hat on there, I’m a Slytherin, which I’m kind of proud of. :) I’ve just always been obsessed with Draco!
If you’d like to book this exact tour, you can find it here or check out all of my recommended tours on my Viator shop page! If you’re planning on booking this for a large group, I’d make sure to book decently far in advance just to make sure it doesn’t sell out. If you’d like to see more photos from this tour, you can see more here on my travel blog, C’est Le Brie, that I run with my sister! If you have any questions/comments/thoughts please feel free to leave them below! I’ll be posting a full video about this tour soon too, so stay tuned!
Have a magical day!
<3 Myles Katherine
