Help me with a day to Harry Potter in London?!

[Frettybetty18]

Hi, we are in ROI & I would love to take my DDs to London for an over night stay in December. I plan on the main event being a trip to Harry Potter land/studios which they are obsessed with.

I know nothing about London, so I need help with Hotels, transport, things to see & anything else you can suggest.

I am on a budget of about £600 all in including flights which I've priced at about £240.

[FeelingSmurfy]

Kings cross train station has a harry potter shop (some different things that you can't get at studio shop) and a photo op of a trolley going in to wall. They take photos for you but happy for you to take your own

I would buy some harry potter sweets on Amazon now and take with you, could get 3 different things for each for the price you would pay for one in the studio shop. Nice little surprise and means you get to treat them instead of them being disappointed

[TheoriginalLEM]

OK, well firstly Harry Potter Studios isn't in London, but just outside in watford. I thought it was in London too, i don't know why they lead people to think that. Its doable on the train though and i think they run a bus service from the nearest train station.

Really important - you MUST book in advance, they absolutely do not do entrance where you just turn up. They get booked up ridiculously early so book as soon as you can. If the date you want to go is booked up, you can often get in on a cancellation, its worth checking the website daily as we got in on DDs brithday this way, booked it the week before we went despite it being fully booked months in advance.

You will need to set the whole Day aside for HP, they give time slots and are open until 10pm, we were inside for about four hours. It is a total money pit but it is amazing.

Another tip - one butter beer for the whole family is more than enough!

I'd consider doing the museums on the first day but as you are only there for a day, this will take up alot of time. So what about an open top bus tour as that will encompass all the major sites. Some of them are themed. Im not sure if there is a harry potter one. They are pricey though and a travel card and a map will acheive the same thing, you can hop on and hop off the buses (be warned, they don't take actual money again, im sure someone will come along and tell you what bus to take). Alternatively a trip along the south bank is brillant and free if you don't mind walking.

Can't help with accomodation, im sure somone will be along to give advice.

[StormCoat]

You'll struggle with that budget for a London hotel, OP. If the HP studio is the real point of the trip, why not stay somewhere near Watford, which will be cheaper, spend your first full day at the studio, and then go into central London for a day trip?

There are free, vaguely HP-related things you could go to see in central London, like platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross, but it would only really be a matter of taking your children to locations from the films (doesn't something happen on the footbridge from St Paul's to the Tate? And a scene in Borough market? And I gather Diagon Alley is sort of/possibky based on Cecil Court) but your children might be a bit miffed to be shown ordinary streets/bridges. You'll know best yourself.

Search on here for HP studio threads -there have been several, with useful info.

[tribpot]

Yes, very important not to turn up in London and ask where the Harry Potter studio is. It's not there!

When we've visited I've stayed at the Holiday Inn Hemel Hempstead which is pleasant and has a pool. However, it is a motorway junction hotel so may not be great for you if you don't have a car. (I'm sure you could easily taxi it from there to Harry Potter, though).

Try to get tickets for the first time slot of the day at Harry Potter. You first see a short movie and are taken through the Great Hall, and then they open the doors on the first sound stage, basically a massive warehouse-sized room full of wonderful stuff. The second time we went, ds and I bombed straight to the end of this first room, to where the green screen area is where you can be videoed on a broomstick and fun things like that, because the first time we went the queue was an hour and a half long. We had massively overreacted (in fact the people manning the green screen bit were somewhat shocked to see anyone there!) - even when we finished no-one else had even arrived However, it's still worth doing it that way round, to beat the queues - the sound stage is huge and you can visit stuff in any order, the only limitation is that once you exit the sound stage you can't go back in. So don't feel the need to follow the herd.

HP is going to take up a big chunk of one day, so whether you go into London at all is up to you. If you do, there are the obvious very touristy things like the London Eye (plus next door the Aquarium, the London Dungeon and Shrek's Adventure). However, keeping up the Harry Potter theme you could also visit the Millennium footbridge which features at the start of Half Blood Prince. This is between St Paul's cathedral and Shakespeare's Globe and near HMS Belfast and Tate Modern. Alternatively I have seen actual 'Harry Potter tours' advertised, which take you to the locations used in the various films, I have no idea how good these are.

It will be a lot cheaper to base yourselves outside London and head in by train. Once you're there, under 11s are free on London transport, and you can use a contactless card to pay (NB I don't know if it has to be a UK-registered contactless card, worth checking).

[Frettybetty18]

Thanks, great tips I'll get on Amazon now then.

Ah it's in Watford. Ok I'll look into staying there then & do London on the 2nd day before we fly home.

Can I get the train straight from Gatwick airport to Watford? Is the station close to the airport?

[Frettybetty18]

Oh Tri thank you that's great! I can see am going to need to spend a lot of time researching for this. I'll get the tickets booked ASAP.

[AsTimeGoesBy]

There is a Harry Potter trail in London, we bought the leaflet last time we were in London but we didn't get time to do it.

[tribpot]

Do you need to fly into Gatwick? Luton would be a lot more convenient. But no, you can't get there direct from Gatwick by train, you would need to go into London and out again (from a different station). I would reckon, however, there are probably coach departures from Gatwick that would put you a lot nearer if you do have to fly into Gatwick.

Definitely book the studio tour first and then you can plan around that.

[PseudoBadger]

Can you fly to Luton?

[PseudoBadger]

Sorry for x post I was on the tube!

[TheoriginalLEM]

Astimegoesby - where did you get the harry potter trail from? my DD would love that and we struggle to get her to "do" london, apart from the museums etc.

[AsTimeGoesBy]

We bought it in the famous map shop in Covent Garden whose name eludes me, will try and find it later gor more detail.

[AsTimeGoesBy]

It was this www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00SLTO2U6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1442060856&sr=8-3&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=louis%27%20london%20walk&dpPl=1&dpID=51gRlTXvs8L&ref=plSrch&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 but I paid £2.50 for it in Stamfords (price sticker still on )

[HarrietVane99]

Re London bus rides, the no. 11 is very good for seeing the sights. You can pick it up near Victoria Station or at Liverpool Street, or anywhere en route. See the tfl.gov website for details of the route, and lots of other useful info.

The no. 15 is also a good one. Trafalgar Square to Tower Hill. Sometimes you get an old Routemaster on that route, instead of a modern bus.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the tourist buses.

Depending on where you're going in central London, lots of places are in walking distance of each other, so get a good street map and wear comfortable shoes!

[Frettybetty18]

Hi sorry I haven't had a chance to check the flights/tickets yet but it's great getting all this info!

I went on to Amazon and purchased some sweets & hoodies for the girls to take with them.

My mum & dad have decided they would like to come along to but they will stay & do some sightseeing in London while we go to Harry Potter.

They are both quite immobile so need a central hotel & walking is pretty much out if the question so the bus is necessary. Mum wants to see Buckingham Palace & Harrods.

[HarrietVane99]

Not sure how well your parents will cope with buses if they have serious mobility problems. They will need to walk to and from bus stops, wait at stops etc. I don't think any bus goes right up to Buck Palace for example. And the buses can be very crowded.

[tribpot]

The buses are the most wheelchair-friendly I've seen but yes, they will be very crowded. I would think a bus tour leaving from somewhere like Victoria might be more practical, Harrods I just don't think is that doable. The blue route on Big Bus Tours goes past Harrods as well as Buckingham Palace.

[Floralnomad]

If you are in central London it's really not that expensive to use black cabs to get to and from places which may suit your parents better than the bus / tube .

[bilbodog]

I'm pretty sure there is a train between Watford and gatwick as we live near Watford and I thought we could do thus next time we travelled from gatwick check on line.

[Bunbaker]

There are no direct trains between Gatwick and Watford, but you can get a train and change at Clapham Junction. Gatwick airport is right next to the station - you walk from the concourse onto the platform.

Clapham Junction is big - it has 17 platforms and if your parents have mobility problems you might need to bring wheelchairs as it can be quite a long walk between platforms.

If you stay in London the Gatwick train will bring you into Victoria station - again a huge station with long platforms and a huge concourse.

When DD and I went to the Harry Potter Studios we stayed in Watford. The studios aren't far (3 miles), and there is a regular shuttle bus service between them and Watford Junction station.

Tip: the butterbeer is truly vile. There is a good reason why there is a wet waste barrel next to the stall selling it as most people have a mouthful or two and tip the rest away. The prices in the shop are horrific.

[JohnCusacksWife]

When we visited the Making of Harry Potter we stayed in central London - the Waterloo Premier Inn is v central (just by the London Eye) and was v reasonable when we visited (although we did book quite a bit in advance). We got the train from Euston to Watford and then the shuttle bus from Watford station to the attraction. All v easy & straightforward.

My tips would be - book an early arrival time to give yourself loads of time to enjoy it. The gift shop is extortionate so be warned. And don't drink the butterbeer!