Help me plan a weekend to the Harry Porter studio tour!

[Starbrightmoonlight]

Booking for dc1s birthday.. Traveling to & from Luton Airport in April. Arriving Fri evening, studio sat home sunday..
Firstly is it worth it? Dc1 will be 11 & is a huge fan.
Secondly where is the nearest hotel?
Thirdly we'd like to go somewhere really nice to eat for dcs birthday, is a trip to St Albans worth it?
And lastly hoping to get a 9am slot in the studio, how long can we stay there ?
Tia

We went a few years ago but we came down from Yorkshire so we did Cadbury's world on the way there. There is a premier inn a short drive away where we stayed. We had a morning slot at the studio.

Definitely worth it, it’s amazing. Start saving for the shop now, though, as theres so much and it’s very expensive.

We stayed at the Hilton, Watford, but when I go again (when, not if!) I’d probably opt for the Premier Inn, which was near to the station and had a service where you can leave your luggage for the day.

You can catch the bus to the studio outside Watford station. They play a video on the way there that the kids will enjoy.

The timeslots are for the very start of the tour (no spoilers but it’s brilliant) as numbers are capped for the start. Once you’re in, you can spend as long as you want as it’s a self-guided tour. It took us most of the day tbh by the time we’d seen everything and shopped.

Have fun, you’ll love it! My only regret is I wanted a robe to wear and wish I’d bought one now as the green would have gone very well with my wedding dress 😉

Yes, he will love it. St Albans is a good shout for a meal too as the surrounding towns are less interesting. You might be better actually staying near St Albans and just getting a taxi in to the studios on the Saturday unless you are hiring a car which would make your stay much easier. There are good shops, restaurants, the Verulamium museum and the cathedral to see in St Albans so you could easily fill your free time there.

We were there recently and it opened at 9.30, first tour was 10am. Totally worth it, my DC loved it. Take plenty of money for the gift shop though, its extortionate.

I took DD (then 7) last year, we got the 9am tour and finished at about 2pm - we could have easily stayed longer as DD didn't want to listen to everything on the audio tour 🙄

We spent a fortune in the gift shop (thankfully it was just after Christmas so she more or less spent all of her Christmas money and not too much of mine!).

@CaveMum Is the audio bit worth it, please?

Yes I thought it was, but I like those kind of extras!

Premier Inn Watford North is closest.

We always do the earliest slot and then are kicked out at closing (8? 9?). Easy to spend a whole day there. We love it.

We take a picnic with us and just buy butterbeer to drink.

totally worth it! we took DD in January for her 12th birthday, we got there at 11 and we're there till nearly 6.
We'd told grandparent we were going so they gave her money to spend in the shop, which was good as it's huge
We did get the audio things but none of used them - but there's loads to see
there's a cafe at the start/end and also one about halfway round where they sell butter beer and butter beer ice cream. the cafe was busy so we just made do with ice cream, then had cakes in the main cafe when we came out (we'd had big breakfast in hotel at start of the day)
we travelled down from Scotland to central London on the Friday, did the studio tour on Saturday and then went back on Sunday
so staying in central London could be a possibility for you perhaps - gives you more options for where to stay/eat and really easy to get out to the studio via public transport - just get train to Watford and then take the free shuttle bus
but even DH - who is no fan of the boy wizard - was really impressed by the studio

We take a picnic with us and just buy butterbeer to drink.

Just buy one between you in case you don't like it. We both found it utterly revolting and sickly sweet. There is a large wet waste barrel nearby for a very good reason.

Ooh I'm so jealous, I can't wait to go again! You can easily spend all day there, I like how they control the amount of people so that although it's busy. It doesn't feel overcrowded. The bus from Watford station felt like it was all part of the fun so try to do that as well if you can. Easy to get there from central London (even though it's in Hertfordshire!) so I'd stay there and get the train in if you can.

Thanks so much! Think we're going to London later in the year to do the touristy bits so think we'd like to go to st albans or Watford from Luton.. The Premier inn sounds good! Flying home the Sunday night! Are st Albans or watford worth it for a little trip?

Butterbeer ice-cream is much nicer than the drink.

We stayed at a premier inn in Btickett Woods, St Albans in an old water mill, and ate at the Waffle House which was great fun and good food. You'd need a car though.

A trip for what reason? st Albans is more quaint and has Roman ruins, Watford more of a standard urban centre. Hemel Hempstead has an indoor snow slope with skiing and snow tubing.

Watford is the devils armpit. Truly depressing. Id recommend Hertford instead, but still not masses to do tbf.