Harry Potter studio from Scotland travel advice

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I'm looking to take DD to the Harry Potter studio in February. Planning to fly from Edinburgh but have a few questions about what airport it would be best to fly into and where to stay.

If any kind soul can help it would be very much appreciated.

We have a couple of options
1- stay in a hotel/apartment near the studio (which Airport would be best)
2-stay in central London (would have the option of a day in London then, but again which Airport is best.

Staying for 2 nights

Luton is closest but may not be the easiest route to access the studios by public transport. City will get you into central London.

Thanks, do you think it's best to stay near the HP studio or in central London?

There is not much else around HP so stay centrally and make the most of your part days.

Definelty stay in London proper. The studios are excellent, but probably 6hrs max so it's worth getting the train out to them on one of the days.

I'd probably take the sleeper down spend the day and night in London central. Train/ Shuttlebus to HP. I think Birmingham is just an hour away from watford junction ( closest station to HP) it might be easier to go home from there than any of the London airports.

The flights that are coming up are mainly flying into Gatwick. I flew into Gatwick before and stayed just off the Albert embankment (was only there for a night for a concert)
It was easy enough to get from Gatwick to the hotel.
Is it doable to stay in that location and get public transport to HP?

It’ll take a fair while from Gatwick, would have to travel into London and then back out to the studios.

I work next to HP World...unless you want to come and work at ASOS for the day there's nothing around there at all so agree with staying in London.

The closest airport is Heathrow...it's a lot closer to Heathrow than Gatwick.

What would your itinerary be though? Would you really be going from the airport straight to HP world or vice versa?

Or would you be going from airport -> hotel and then HP world on a different day?

Gatwick would be a PITA. It's the opposite side of London to where you want to be.

Could you fly from Glasgow instead and go to Heathrow?

We would do Airport- hotel and HP the next day.

I'll check Glasgow for flights. Edinburgh so handy for us though

If you're not going to HP World on the same day as either of your flights then it doesn't really matter whether the airport is near HP World or not as long as it's in Central London.

So for example - if you decide to do Gatwick and then are happy with staying near the Albert Embankment like you did last time it's reasonably straightforward to:

• Get to London Euston station
• Get train from there to Watford Junction
• Get the bus from there to HP World

Wherever you stay in Central London it's reasonably easy to get to Euston on the tube or by taxi if you don't like the tube.

Luton or Stanstead.
However a great alternative imo is city Airport!!! small quick and super easy.

You can stay a bit more centrally (maybe somewhere North of soho?

you can get the train from Euston to the studio so anywhere easilt accessible from there is good.
Camden is fun for an older child like 13 +

If Edinburgh is easy then I'd stick to Gatwick.

The Gatwick Express train takes you to London Victoria which is in the Westminster area near Buck Palace.

Anywhere within central London near a tube station would be easy to get to.

You'd go to Watford from London Euston station. That's nearer the British Museum kind of area so that's another area you could look at.

Do you have an app downloaded for the tube?

Also yes, as per PP Camden is also handy for Euston.

How about getting the train into King's Cross? Then you could see platform 9 3/4 and go to that lovely but expensive Harry Potter shop. Let the train take the strain as British Rail adverts used to go.

I'd get the train, it's only about 4 1/2 hours from Edinburgh, and I assume you're pretty near there if you're considering flying from the airport. You'd spend about the same amount time going by plane by the time you factor in time at the airport, the flight and travel into central London. It takes you into Kings Cross and there's plenty places to stay around there - the Premier Inn Hub is good.

Also Kings Cross is right next to Euston for the train out to the Harry Potter studio.

Train all day long. Door to door it will not take you that much longer than faffing about in departure airport, getting there, waiting for train to central London, travel to central London and getting to hotel (and vice versa for return journey) . If you book far enough ahead it’s competitively priced too.

You can fly from Edinburgh to all 5 of the London airports, check Skyscanner or Kayak for all airlines and prices. BA fly into Heathrow and Gatwick, Easyjet to Gatwick, Luton and Stanstead. Glasgow Airport routes and airlines are much the same as Edinburgh, so if you're flying it's about which airport is most convenient, and which are the cheapest flights.

LUTON

It’s 10 minutes from the studio. Not much in the area so wouldn’t rush to stay round there. Central London will be more fun if you’re planning on making a couple of days of it. Ok not sure you are likely to Spend 6 hours there. We were thoroughly done in 2.5.

Thanks everyone. I hadn't even considered the train as last time I checked it was so expensive!
I've just had a look though and it's still more expensive than the cheap flights but would probably work out about the same overall as cutting down on other transport

When we went we got the train. So much easier as goes directly into central London. Glasgow train in to Euston.

We stayed in an AirB&B in Camden, had 3 days in London and one at the Harry Potter studios. The tour took us about 5 hours. We also did South Kensington Museums, Covent Garden, Camden Lock, British Museum and the Lion King musical!

Hope you have a lovely time!

Thanks for all the advice everyone!
I have booked HP tickets and rooms at the hub at Kingscross.
Too early yet to book train tickets but there's always the option to fly into Gatwick then train from there directly to St Pancras so have a couple of options.

Yes you can use Thameslink from LGW to Kings Cross.