I was given a ticket by See Your City to go on their Harry Potter walking tour around some of the filming locations and places that inspired JK Rowling.
The tour date happens to be on the hottest day of the year so far, making a two hour walk through London pretty wonderful.
At the start of the tour we were sorted into houses by our tour guide Tom. I was given Slytherin. Being a textbook Ravenclaw I was not pleased. But it’s better than being a Hufflepuff.
The tour began outside of the Cursed Child. We weaved our way through Soho, seeing the gateway the dementors fly down, and some of the locations which inspired JK Rowling when she lived in London. I loved seeing these little back streets that I had no idea existed even though I’ve walked thought those bits of Soho and Covent Garden so many times before.
The tour involved taking in a lot of the sights of central London. The tourists visiting on the tour we’re really happy to take in these views, and I think it would really benefit people from outside of London who might be seeing these sights for the first time.
Our tour guide Tom was good at pointing out different aspects of the places we visited. We staged photos replicating scenes from the film with a mini Ron.
He was also good at showing us things around the city we may have missed, like how there’s an artist (who I later discovered is Ben Wilson) who decorates dropped bits of chewing gum on the Millennium Bridge. It’s a cute way of improving the fact that some people are disgusting.
As well as the famous sights and locations around London we also saw some of the less glam, like the shutters in Borough Market which was the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in the films.
At Kings Cross we had a final spot quiz and Slytherin rose victorious!
Inside the station I finally had my photo taken at the Platform 9 3/4 trolley. And I went to see the location used in filming. Although I had to wait ages for a photo as people kept standing in the way! Pffft, muggles!
However, I do have a confession to make. When we were travelling between Embankment and Blackfriars I suggested I’d walk since I know the way. This is a half truth. I was also using the walk to check out of the Victoria Beckham x Target sale. I rejoined the tour at the station and bought items. I regret nothing.
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