The Harry Potter Studio Tour: Top Tips
The Harry Potter Studio Tour is a must for any Harry Potter fan so I thought I'd share my top tips for making the most out of your day!
Tip Number One
Travelling by train is super easy and relatively cheap. Trains go from London Euston every 20 minutes and the fast trains only take 15 minutes. From there, right outside the entrance, with clearly signposted directions, is a bus to the location. Not only is the return bus only £2.50 but it's quick, drops you right outside the entrance, comes every 20 minutes (maximum) but most importantly starts the tour. It has Harry Potter decorations and then inside the bus, it plays a video introducing the tour and giving some behind the scenes information by the actor who played Lucius Malfoy.
Tip Number Two
There is a free cloakroom. I repeat FREE! Most places charge but the cloakroom is cheap, well organised and really easy to use. My mum brought her suitcase and they very happily took it with great customer service. To be quite honest, I think the whole tour facility is very well organised. A lot of places nowadays very clearly do it as a business and are out to make money at every opportunity possible. Here they make the pictures available at a price but regardless you can still do all the experiences without paying anything in advance. Also, it was never made to feel like a rushed experience. You could easily spend all day there. Additionally, as mentioned in my review, there were 2 separate cafes, one in and one out of the tour but both of which were reasonably priced - except the Butterbeer!
Tip Number Three
They don't even look at the ticket time. We could have easily gone in hours earlier. It was a bit of a shame actually, because we had a slight mix up with all the train times so totally had to rush through the last part of the tour to get back in time. Not that it's got anything to do with the actual tour but we got back an hour early and then the train was half an hour delayed so we could have spent longer but you live and learn.
Tip Number Four
Leave yourself plenty of time. It was a bit of a shame that we had a train to get back for but had we thought about it in advance, we would have headed in much earlier and then had a chilled day. As a side point, don't trust the staff in terms of timing. None of them seem to know at which point the middle of the tour is or how far way through you are. I would say, once you reach past The Forbidden Forest you're about half way through but the second half goes much quicker as there is less to read. If you want to get a video on a broom, give yourself an extra half an hour as the queues are long. Also, note that some of the extras are payable for example pictures and videos.
Tip Number Five
Don't go into the shop first. The shop inside the tour is cheaper and less crowded but also has a few different pieces. Not only that but the tour ends at the shop and it's quite a nice way to round off the trip.
Tip Number Six
Don't take little kids. This may be a little controversial but I genuinely think it would be a complete waste of time and money to take anyone that can't read well because the true nature of the experience is to read and learn about the behind the scenes. I'm not saying that they wouldn't enjoy it but I do think it's better suited for those older and more appreciative.
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