Where Can Harry Potter Fans Explore Film Locations in Scotland? A Must-Visit Itinerary

The Harry Potter universe has been conquering the world since the late 1990s and the success of the saga has made the young wizard and his adventures one of the world’s most successful franchises. Even years after the end of the saga, the world of wizards lives on in prequels like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the award-winning play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

But where did it all begin? J.K. Rowling has revealed that she drew inspiration for the settings of the books and filming locations from her home country: the United Kingdom, but more specifically from Scotland. So join us on a magical tour of Scotland to discover the wizarding world of Harry Potter, the boy who lived!

A stroll down Edinburgh’s Diagon Alley

Of course, we can’t enter the world of magic without being well-prepared. So where better place to start than Victoria Street, Edinburgh’s most beautiful street which is said to have inspired the famous Diagon Alley. Walking along its cobbled street and exploring its colourful shopfronts you can imagine how this 18th-century thoroughfare could be transformed into a bustling street full of wizards shopping for everything from broomsticks to potions textbooks. Here you’ll also find Gringotts Bank, run by the goblins. The resemblance with the film set of Warner Studios in London is uncanny!

The Balmoral Hotel, where the saga came to an end

At 1 Princes Street, also in the centre of Edinburgh, we find the luxurious Balmoral Hotel. Opened in 1902, the building is visible from different parts of the city thanks to its iconic clock tower.

You can stroll through the lobby and sit down in the very café of the hotel where Rowling wrote the last chapters of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007. A very special place for Potterheads to visit.

Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Hogwarts Railway

It doesn’t take much to recognise the Glenfinnan Viaduct as the famous Hogwarts Express. This magnificent train is a familiar scene in the films when the students return to Hogwarts for a new year of adventures. Well, it turns out that this railway actually exists, only in the Muggle world it’s called the Jacobite train.

On board the train you’ll enjoy the scenery of the Scottish Highlands and admire Rannoch Moor as you feel like a wizard on your way to the world’s most famous school of magic and wizardry.

The Triwizard Tournament at Loch Shiel

Do you remember the film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? During the Triwizard Tournament, the most prestigious and talented young wizards from the wizarding schools competed to emerge victorious in various events. One of the most impressive of these takes place at Loch Shiel, located 20 kilometres from Fort William.

This beautiful Highland loch is where the second underwater task was filmed. However, if you don’t quite remember this scene, don’t worry, the location will still ring a bell as it also appears in the background of many other moments in the films, such as when Harry Potter flies over it when riding Buckbeak the hippogriff. And best of all, you can see it on board the Jacobite train!

Steall Falls and a dragon ride

Following on from the fourth installment of the young wizard’s adventures, our Harry Potter tour of Scotland includes the Falls of Steall.

In front of these crystal-clear waters, the ‘boy who lived’ finds himself chased by a Hungarian Horntail. Yes, the dragon that stars in his first trial in the Triwizard Tournament. We hope he’s not stalking you when you visit this place…

Loch Eilt, the resting place of the most powerful wizard of all time

A little further north of Loch Shiel is Loch Eilt, a place that will give you goosebumps. Why? It was used as a film set to recreate the grave of one of the most famous wizards of all time, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Undoubtedly one of the saddest losses of the saga.

The island of Eilean na Moine, in the western part of this Highland loch, is the resting place of the former headmaster of Hogwarts School, and the site of one of the saga’s creepiest, darkest and most hopeless scenes, when the Elder Wand is stolen by none other than Voldemort himself.

George Heriot’s School and its links with Hogwarts

We return to Edinburgh and invite you to visit the exterior of George Heriot’s School, one of the most prestigious schools in the UK. Its importance on this Harry Potter tour of Scotland lies not so much in its appearance but in its philosophy.

The school has an interesting reward system for its students, and also divides its students into different houses. This may have inspired J.K. Rowling to devise the competitive system that is maintained each school year between Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

Greyfriar Cemetery and Harry Potter characters

If you do the Harry Potter free tour of Edinburgh, you’ll visit Greyfriar Cemetery. By reading the names on the gravestones you’ll discover some very familiar surnames.

On the stone inscriptions, you’ll find names that sound familiar… Thomas Riddell, William McGonagall and Elizabeth Moodie. He Who Must Not Be Named, the Transfiguration teacher and Mad-Eye Moody seem to have relatives buried in this cemetery. Could it be a coincidence? Surely not!

Loch Etive, a Harry Potter camping trail through Scotland

The Harry Potter trail through Scotland goes on and on. We point you to another important loch for the young wizard, Loch Etive. This is where the trio of friends camp out in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I on their relentless search for Horcruxes.

Some tourists have managed to take photos that mimic this scene from the film as camping is allowed in this area. Want to feel like Harry, Ron and Hermione? Now you can set up camp just like these three young wizards close to this magnificent lake.

EXTRA! Harry Potter castles, less than two hours from Scotland

Missing any castles on this Harry Potter tour of Scotland? Less than two hours drive from Edinburgh, leaving this nation behind and entering England, you can find several examples of buildings that were used to film various Hogwarts exterior scenes.

Don’t miss a trip to Alnwick Castle, where the first quidditch lesson in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone takes place, or Durham Cathedral, where you’ll recognise the Hogwarts courtyards in the cloisters.