Warner Bros Studio Tour London

Leavesden was an aircraft factory converted to film studios, and the eight Harry Potter films were made there between 2000 and 2010. Rather than destroying the sets, Warner Bros kept them and opened the tour in 2012. What is on show is the genuine material: the Great Hall set, Dumbledore's office, the Gryffindor common room, Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts Express on a platform with the original carriage, thousands of props from the graphics department, and a 1:24 model of the castle built for exterior shots that was later used to create the digital version. The Forbidden Forest and a Ministry of Magic set were added later. Butterbeer is sold, non-alcoholic and extremely sweet.

What you actually see

• The Great Hall - the original set, entered as the first stop.
• Diagon Alley - the shopfront street built for the films.
• The castle model - a 1:24 scale Hogwarts used for exterior shots.
• The prop archive - thousands of hand-made items from the graphics team.

When to go

Year-round; tickets must be booked in advance for a timed slot and sell out weeks ahead, particularly in school holidays. Seasonal dressings, Hogwarts in the Snow in winter and a Dark Arts version at Halloween, change parts of the tour.

Honest expectations

Walk-up entry does not exist and tickets sell out well ahead. The tour takes three to four hours and involves a lot of walking. It is expensive, and the shop at the end is unavoidable and costly. Getting there from central London takes about an hour each way.

Nearby

Watford is the nearest town; central London is an hour away by train and shuttle.