I am sure that you’re all aware of my love for Harry Potter by now. It verges on obsessive to be quite honest, I adore it! I’m a proud Hufflepuff through and through. Kind and Loyal although I am not so sure about the patient part…
Recently, Strawberry Tours got in touch with me and asked if I wanted to attend a free tip-based Harry Potter tour around London. Obviously, I said YES! Keep reading to find out more… Muggles are allowed to read too!
So, Let’s start with a little bit of information about Strawberry Tours. First of all, what a cute name! Secondly, FREE? It must be too good to be true?!
Strawberry Tours offer free tip-based tours around Europe and specifically London. You get to pay how much you think that the tour was worth. They believe in providing the public with free knowledge and experiences. You should be able to experience everything that London has to offer no matter what your budget is. You pay for what you feel is correct without judgment.
*This blog post is kindly in collaboration with Strawberry tours and I did not pay a single penny for this tour. I loved every single minute of it however and would highly recommend it regardless of a collaboration.
Okay, disclaimers and background out of the way. Let’s talk HARRY POTTER!
There is a full vlog all about the tour which can be found HERE. However, in this post, I will include some pictures and further context on the tour and some fun facts that I picked up on the tour.
The tour started off at Leicester Square. This was where we met our lovely tour guide and got to know her. Olivia is in an actress living in London. In her spare time, she acts alongside showing tourists around London and educating them into our beautiful and interesting city.
The tour went around London showing some locations shot in the films and some that inspired both the books and films. I found it so interesting and picked up some new Harry Potter facts about my beautiful city.
The main locations to note that we visited were; The inspiration behind both Diagon and Knockturn Alley, The Ministry Of Magic, Visitors and Staff entrances. I also visited St Pancras after the tour which if you remember, was where Harry and Ron drove their flying car to Hogwarts after missing the train! What a nightmare those two went through…
Harry : “Ron, I should tell you, most Muggles aren’t exactly accustomed to seeing a flying car.”
Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrects – 2002
Some stories and facts that I picked up on the tour and loved!
Alan Rickman was one of the most generous and kind-hearted actors. He would constantly raise or donate money to charity. He also paid around £45,000 for a young actor to go to acting school. He believed that even if he didn’t become a professional actor in this very competitive industry, he had the right to try and gain training!
Cecil Court inspires Diagon Alley. It even has a shop that sells real magic books! How cool is that? It’s right by ‘Knockturn Alley’ too!
The cast originally wanted to film in the Knockturn Alleys inspiration Goodwin court but unfortunately, it was far too small to do so!
Hardy’s sweet shop in London inspires Honey Dukes. They do also sell every flavor beans and chocolate frogs!
In the real Ministry Of Magic filming location, there were no black bollards. One hard-working man had to go and dig each one up. A few days later they were reinstated by the same man. They looked too modern for the shot apparently.
The red phone booth was only for filming purposes. How sad!
The royal police horses are located at the end of the street. Sometimes they pop their heads out to say hello – CUTE!
A fact from me – Rupert Grint’s sister went to my school and Rupert would sometimes pick her up. Sadly, I never met him and it wasn’t in his flying car either!
St Pancras hotel is where Ron’s stolen blue flying car flew over. They missed the Hogwarts Express so drove to school instead. Naughty!
The Crew! 
Thank you Olivia!
Me and my friends had such a great time on the Harry Potter tour. Thank you so much to our tour guide Olivia for all of the interesting facts, laughs, and tour. Thank you to Strawberry Tours for getting in touch also.
We had a magical time!
Strawberry Tours offer a range of free tip-based tours where you choose the cost no matter what your budget. I couldn’t recommend them enough! The staff are so friendly, tours interesting and costs affordable – of course!
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