1.London
3 Days in London
Finally Accepted to Hogwarts: aka. Day 1
*For just the highlights of the London Trip head to Abbey Road page
Any seasoned traveller will tell you there is nothing better than staying with friends and I was stoked to be staying with an old pal in Peterborough. Having a personal tour guide is great and it’s easy enough to see all the main London Hot spots in a day. I personally love seeing the Harry Potter locations. As a big HP fan (shout out to my Hufflepuffs on Pottermore) it’s so magical stepping into King’s Cross Station and running to platform 9 ¾ to take some mean muggle pictures. We had our own little photoshoot and the photographers there are so fun. Other great HP locations: Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley (Leadenhall), and the millennium bridge the Death Eaters destroy.
Then we did the staples: Big Ben, The London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul’s Church, Camden Market and Regent’s park. Now I’ll be honest, at first I didn’t think London would impress me, especially Big Ben. I assumed these were overrated, but when you stand next to that giant clock in all it’s grandeur , it really is magnificent.
Later at Buckingham palace, we stood outside the gates yelling for our girl Liz (Queen Elizabeth, to those not in her squad).
Secret Gardens
Next stop: the secret (not so secret) Garden, Neale’s Yard. There is a discrete door on the main streets of London that leads you to a colourfully bricked strip of boutique shops and quaint food establishments. The yard is very small, but great for a quick bite…plus let’s be real, the funnest part is going through a secret gateway and finding it. I’m 25 years old, but secret passageways will never stop being fun.
YER A WIZARD KAILEE
And FINALLY I was accepted into Hogwarts when we attended the Universal Studio Tour (you can purchase tickets here). It’s about 60$ CAD a person. This was something I was most excited about, but funnily enough my travelling soul mate hates Harry Potter. She only agreed to go with me because as mature adults we know travel is about compromise. In fact, this scene from Parks and Rec is us:
As we sat in a room watching the HP actors talk about their experience, I couldn’t help but get a little teary eyed, after all Harry Potter is a very nostalgic thing for many millennials (Fun fact when I first saw Harry Potter I was in the third grade and I had the biggest crush on Harry). The screen dropped and the doors to Hogwarts Great Hall appeared out of nowhere, LEGIT MAGIC.
My muggle heart was overjoyed, not to forget to mention it was Halloween so the hall had been decorated with Pumpkins and all the spooky works. I won’t give too much away about what we saw inside, but for any HP fan, even for my travel buddy who hates it, it was an enchanting time. You don’t have guides through this experience and you can go at your own pace, I would recommend at least a min of 2 hours aside for the experience and pictures.
To read more about our time in London, check out our Windsor day trip, and our last day at Abbey Road. Or feel free to comment your favourite spot in London, or even better your Hogwarts house! Fun Fact, my patronus on Pottermore is a peacock and it’s hilarious!
