How to Get to the Harry Potter Studio Tour London
Is the Harry Potter Studio Tour London on your bucket list?
Before you get too excited, you need to realise it’s not an easy place to visit. Sadly, it’s like Stonehenge because it’s isolated from everything.
Many people know about the Warner Bros Studio Tour where you can see so many treasures from the Harry Potter films. However, they don’t know the quest for getting there is worthy of its own adventure novel. Well, at least a chapter in one!
I was lucky to go with my British husband the first time I visited Warner Bros, because he drives. However, when I went to see Hogwarts in the Snow, the special Christmas event at the attraction, he wasn’t available to chauffeur.
Warner Bros Studio is 20 miles northwest of Central London. As an American living here since 2013, I haven’t tried driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road yet. I imagine most travellers to London aren’t renting or hiring cars for their holidays either. And to be fair, it’s not something I’d recommend either.
You can visit the Studio’s webpage for directions. However, they aren’t as simple as they appear. I’ve put together a list of what happens with each option.
Harry Potter Studio Tour London: Hire a Car
This is clearly the most expensive. When I entered the Central London location (Charing Cross Underground Station) on Uber to inquire about a cab price cab one way to the Warner Bros Studio, I received this result:
Ouch! Can someone get me a broomstick to try flying first? 😉
Google Maps estimated the drive to be 1 hour and 12 minutes. It also indicated there were toll roads.
Harry Potter Studio Tour London: Take Trains
The website indicates that public transport links serve the attraction and a shuttle bus from Watford Junction is available. The shuttle journey is a part of your entry ticket.
These facts are simple, but there’s a huge hole that’s missing that you need to know. The time in between making connections can be significant!
When I had to get there myself, I relied on public transportation and had a disaster which nearly caused me to miss the Hogwarts in the Snow experience.
I used the London Underground app, which I use daily. It estimated the journey to be 81 minutes with three station changes. I live in Zone 4 and had to travel in to Central London and back out to get to Watford Junction.
On the map below, the bottom arrow points to Charing Cross Station and the top arrow is to Watford Junction. So you can see, it’s quite a distance away.
What I didn’t consider, because I rarely use the Overground trains, is that these trains don’t run as rapidly as Underground trains. In fact, since an employee at a station gave me the wrong directions to a platform, I missed my train by one minute. The next one didn’t arrive for 20 more minutes.
When I did arrive at Watford Junction, luckily the shuttle to Warner Bros Studio had not left yet and was parked right outside the station. My friend had been waiting for nearly a half an hour in the rain in line to board the shuttle.
The shuttles travel between the station and the attraction at least every 30 minutes from 9.20am. We had tickets for the 9:00am tour but didn’t get to the Harry Potter Studio Tour London until 9:45am. If trains ran fluently, I would’ve arrived at Watford Junction at 8:15am.
Here’s the 2025 Adult Rate Finder by Zone for TfL so you can calculate your trip.
You would want to get a direct train from Euston Station, which is kind of between the two gold arrows on the map above.
Harry Potter Studio Tour London: Ride in a Coach
When I researched this option, I discovered Golden Tours is a preferred partner of the Warner Bros Studio Tour London. Their pickup locations are near Victoria Station, Baker Street Station and King’s Cross in Central London. Including transportation and time at the studio, the experience lasts approximately seven hours.
They are a fantastic tour company. However, there are several others that I feel are just as reputable. So, it’s up to you to choose the best option or package for you and your budget.
Harry Potter Studio Tour London: Drive Yourself
However, if you’re travelling from Warner Bros from outer London, or somewhere else in England, driving yourself would be the best of all options for a no hassle experience.
There is no need whatsoever to rent (hire) a car if you’ll only be in Central London for your holiday. Therefore, it would be silly to do so just for one day for the purpose of visiting the Harry Potter Studio Tour London.
Be Creative
Of course, there’s always a horse if you want to go old school.
Or maybe you might even try your luck jumping through Platform 9 3/4 if you’re feeling particularly inspired.
But, I would strongly suggest you look in to one of the above suggested options first, because this is as far as I got…
Hotels
If you haven’t booked your hotel yet for your London trip, here’s an interactive map to get you started! It’s based on the most central location in town.
Final Thoughts
No matter how you arrive, this attraction in London is absolutely worth the effort if you’re a fan of the Harry Potter books or Harry Potter movies.
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It definitely wasn’t as easy as I expected to get there. We accidentally hopped on the local train so it took double the time for us to get there! We arrived a little later than expected (and a few min after our tour time) but fortunately, we were still able to get in no problem.
Hello Rachel! Thank you for reading. Yes, it’s quite a tricky place to get too. They are pretty forgiving at the attraction, but if you plan to be there early to beat the crowds, you want to arrive within your scheduled time. Hopefully you enjoyed the studio while you were there and would recommend it to others visiting or living in London?
I’m traveling to London in September for the first time! Can’t wait! I was wondering if you could tell me if there are some “need to see” sights near the Warner Bros location, while we are there that day for the HP tour? Since it is a longer trek, we’d want to make it completely worth the trip!
Hi there. Thank you for reading. Unfortunately, there is nothing near the area. It’s quite a few zones away from Central London, so unless you planned a day trip in that direction in another city, you’re limited to just the Studio. It’s a great tour but it will take up nearly a whole day and there’s nothing to add to it in that area.
Thanks for this great post! Can you tell me how long your “round trip” was by using the Underground?
Thank you for all your great information! We are visiting London this summer and I’m trying to find a place to stay/neighbourhood that has easy access to both Heathrow and HP Universal. Would you be able to recommend a place? Is it silly to stay near Watford just so we don’t get lost getting to HP Universal and then be far from London attractions the rest of the time