4 Day London Itinerary (for a Harry Potter Lover) – Part Two

Posted on March 4, 2019March 9, 2021 by Vicki

In true Harry Potter movie (and Harry Potter play) fashion, this post on a four-day itinerary in London for Harry Potter lovers was split into two parts. Click here to read Part One—where I covered the itinerary for Days 1 and 2, including an afternoon high-tea bus ride, the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play, and Buckingham Palace—or read on to learn about the itinerary for Days 3 and 4!

Day Three (Thursday):

We began our day with breakfast at our hotel and packed sandwiches and snacks for lunch. Then we walked to Victoria Coach Station, where we hopped on a bus that took us outside of London proper.

We were headed to Watford, to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. The tickets that we purchased included the round-trip bus ride from London, which was worth it because we didn’t have to find our own way up there, plus they had an added benefit that the bus showed a Harry Potter movie on the TVs.

The tour was incredible! It was self-guided, so you could take as much or as little time as you wanted to look at the artifacts and read their plaques. You were able to walk through actual movie sets, see real costumes and props, and feel like you were immersed in the world of Harry Potter. Every place you looked was a photo op.

Before the self-guided tour begins, an employee brings everyone through an introductory room where an awesome short documentary plays (sort of like how they do at theme parks). Then an employee guides the group to the “front entrance” of the tour, which is the doors to Hogwarts Castle’s Great Hall, and asks if anyone is celebrating something special. Hubby and I were there on our honeymoon, of course, so we were selected to push open the doors to the Great Hall and begin the tour for everyone!

We visited the Studio during the special Goblet of Fire exhibit and also really loved the unique and scary Forbidden Forest section. Halfway through, there is a nice courtyard where you can purchase lunch on site (nothing special) or relax and eat the lunch that you packed (which we did).

There are photo opportunities with green screens where you can dress up and have staff take your photo (for purchase). There were several shops within the experience where you can buy souvenirs. The shop at the end has the most variety.

It took us approximately three and a half hours to complete the tour, then we headed back to London.

We arrived at Westminster Abbey right after a mass had started. Staff at the door said that we could enter, but we had to stay for the duration of the mass. We were not really dressed appropriately for mass, so ultimately we decided not to enter. I would have liked to have seen the inside—maybe on our next London trip! The outside was beautiful though. We popped into The Westminster Abbey Shop and supported the church by purchasing several souvenirs. They sold the most beautiful hand-sewn Christmas ornaments.

We walked up a block or so towards Big Ben, which was unfortunately covered with construction scaffolding. We crossed the Westminster Bridge halfway to get a good angle for a photo. We then walked back toward Big Ben (as opposed to crossing the bridge fully). The London Eye Ferris Wheel is on the other side. You could ride the London Eye then cross back. We both had no interest in the wheel, and the rest of our day was planned to be on the same side of the River Thames, so we decided not to cross.

We continued our walk up the Victoria Embankment and River Thames. We stopped for a short sit at the Whitehall Gardens, then we continued on to find an Indian restaurant called Strand Tandoori on Bedford Street. The place doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it has 4 stars and the service was good. The tikka masala and saag were both really tasty.

After dinner, we hadn’t really planned anything else for the night, so we began our walk towards the direction of our hotel. We stumbled upon The National Portrait Gallery which had free entry, so we decided to go in. What a great find! Not only did the gallery have many older portraits and busts, it also had a whole wing with many modern pieces of royals I could recognize. I’m so used to seeing the more recent royals in TV and movie dramatizations, but seeing their real portraits was quite special.

Also found some non-royal portraits. Ed Sheeran!

After we finished, we continued around the building and realized the back of the museum is Trafalgar Square. Several artists set up chalk sidewalk art that was really impressive. We watched one artist for a bit as he drew up flags for each country. People would put coins on their country’s flag.

We got totally mixed up and lost on our way back to the hotel (which isn’t always a bad thing!) and stumbled upon the Kingsman Suit Shop, just like the movie! We couldn’t believe it existed in real life. The shop is on James Street if anyone is curious and wants to check it out. It was closed, so we couldn’t go in, but I took a picture of hubby in front. See? Getting lost can be fun! The route back took us way too long due to road closures for an upcoming event, but we eventually made our way to the front of Buckingham Palace and walked through the tulip garden surrounding Victoria Memorial.

A few blocks later, we were back at our hotel room. We walked over 20,000 steps that day!

Day Four (Friday):

We had to wake up very early on day four because we were again headed outside of London proper. We ate breakfast, packed lunch, and, you guessed it, walked a few blocks to Victoria Station.

This time, we were headed all the way to Amsebury to see Stonehenge. The tour tickets included round-trip coach bus transport for the hour-and-a-half drive, entry to Stonehenge, and a handheld audio guide. You can select the bus pick-up time. We picked first thing in the morning, so we could maximize the day and get back to London in the afternoon.

The bus dropped us off at the gift shop area where we boarded a smaller shuttle bus that took our group over to the actual historical landmark. From here, we were each provided our headset and were free to roam around and listen to each chapter of the audio guide. I’m a huge history buff and found the information to be interesting. All I had known when we booked Stonehenge was that it was a wonder of the world, 5,000 years old, and a World Heritage Site. What we learned from the guide far exceeded my expectations.

The site was gorgeous, with the morning sun shining through the strategically-placed stones. Since the site became a World Heritage Site in 1986, on a regular tour you can no longer get close enough to touch the stones. I was still surprised how close you could get from within the rope barrier though. There are tours that have special access allowing guests to go inside the inner circle, but these tours are not during normal hours (they are dawn and dusk tours with smaller groups). They also don’t run every day, so if you are interested then do your research ahead of time!

On our drive back into town, we decided to get off the bus early, which allowed us to get off close to our next destination: the Natural History Museum. Entry into this museum is free. The exhibits I found most interesting were minerals and the vault with sparkling gemstones, meteorite and star specimens, dinosaurs, marine invertebrates, and the blue whale skeleton. The architecture of the building was also very impressive with beautiful stonework, stairwells, and windows.

We headed up the block to Harrods department store. General shopping for things we could buy at home is not really our cup of tea on vacation. However, we visited Harrods because it was founded 170 years ago, it is the largest department store in all of Europe, and everyone we know suggested we go. I don’t think we even saw one whole floor into Harrods before we left. It was a very unique store. We went from an Egyptian clothing section into a chocolate confectionary section. The store has eight floors with over 330 different departments. You would need a day to see it all—and as I said before, I don’t shop like that on vacation. But if shopping is your thing, then definitely plan a longer trip to Harrods.

Photo Credit: United Voices of the World

We ended our last night in London with a four-star dinner at St George’s Tavern on Belgrave Road. The upstairs was very busy, but they took us in the basement which had a nice ambiance. We started with soups, then I ordered a steak and chips and hubby ordered a burger topped with pastrami and chips. It was a nice way to end our time in England.

Departure Day (Saturday):

We woke up, ate breakfast, did last minute packing, returned the keys at the next-door building, then boarded a train to bring us back to Heathrow Airport. This was really more of a travel day, so we didn’t count it as a day in London. Something I will note is that we are Priority Pass members and have access to airport lounges all over the world. Heathrow has four terminals with lounges. The terminal we were flying out of (Terminal 4 SkyTeam Lounge) was really clean with varied food and drink options, and it had a nice ambiance with a green garden wall. This was one of the nicer lounges that we experienced on our trip.

What’s the only thing I felt I missed out on?

We never made it to Kings Cross Station. Any true Harry Potter fan knows that Platform 9 ¾ is where the students would enter to get to the secret Hogwarts Express train platform. Well, Kings Cross Station has an actual 9 ¾ sign, in tribute to Harry Potter’s popularity, with the trolley going halfway through the wall. Jump up in the air as you snap a photo and it looks like you are on your way to Hogwarts! They also have a Harry Potter Shop. The Studio Tour in Watford and theme park in Orlando both recreated Platform 9 ¾ as well, so I didn’t miss the photo op there. It would have just been cool to see Kings Cross in person.

Final Attraction Itinerary:

Tuesday: B Bakery High Tea Bus Tour
Wednesday: Buckingham Palace, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play Parts 1 and 2, Primark, Dinner at Rock and Sole Plaice
Thursday: Warner Bros. Studio Tour, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, River Thames, National Portrait Gallery, Kingsman shop, Dinner at Strand Tandoori
Friday: Stonehenge, Natural History Museum, Harrods, Dinner at St George’s Tavern

As Harry Potter super-fans, we felt like we got in as much Harry Potter as we could, while still capturing some of the main highlights of London. We did spend two half-days outside of London proper, but that was because those activities really interested us. Don’t be afraid to hop on a bus tour that takes you away from the hustle and bustle. If Harry Potter isn’t really your thing, or if show tickets are sold out, then there’s loads more to do in London, some free, and some ticketed. So do your homework and plan an itinerary. Overall, we felt like four days was the perfect duration to see a lot of what London has to offer.

And that concludes Part Two of the 4-Day Itinerary in London for Harry Potter Fans! If you missed Part One of this blog post, then click here to catch up! Don’t miss out on my Pro Tips for choosing hotels and attractions in Part One!

Happy travels!

DISCLAIMER: Any brands listed above are not sponsors.

4 Day London Itinerary (for a Harry Potter Lover) – Part One

Posted on February 18, 2019March 9, 2021 by Vicki

In true Harry Potter movie (and Harry Potter play) fashion, this post on a four-day itinerary in London for Harry Potter lovers will be split into two parts. This week is Part One, which covers the first two days of our itinerary.

We decided to begin our six-week honeymoon around the world in London for several reasons. Hubby and I love to see new places, and we had both never been to the UK (with the exception of him visiting as a young child). I am a huge royal enthusiast, having watched every documentary, TV show, and movie about the British royal family. We are both pretty big Harry Potter fans too (which you may have already gathered if you read my post on our Joint Bach Bash to Harry Potter World in Orlando). Read on to see how we spent four full days in London last April before we departed for our next destination. And don’t forget to check back in two weeks for Part Two of the itinerary!

Our Flight (Monday Overnight):

We decided to fly with TAP Air Portugal, because we found one-way flights for under $200 per person. Neither of us had flown TAP before, but my sister-in-law did and said they were decent. At that price, we couldn’t pass it up. We got married on a Saturday and flew from New York City to London at 5:45pm on the Monday night after our wedding. This was an overnight flight landing in Lisbon Airport for a two-hour stopover at 5:30am. Lisbon Airport was very clean and modern, but at that hour everything was closed and quiet. It seemed like we were some of the only people in the airport. The only thing open was one colorful sardine shop. I do prefer overnight flights that land in the morning, because then you spend less daytime traveling. It’s easier to just sleep the night away on a plane.

Day One (Tuesday):

We landed at Heathrow Airport, London around 12pm (delayed flight). As New Yorkers used to commuting via train, we decided to take the tube to the neighborhood of our hotel and walk a few blocks with our suitcases. Not all sidewalks are cement—some are beautiful cobblestones and pavers, which were admittedly difficult to roll our luggages down. That was an arm workout! Haha

We stayed at the B+B Belgravia in the studio units at 82 Ebury Street. The main hotel where we checked in is just a few doors down. Our room was on the second floor of a walk-up at the front of the hotel. We had lots of sunlight from several windows overlooking the main street. We had a king size bed, private bathroom, closet, desk, and refrigerator with lots of counter space. This is a bed and breakfast hotel, but they treat the studio units as more private. Instead of having to go to a communal breakfast every morning, the hotel stocked our private fridge daily with lots of items: croissants, sliced bread, deli meats, cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit, cereal, butter, jam, cookies, crackers, water bottles, juice, milk, tea, and coffee. The best part was that the hotel fully restocked the fridge daily! We had not anticipated how much food we would receive. Just from our fridge stash, we ended up eating breakfast at the hotel every morning and packed sandwiches and snacks for lunch! This was a huge savings that we didn’t plan for, but it really worked out for us.

B+B Belgravia Main Entrance Photo Credit: Trip Advisor

Bed in Studio Room Photo Credit: Trip Advisor

Stocked Hotel Room Refrigerator Photo Credit: Trip Advisor

After we had seen our room, unpacked our luggages, and showered for the day, we got dressed and headed out to Victoria Coach Station for our first activity. Victoria Coach Station and Victoria Station (across the street from each other) were the location where several of our tours were picking up from, so we made sure to pick a hotel within walking distance. I had wanted to experience an English high tea and found the most adorable thing. B Bakery has a double-decker bus that drives you around town to see the sights all while you enjoy your high tea. We splurged a bit to sit VIP on the upper level at the front of the bus, so we didn’t have any obstructions (other passengers’ heads) blocking our view. I recommend you do this if you take the tour, because it was worth it. We got to choose from an assortment of teas, coffees, sandwiches, muffins, cakes, tarts, scones, jam, and clotted cream (the best topping ever). They also have wine and champagne available. They have a recorded guide-commentary playing, and servers are friendly and can answer any questions you have on landmarks. As first-time London visitors, we got to see a lot of the city this way, and it was a perfect and yummy first-day activity. They also sent us home with a reusable, plastic, branded hot beverage cup, which was a nice added touch. For the price of £64 each, we received a ride around guided tour of London, a high tea experience with dinner and dessert, and a souvenir. Great deal!

After the tour, we walked back to the hotel and went to bed early, because we were jet lagged and had an early start the next morning.

Day Two (Wednesday):

We began day two with breakfast in our room, then we headed out for a full day on the town. London is absolutely a walkable city, so we decided to walk from our hotel to Buckingham Palace to get some photos. We missed the changing of the guards, because the timing didn’t work with our other ticketed activities that day. However, if this is important to you, then make sure you look up their daily schedule, because the times vary. Note in your schedule that it lasts for 30 to 45 minutes. We then walked through Green Park toward Piccadilly Street.

We made our way up the store-lined street toward the Palace Theatre, where we had reserved tickets to the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play Parts One and Two. During our engagement, we purchased tickets to the London show to see on our honeymoon. However, a couple of weeks before our wedding, I entered the NYC Broadway show lottery, and we won discounted orchestra tickets! So we basically saw the show back to back: once in NYC with the original London cast and once in London with the second London cast. If you are not familiar with the show, it is long and split into two full shows that you see in one day. We reserved tickets to the 2pm Part One and 7:30pm Part Two. I won’t spoil the plot for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, but it’s a fun little side-story for fans of the Harry Potter books and universe that we all know and love. The London production also won the Olivier award, which is comparable to the American Tony awards, for Best New Play, along with eight other Olivier awards: It’s a great show!

In between the two shows, they give you a break for dinner. We looked online for a nearby fish and chips restaurant and came across Rock and Sole Plaice which was within walking distance. We popped into this small indoor-outdoor restaurant, and luckily they had a table available. We enjoyed some yummy local cuisine—fish and chips just taste better when you’re in their birthplace! Then we walked over to the Primark department store on Oxford Street (a few blocks from the theater), which has the largest Harry Potter memorabilia collection of all Primarks. Locations in the USA have some Harry Potter memorabilia, but this store had so much more. I was in heaven!

Some of the Harry Potter Merch at Primark

The show ended late, and we walked back to our hotel by a different route, so we could see more of the city. This time, we walked up The Mall towards Buckingham Palace, which provided us with a picturesque lit-up night view.

PRO TIPS:

I recommend you give yourselves a day or two after your wedding before you leave for your honeymoon. You will want time to say bye to any family that traveled in for the wedding, settle back in at home, unpack from the wedding, finish packing last-minute things for the honeymoon, bring your pet to a sitter (should you have one), read thank you cards, deposit cash and checks into your bank account, and just have a day or two to recover from the best party of your lives!
When traveling to several destinations, flying overnight is a way to avoid a hotel fee for that night.
If you like air conditioning, then make sure you click that box on Kayak (or whatever other search engine you use). I was so careful to ensure all the hotels in Asia had air conditioners, but I incorrectly assumed that the hotels in Europe would come with it. Our room did not have AC, but we did have a fan.. Being that it was April, the temperature outside would have been ideal for opening the window for cool air overnight, but just our luck, there was construction outside that began early each morning, and we didn’t want to wake up early from the noise. I’m sure the free cooling would have been lovely, though, so don’t knock out B+B Belgravia for no air conditioning.
I can’t express enough how important it is to find a hotel nearby your attractions. For the most part, you can walk London. However, you should drop pins on a map of where your activities are, and then where the majority of the stars end up is the area where you should stay. It was so nice walking only 2-3 blocks each day to Victoria Station. Also, most tour companies had several pick up options. We decided to streamline them all to Victoria Station to make it easier on us.
Buy tickets in advance. Each day, we did one activity that tickets were required for. These tickets sell out before your travel date, so if you wait until the last minute, then you will surely miss out. Plan ahead on this one.
Always add the transportation in when booking a tour outside of the city center. If the company offers it, it’s way easier to just tack it onto the main attraction ticket, than to figure transport out on your own. Also, sometimes when you add on transportation, the fee is cheaper than if you had booked transit on your own-like getting a bundle deal.

Click here to read Part Two, which covers the last two days of our London itinerary!

Happy traveling!

DISCLAIMER: Any brands listed above are not sponsors.