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Harry Potter tours sold out already in London ??? Help!

We are planning our first ever trip to London and I knew I had to buy HP Warner Bros. tour tickets ahead of time, but no-one said how far in advance. I'm looking tix for mid-July and everything while we are in London is sold out! My girls will be so devastated. This was top on their list. Does anyone have any tips/advice? (Besides obsessively checking the web site to see if availability changes?) I'm so mad at myself. I just really had no idea I had to book months in advance--last time I checked there were absolutely no sold out dates :(

Posted by
145 posts

Hi Elizabeth!
We are Harry Potter fans in my family so I completely understand! Obsessively checking their website will probably not help. I would very quickly book a tour with a private tour group in London. These tours will include a shuttle bus ride from central London and probably back to central London. It will definitely be more costly to do it this way, but you WILL get in the door.

If it makes you feel better, the tour will be worth every pound sterling! The Studio is incredibly well done. I would advise that you not let the organized tour "rush" you through the experience. Transportation back to London from Leavesden is very easy and not very expensive.

Good luck!

Posted by
94 posts

Thanks for the tip!! Checking tours stat! Any companies recommended? I am finding some availability with Golden... Also, what would be the latest you would arrive to have enough time to tour?

If you've found availablilty with Golden Tours, book NOW - right this second.

It is possible to go up there with Golden Tours but then use public transport to get back afterwards if you want to spend a bit longer (as long as you notify your bus driver!)

People on TripAdvisor have mentioned Golden Tours - it's a coach operator that runs trips to the Harry Potter studios from central London and they often have tickets available when the studios have sold out.

BUT your dates are right at the start of the big school summer holidays in the UK so it's literally the worst time you could possibly be trying to buy tickets for. This is why people advise buying in advance - and they mean months in advance.

Posted by
776 posts

Awesome. Glad your girls will get to see it. Hubby is looking forward to it in the fall.

Posted by
4256 posts

This should be a warning to others! I booked in July for tickets on Dec 24!

Posted by
7209 posts

Was there during Spring Break (March 2017) and was surprised to see how many people were there standing in line waiting to get in. I've been here several times with school groups and the thing I found most interesting this time was that at lunch time some of the kids (not ours) brought their own sack lunches and ate in the lunch room area. This is one of the few facilities I've seen that allow outside food to be brought in.

Posted by
1217 posts

So glad you found something. My sister and I leave in 3 weeks and I booked our tickets for HP last year!

Posted by
1172 posts

Yep. Booked in march for our July trip and some times were already sold out!

Posted by
145 posts

So glad it worked out! Really - you will love it! I'll be in London in June but we are not doing the studio this time and wish we were - they have opened a new "Forbidden Forest" area. We are going to see "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," though! :)

Posted by
94 posts

janettomko, Very jealous you have Cursed Child tickets! I guess we needed to plan our trip a few years back to get those ;)

I do hope this is a warning to all those other HP fans-- I think I had not fully realized that between April-ish (when I checked the web site and there was FULL availability for June and July) and May, things would book up VERY rapidly as everyone planned their summer holidays.

I am just not going to tell my husband how much more I had to pay for the Golden tours vs. us buying direct and taking the train...!

Posted by
32523 posts

you could just use a time-turner, couldn't you?

Posted by
216 posts

Nigel, all the time turner's were destroyed. Seriously. All of them. ; )

Same thing happened to me in 2015 - didn't book for August and then panicked. Booked with Golden Tours for 9 am and return at 7 pm. They absolutely didn't care and we were not leaving after three hours. Last week, we spent 10 1/2 hours there.

Availability does open up as I managed to book a single ticket for a friend living in London but no where near Victoria Station so she could meet us there. It does happen. They also now have deluxe tours which cost a lot.

You can bring your own food but have to pack it around the exhibition. They don't accept food in the coat check and you don't get a chance to get back. there until you exit the shop. And you can't re-enter. The only places to eat are at the beginning/end point or in the middle in the backlot. The food there is okay. The Butterbeer ice cream is tasty and the Butterbeer is an acquired taste. Not quite as sweet as cream soda with a slightly savoury tinge. Have it anyway!

Posted by
94 posts

Nigel, I could use a lot more than a time turner ... I am particularly jealous of the way Molly Weasley wields her wand when it's time to cook
dinner!

Sandra, I am so glad to hear that you can return on a later Golden Tours bus... our tour arrives for a 4 pm entrance and only allows 3.5 hrs. I know they have two later tours so I will plan to try to hitch a ride later if at all possible. (The studio is open until 10 pm the night we are booked :)

Posted by
357 posts

If you want to stay later and take the train back to Euston station, you only have to let the golden tours bus driver know, and have exact fare for the shuttle bus - £2.50 per person.