I don’t know why, but whenever the Christmas season comes along I always want to watch Harry Potter. And as you may have seen in my first European post, I’m kind of a Harry Potter geek. My 4th grade teacher read us the first chapter of the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone book and I was immediately hooked.
I’ve gone to midnight book releases, read one of those thick books in a day, re-read every book at least 3 times. I’ve gone to midnight showings of the movie and I even wrote my first ever Fan Fiction novel (the only novel I’ve ever written beginning to end) of a love story with Harry Potter characters on to a website called Quizzilla when I was in middle school (and since then I’ve loved writing fiction stories in my spare time and hope to one day publish a fiction book).
So yes, I am a big Harry Potter Geek. Capital H-P-G.
Since England is the main location of Harry Potter, I of course fell in love with London. All I ever wanted to be was a witch on my way to Hogwarts in London.
Well I got to live out my fantasy, even if it was for a brief moment.
We got to St. Pancras International Railway Stations a bit earlier than expected (we really mastered those tubes). And since I knew that Platform 9 ¾ was not too far from the station, it was the perfect time to head over to Hogwarts Express.
We went outside of St. Pancras and made our way across the street to Kings Cross Station. It’s literally right across the street from St. Pancras.
Now Kings Cross Station is an actual live train station, so in certain areas you will need to buy a train ticket to get inside the turnstiles. But luckily for all you Harry Potter fans, if you make a left as soon as you walk into the front of the train station, you are greeted with a little food court area with the train timetables and if you walk a little bit further, you will find Platform 9 ¾.
I went around 11am and there was quite a bit of a line already. But I immediately jumped in line for it. Alex, unfortunately, is not huge a fan of Harry Potter (Except recently when I finally got him to watch the Harry Potter Series). But he’s an amazing boyfriend and waited in the long line to get the picture of me on my way to Hogwarts Express.
You’ll be seeing some interesting people. I mean there was even a guy behind me dressed in full Hogwarts uniform for Slytherin, and I mean vest, tie, scarf, pants. The whole outfit, so don’t feel like you’re being a total geek if you decide to add this stop to your London Itinerary.
Considering the Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 3/4 was not far from the queue, they had a professional photographer and another lady who would keep the line in order and passed out house scarfs and held it up for you as you made your way into Hogwarts Express.
And yes there is a house scarf for you to borrow for the picture. I, of course, got Gryffindor. But there is also Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and of course Slytherin, so chose whichever house you please.
The line moved a bit slow, so if you plan on going to get your picture, allocate at least an hour (depending on the line) because they let you take as many pictures as you want (within reason, I’m sure).
To me, this little cart in the wall to Platform 9 ¾ was just magical. I was very excited; as I’m sure you can see. The little Harry Potter Geek in me was freed and I was very happy with the outcome.
We didn’t have time to go the Harry Potter Store (I’m sure Alex was happy about that hah), but the Harry Potter Shop is located near Platform 9 ¾ on your left inside Kings Cross Station.
This was about as close to Harry Potter as I got this trip, but I hear there are tours and a Digon Alley for all the Harry Potter Fans to see. Maybe next trip I’ll do those and I’m sure one day I will be able to drag Alex to Universal Studios in Orlando for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Wingardium Leviosa to all of you.
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10 Comments on All aboard! Hogwarts Express
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Looks like fun! I just looked around your blog and it looks like you have had a ton of awesome travel experiences. Looking forward to more posts from you!
Thanks! I have had many great opportunities and can’t wait to share it 🙂
I think St Pancras is one of the most beautiful buildings in London! And the staffers at Platform 9 3/4 who would toss your scarf for you always cracked me up 🙂 I never had the patience to wait in line for a photo myself but I always loved to stop and watch for a minute when I walked by.
St. Pancras is truly a beautiful building, I was in awe when I first saw the outside. And those staffers are quite nice and really kept the mood up for the crowd which really helped make the line not seem as long as it was. 🙂
That’s so fun… I always forget to go here when in London! I didn’t realize it was SUCH a huge tourist attraction with big queues, a shop and everything. But still so worth it… gotta remember this for next time. Thanks for sharing!
I had a few friends visit London before me and saw them take the photo and I just HAD to go. It’s quite simple and short, but to me, being such a Harry Potter fan, it was so worth going to take that picture. And thanks for reading!! 🙂
When I was in London, I was SO excited to go to Platform 9-3/4 at King’s Cross too! Luckily, our train to Paris was out of it, otherwise my boyfriend would never have gone with me. I didn’t get to do the picture with the cart (though I wanted to) because the line was just so crazy. But I did walk around the store and got an insanely overprice stuffed Hedwig keychain. It’s on my backpack now and it makes me so happy everytime I see it!
The line does get really crazy, luckily we came at the right time when the line wasn’t too bad. Luckily we had time before our train to Paris to do it or else my boyfriend wouldn’t have gone with me too lol I love Hedwig and was so happy it was on the cart for the picture! Thanks for reading 🙂
I don’t remember the train station looking like this, but I definitely have a Platform 9-3/4 photo… I LOVE YOUR SCARF!! My picture was definitely missing that and yours is a million times better because of it! 😉
Thank you! There is rep at the Harry Potter store that passes out a house scarf of your choosing, I guess they’re only there are certain times of the day. But It definitely adds a lot to the picture 🙂