The Harry Potter films leaned heavily on studio sets, but every so often the cameras came into town and turned real streets into the wizarding world. This walk finds those streets. You'll stand at the doorway that became the Leaky Cauldron, the footbridge the Death Eaters tear into the Thames, the staircase that climbs to Divination, the bank hall that played Gringotts, the corner outside the Ministry of Magic, the station on Harry's way to his hearing, and the bridge where the Knight Bus squeezes through traffic. The route runs east to west, the City first and then Westminster, so the films come out of order; at each stop you'll hear which film the scene is from. You'll also hear which famous claims are true and which are fan myths. This is an unofficial fan walk, not made with or endorsed by Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling. It's one of our self-guided walking tours, about 6 kilometers from Leadenhall Market to Lambeth Bridge.

Before you set off

The walking alone takes about an hour and a half, so allow two and a half hours with stops. The route is flat apart from a short climb from the river up to St Paul's, and almost all of it is on wide pavements. Go on a weekday if you can, because most of the shops and pubs in Leadenhall Market keep weekday hours, though the City streets are calmer at weekends. The stretch along the river can be windy, so bring a layer. St Paul's staircase is only shown on special guided tours, not with standard entry, so check before you go if you want to see it. Australia House and the streets around Whitehall are working government areas: look, enjoy, and don't linger at security doors. Monument and Bank Underground stations are a few minutes from the start. At the end, Westminster station is about 10 minutes back up Millbank, and Pimlico is a similar distance.

Leadenhall Market

You're in Leadenhall Market. Look up first: painted wrought iron and glass arching over the lanes. This covered market was designed by Sir Horace Jones and dates from 1881, and it's Grade II listed. Now find Bull's Head Passage, the narrow lane that runs off toward Gracechurch Street, and the shop doorway at number 42. The business inside changes over the years, so please look from the passage and don't block the door.

This is the first film, Philosopher's Stone, released in 2001. Part of it was filmed here, with the market playing the ordinary Muggle street that Hagrid leads Harry through on their way to buy school supplies. That doorway became the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, the wizards' pub that hides in plain sight.

Now the first myth. You'll often hear that Diagon Alley was filmed in Leadenhall Market. Not really: the Diagon Alley you see in the films was a studio set at Leavesden, outside London. The market only played the street outside and the pub's front door. A second myth lives in the West End, near Leicester Square, where you'll hear that Cecil Court or Goodwin's Court was the model for Diagon Alley. Rowling said in 2020 that Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley weren't based on any real place, and Cecil Court's own traders have put up signs saying the street has nothing to do with Harry Potter. And the Leaky Cauldron moved: in the third film, its entrance was shot on Stoney Street in Borough Market, across the river, a detour if you have time.

One more thing about where you're standing. This is the heart of Roman Londinium. A forum stood here around AD 70, and around AD 100 it was rebuilt as the largest basilica and forum north of the Alps.

Next, the sixth film and a bridge that gets destroyed in its opening minutes. Head west along Cornhill to Bank junction, then follow Queen Victoria Street southwest. Turn left down Peter's Hill toward the river and walk onto the north end of the Millennium Bridge. About 18 minutes.

Millennium Bridge

Millennium Bridge London

You're on the Millennium Bridge, the slim steel footbridge that runs from St Paul's across the Thames to Tate Modern. Look along the deck to the far bank, with the dome of St Paul's behind you. It was designed by Foster and Associates, the engineers Arup and the sculptor Anthony Caro, and it was London's first new crossing over the Thames in about 100 years.

Jump ahead to the sixth film, Half-Blood Prince, from 2009. It opens with Death Eaters streaking over London and attacking this bridge, twisting it until it snaps and collapses into the river. It's a shocking start, and it's all visual effects. The real bridge was never damaged, and you're standing on it.

There's a lovely irony in the choice, because this was already the one London bridge famous for nearly shaking itself apart. It opened on 10 June 2000, and within days the crowds walking across made it sway. Londoners nicknamed it the Wobbly Bridge. It was closed, fitted with dampers to calm the movement, and reopened in February 2002. So when the film chose a bridge to destroy, it picked the one Londoners already remembered wobbling.

Stand still in the middle for a moment and feel it. These days it should stay steady under your feet.

Now turn around and face the dome. Inside the cathedral is a staircase that climbs to a classroom in the third film. Walk back off the bridge and straight up Peter's Hill to the cathedral's south side. About six minutes.

St Paul's Cathedral

You're beside St Paul's Cathedral, Christopher Wren's masterpiece. Walk far enough along the south side that you can see the west front, the side with the two towers and the big steps. As you face the west front, the tower on your left is the south-west tower. Inside it is the staircase from the films.

It's called the Geometric Staircase. It was built for Wren over 300 years ago, with ironwork by Jean Tijou, and it spirals up inside the tower. In the third film, Prisoner of Azkaban, from 2004, it became the stair the students climb to Professor Trelawney's Divination classroom, high in a Hogwarts tower.

Here's the catch. It isn't part of a normal visit. The staircase is shown on special guided tours of the cathedral's upper levels, not with standard entry. If you'd like to stand on it, look up those tours and book ahead. From outside, you can still look up at the south-west tower and picture the spiral rising inside.

So that's three films in the City already, the first, the sixth and the third, and none of them in order. That's how London works on a walk: the scenes are scattered across the map, and we're taking them in the order the streets give them to us.

Next, back to the first film and the goblins' bank. Walk down Ludgate Hill, cross at Ludgate Circus and carry on west along Fleet Street until it becomes the Strand. Australia House is on your right, at the curve where the road splits for Aldwych. About 18 minutes.