A thorough review of our family’s full day Harry Potter tour with London Taxi Tours including stops at Stonehenge, Lacock, Oxford and around London.
My older daughter was a Harry Potter fanatic when we planned the itinerary for our first family trip to London so it was important to her to see some of the locations that she recognized from the movie franchise. I began searching online for Harry Potter tours and we selected London Taxi Tour which had a range of tours available. (We booked additional tours with London Taxi Tour on two later family trips to London and were thrilled with each tour – Gordon is a fun and engaging guide!)
Despite some reservations on my part, we chose a 13 hour tour that included movie locations in Lacock, Oxford and London as well as a stop at Stonehenge. I was actually quite pleased about the visit to Stonehenge as I had always wanted to see it and I’m not sure that I could have talked my family into a day trip from London for that purpose alone!
No. 4 Privet Drive
We had to get up quite early for the most anticipated part of our itinerary (for Katie, at least). Our driver, Gordon, picked us up at our hotel bright and early (7:30am) and we headed out of London to see a number of film sites in Lacock and Oxford. Our first stop was on the outskirts of London to the suburban house which is No. 4 Privet Drive (where Harry lives with the Dursleys) in the films.
Stonehenge
The next Harry Potter stop was the village of Lacock but, fortunately for me, Stonehenge was on the way so we were able to stop there as well. We were still quite early so there were only a couple of other visitors at Stonehenge and we were able to take photos without other tourists in the background. Our timing was perfect because as we were leaving Stonehenge the tour buses were starting to pull into the parking lot.
The Village of Lacock
Lacock is an absolutely charming, historically preserved English village (in Wiltshire) where a number of scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed.
We started the tour in Lacock Abbey and it quickly became apparent how amazing our tour guide was. Gordon was able to walk us through the Abbey and explain each scene that had been shot there and take our photos with the exact same angle as in the film. Most of the time our Harry Potter fan was the only one who knew what he was talking about but I was amazed at how well he knew the films. And he impressed her with his knowledge, which is not an easy thing to do!
The house where baby Harry Potter lived is in Lacock as is Professor Slughorn’s home.
Lunch was at The George Inn, a 14th century pub in Lacock famous for its grand open fireplace with a dogwheel. In olden days a specially-bred dog called a turnspit would run on the wheel in order to turn the spit over the fire. Old English charm, a cozy atmosphere and delicious fish and chips made for a great break!
Oxford University
After lunch in Lacock, we were back on the road to drive to Oxford University where many of the interior scenes at Hogwarts were filmed. The most familiar setting to me was the dining hall but those scenes were not actually filmed here at Oxford but at a set fashioned on the Oxford dining hall. (We later saw that set on a visit to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.)
London Sites
When we finished in Oxford we drove back to London to King’s Cross Station to see Platform 9 3/4 and to a few other London filming sites before saying good night to Gordon after a wonderful 13 hours of almost non-stop Harry Potter. According to our daughter, this was one of her “best days ever”!!
(At the time of our tour there was a sign for Platform 9 3/4 on the tracks level. There is now a shop in the main concourse of the train station and a photographer set up to take photos with a sign and trolley with luggage and additional Harry Potter props. We have visited it a couple of times and it’s great fun!)
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Freya
I have never done the Harry Potter tour in London neither did I go to Stonehenge, I definitely want to go now. Looks like you had a great time and the photos are lovely.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Freya – my older daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan and she thought that it was the BEST DAY EVER!!
Dinez
Great holiday! Thank you for sharing the story, the photos are very helpful, makes reading more fun.
For customized day tour in England, consider us.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thank you for the comment and the information.
Tash
WOW! What an amazing tour! I so want to do this! Ha! Bookmarking for mid-year!
What a lucky traveler Katie is! A perfect day for a Harry Potter fan!
Lisa Goodmurphy
It was really quite an awesome day, Tash – we got to see so much and she was absolutely thrilled! Visiting Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter last year may have topped it though!
Stacy
I have been trying to book this tour for over a week. I called her and she asked me to email. All of her emails have bounced back. I left a message with my email and no response. It’s almost as if she doesn’t want my business. Can you please tell me how in the world you got in touch with her? If my daughter wasn’t such a huge fan, I wouldn’t bother with it. It’s completely amazing to me that for what this tour cost, she isn’t falling over herself to book it.
Thanks for your help.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Hi Stacy,
I communicated with London Taxi Tour via email without any difficulties when we booked this tour and when booking tours that we took with them to Stratford and to Canterbury/Dover Castle on subsequent trips to London. I’ll send a message to Gordon and see if he can help you sort out this issue. Your daughter will love this tour – it is so much fun to be able to see where scenes from the movie were filmed!
Lisa
Brandy
I am having the same issue with London Taxi Tour as Stacy mentioned above. My emails bounce back and I’ve left 2 messages with no return phone call. This sounds like an amazing tour and I would love to do it with my family over Christmas break but I’m afraid it will be booked if we wait until we arrive in London. Any help you can offer would be most appreciated.
Lisa Goodmurphy
Hi Brandy,
I will try to get in touch with them on your behalf. Since the website is still up then I presume that they are still offering tours, however, it has been about 18 months since the last time that we were in London and took a tour with them.
Lisa
Annie
Hi Lisa,
help! I am also having the same issue. All my emails have bounced back. Really want to book this tour for my 3 girls for August but I can’t reach them :(.
Also was the specific tour you took the Harry Potter London + Lacock + Stonehenge + Oxford tour? We looked on the website and in the itinerary for this tour no mention of a stop to Pivet House, like you went to, and we really would like to do that! Also did you visit the Glouchester Cathedral? We would like to do that too but looks like that is not included in the tour :(. Thank you in advance. Love your blog, just discovered it and it’s helping me immensely to plan for my London trip in August!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Hi Annie,
We took the full day Harry Potter London tour which included Lacock, Stonehenge and Oxford. At the time it also included a stop at the “Privet Drive” house but it looks like perhaps there is no longer a stop there. It is just a private house in a suburb and not terribly convenient to get to. If you are visiting Warner Bros. Studio Tour London for the Making of Harry Potter then you will see the Privet Drive house that they used on set there. You can find more information in my article here if you haven’t seen it already. https://www.gonewiththefamily.com/gone-with-the-family-adv/2014/02/warner-bros-studio-tour-london-the-making-of-harry-potter.html
Our tour did not include a stop at Gloucester Cathedral.
I will attempt to contact the owner of the company to see if I can find more information and email you directly.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions about London. We have visited several times with our children and love the city!!
Lisa