Calling all the Potterheads out there! This one's for you. In case you didn’t know, there will be a new role-playing game that alludes to one of the most well-known and celebrated fantasy books of the 2000s, the Harry Potter novel series. Each book was later adapted into a film franchise, which paved the way for the story of the beloved wizard’s international fame and success.
The book also crossed the world of gaming, with various film-based action-adventure video games published by Electronic Arts. Fast forward to the present day, a new game related to the tales of the prominent wizards set in the familiar halls and towers of the Wizarding World universe a century before the story in the book originally started.
Hogwarts Legacy is one of the most anticipated games of the decade, developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros., which also produced and distributed the film franchise.
If you are looking for places to immerse yourself in as you play the game, or just want to visit for old time’s sake, here are five destinations you might want to book your next vacation to if you’d want to imagine what it feels like to be a true wizard from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Alnwick Castle
Located in the English county of Northumberland in the United Kingdom, Alnwick Castle is also a country house that visitors can go to. Historically, it was used as a military outpost, a college, an evacuation area, and home to the Percy family for about 700 years now. It was built back in the Norman Period, dated 1309, and still stands up to this day.
It was the facade of the Hogwarts castle in the first two Harry Potter films. In this setting also happened the moment Harry and his company learned to fly using their broomsticks in the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and when he familiarized himself with the rules of Quidditch.
Aside from the Harry Potter films, the castle was also featured as the setting of the British biographical period drama film Elizabeth in 1998, American movies Robinhood: Prince of Thieves in 1991, and Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017. The building was renamed the magnificent Brancaster Castle in the British drama TV series Downton Abbey's 2015 and 2016 Christmas special episodes.
Christ Church’s Great Hall
Have you ever fantasized about dining together with fellow wizards in the large hall with rows of tables and chairs occupying the whole space (or frame of the screen)? Well, the Christ Church’s Great Hall in Oxford, England is open for visitors. It was the inspiration for the Hogwarts Dining Hall in the films. Visitors could also get a glimpse of the grand staircase shown in the film where Harry, Hermione, and Ron were introduced to the head of Gryffindor House Professor McGonagall.
It is important to note that this place was not the original production site where the film was shot, it was just the inspiration. A replica was made in the Warner Bros. Studios where all of the footage was taken.
To enter the Christ Church’s Great Hall, visitors will have to buy a ticket. But the Christ Church, where the Great Hall is housed, offers free entrance once visitors have applied for a parishioner’s pass which allows them to pray inside and observe the surroundings of the establishment.
Glencoe, Scotland
Want to enliven the wizarding moment while also appreciating the sceneries and greenery? Glencoe, Scotland is a perfect place for visiting Harry Potter fans who also want to have an encounter with nature.
A lot of outdoor scenes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third film in the franchise, were shot in the breathtaking landscapes of Glencoe in Scotland. In this land stood Rubeus Hagrid’s hut, just outside the Hogwarts Castle at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, who was the keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were some who mostly frequented this place. This was also the location where the Bridge to Nowhere was situated.
The Glencoe village is spattered with hotels, cafes, other establishments, and rentals for either long or short vacations. The place is perfect for Potterheads who are also hill-walkers. According to travel writer Rick Steves, the place prides itself on “the wild, powerful and stark beauty of the Highlands ... dramatic valley, where the cliff sides seem to weep with running streams when it rains."
Millennium Bridge
Harry Potter is taking over the city and the whole world. This bridge is famous itself, with or without its feature in the last installment of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. In the opening scene of the film (minor spoiler!), the Millennium Bridge in London, United Kingdom was destroyed by the Death Eaters and collapsed down the River Thames. But don’t worry, the bridge is standing still and strong in the present. Even accommodating the passers-by with a pathway where St. Paul’s Cathedral can be viewed from an angle.
This suspension bridge was opened in June 2000 and is also known as the London Millennium Footbridge, but later that day closed due to the wobbling feel that the pedestrians experienced. It did not open again until February 2002.
Visitors around the area can travel to other tourist attractions in the city such as the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the aforementioned cathedral as well.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Universal Studios in Los Angeles, Florida, Osaka, and Beijing offer an experience for anyone to be a wizard in life-size attractions.
Hogwarts Express is available for tourists in the Florida studios. Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park’s version includes roller coaster rides Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and Flight of the Hippogriff, and other attractions such as Ollivanders Wand Shop—also found in Beijing—the Triwizard Spirit Rally, and the Frog Choir. While Universal Studios Florida offers the ride Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.
What’s unique in Universal Studios Japan’s outlet is Hogwarts' Black Lake and live owls, but it also features Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, and Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster.
Flagship motion-based dark ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is operating in all Universal Studios mentioned above and Universal's Islands of Adventure. The studio in Hollywood once offered Quidditch-inspired 3D goggles throughout the ride, but it was later replaced by 2D goggles.
Hogwarts Legacy is out on PC (via Steam and the Epic Game Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X since February 10. The PS4 and Xbox One versions come out on April 4, while the Nintendo Switch version is expected by July 25.
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