There's no escaping Harry Potter. You or your kids may have already plowed through Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which hit bookstores earlier this month and immediately broke sales records on both sides of Atlantic. The fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, will arrive on Nov. 18, and trailers are already in theatres. For complete immersion in the wizard's mystique, however, head to England for a Potter tour. What better way to give your kids (or yourself?) stellar "What I did for the summer" stories?
These outings can be as elaborate as an eight-day journey through the U.K., involving rides on the Hogwarts Express and tales of dragon-slaying, or as simple as a jaunt to a railway station in the middle of London. Platform 9¾, if you please.
The Julius family, from New Jersey, probably could have come up with something better to do on a recent hot afternoon than visit one of London's less scenic corners. But in deference to Potter-mad Ethan, who at the age of 11 has read all the books and seen all the movies, they're at King's Cross station, taking pictures of each other running at a wall. (For those who have not seen Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the first movie adapted from J. K. Rowling's novels, Platform 9¾ is the departure point for the Hogwarts Express, and is accessed by running into a wall.)
"I heard from somebody at school that the platform was here," Ethan says. "So I really wanted to come and see it."
Ethan and his sisters Alissa, 9, and Rachel, 6, are taking turns holding the handle of a baggage cart that British Rail has kindly cut in half and affixed to the wall - all the better to give the impression that it's disappearing into the magical alternative world where trains go to wizard school (and not Slough).
But troubling realities also surround the scene: In the wake of this month's terrorist bombings, visitors to the station could spend a quiet moment at the newly created Garden of Peace outside the front gates, where mounds of flowers and pages of prayers and poems paid tribute to the 26 people who died on a subway train between King's Cross and Russell Square.
While Paul Julius videotapes his kids living their Potter fantasy on Platform 9¾, a small group of people wait patiently to have their photos taken under the sign. Siew Ong and her friend Eric Chang, from San Jose, Calif., are also in line: They've got only two days in London.
But Ong is enough of a Potter-maniac that she insisted one of those days be spent here. If they had had one more day, she says, "we would have gone to Oxford, for sure."
Oxford is a principal station on the Harry Potter pilgrimage. Christ Church College, founded in the mid-1500s, is one of the main locations for interior shots of Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the films. The young wizards gather for feasts in Christ Church's great hall, and when Harry is first greeted by Prof. McGonagall, played by Maggie Smith, it's on the 16th-century staircase that leads to the great hall. (The staircases at Oxford, unlike the ones at Hogwarts, tend not to move around very much, unless you're as unsteady on your feet as poor Lord Sebastian Flyte, from another famous English novel.)
The easiest way to explore Oxford's connections to the Potter films, however, is through one of the many tours offered from London, which last anywhere from a half-day to an entire week.
"Interest in the tours definitely picks up when a new book or movie comes out," says Jason Doll-Steinberg of London-based British Tours. As with most of the other companies, its trips are based around locations from the films, although, as Doll-Steinberg says, "they have to be historical locations as well, otherwise we wouldn't be interested in visiting."
Gloucester Cathedral, where the Moaning Myrtle scenes from the second movie were shot, falls into this category. The stunning cathedral, nestled in the Severn Valley, has witnessed 900 years of English history, surviving the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. There are tours of the grounds, towers and crypts, and when the guides aren't telling you about the Victorian refit, they'll show you where the Potter scenes were filmed.
The equally majestic Durham Cathedral, recently named Britain's best-loved building and also the stand-in for Hogwarts in some shots, is apparently not so keen to be associated with the Potter movies. If you happen to be visiting, try not to pester church staff with the words "wizard," "potion" or "Voldemort." Best not to mention that last name at all, in fact.
Much more accommodating is Alnwick Castle, in Northumberland, the historic seat of the Percy family since 1309. Alnwick (pronounced "Annick"), the second-largest inhabited castle in the U.K. after Windsor, stood in for Hogwarts in exterior shots in the first two films, Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets.
Last year on the grounds at Alnwick, would-be wizards on the Harry Potter Fan Tour got to play a robust game of Quidditch (although flying was forbidden, alas). The fan tours, which are organized by Colorado-based Beyond Boundaries Travel, go a bit deeper and a bit farther to give the books' devotees a sense of English history and mythical lore.
"Movie tourism is fairly new and it's mostly been limited to locations, but with the Potter-book fans, you really have to go deeper than that," says Jeannie Barresi, managing director of Beyond Boundaries.
Last year, that meant the 123 guests on three separate Potter tours got to ride the train that was the Hogwarts Express in the films, participated in a virtual-reality game in Oxford that placed their images on flying broomsticks, and were given divination lessons and taught the best way to slay dragons.
This summer, Beyond Boundaries is offering a second season of Potter fan tours, many of which are already sold out. Twice as many people, from eight countries, have already signed up for this year's tours, said Barresi, many of whom "have never travelled internationally before." At the end of the deluxe-edition tours, participants receive a specially designed wand, which is not meant to cause unpopular relatives to sprout tails.
For those without the necessary cash or forward-planning skills, it's still possible to have a fine Harry Potter tour on the fly in London and surrounding areas. Visit Britain provides a good mini-circuit on its website, much of which can be accessed in a day. In addition to Platform 9 ¾, there is the London Zoo, a quaint, old-school park that contains the Reptile House where Harry first bonded with a snake and realized he had powers out of the ordinary.
Farther to the south, in the heart of the city, is the beautiful Leadenhall Market, where Hagrid and Harry are filmed walking as they shop for the wands and robes Harry will need at Hogwarts. The cobbled, glass-roofed market offers many consolations for the Potter-weary adult, from shopping to dining and ale-quaffing. Nearby in the Strand is Australia House, home of that country's High Commission, whose majestic exhibition hall served as the setting for the goblin-run Gringotts Bank in the first film.