Harry Potter landmarks, from train stations to castles

Harry Potter landmarks: Train stations to castles

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Jump on a broomstick (or a plane) and head to the United Kingdom to visit landmarks associated with Harry Potter.

With the latest film installment in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” now in theaters, the Scotland-based travel-search Web site Skyscanner.com has come up with a list of places that will be sure to enchant Potter fans.

Skyscanner’s list starts with Kings Cross Station in London, where Platform 4 was used for filming Harry and his friends’ departure on the Hogwarts Express. There’s even a sign for Platform 9 3/4 in the station in honor of the story, with a luggage trolley magically disappearing into the wall.

Goathland station, a real station in North Yorkshire, England, was used as the film set for Hogsmeade Station, and Alnwick Castle was used for some of the exterior shots of Hogwarts during a flying lesson scene, according to Skyscanner.

The reptile house in the London Zoo was used for a scene in a previous movie where Harry realizes he can communicate with snakes, Skyscanner said. Other sites where scenes from the movies have been filmed include Bodleian Library at Oxford for some of the Hogwarts interior shots; Leadenhall Market in London, for Diagon Alley scenes; and The Strand in London for Gringott’s Bank scenes.

Edinburgh is another important stop for devoted fans. It was here that J.K. Rowling completed the first book in the series, often writing in cafes like the Elephant House.

If you can’t make it overseas any time soon, hold on until next year when Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure is planning to open a Harry Potter theme park called “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.”