From places that inspired JK Rowling and real-life Harry Potter film locations to bewitching landscapes steeped in tales of folklore and sorcery, we scout out the most magical places to visit around the UK and beyond. Want to immerse yourself even further? Catch the enchanting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play or pay a visit to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour to be amongst wizards and witches for the day...

A must for all hardcore Potter fans, head to London's Palace Theatre to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which takes place 19 years after Harry, Ron and Hermione saved the wizarding world. The two-part stage play is based on the book of the same name and is the eighth instalment of the Harry Potter series. It begins by following the story of Albus Potter – Harry's son – with his first experience of Platform 9 ¾ and an (unpleasant) first year at Hogwarts...

The famous trio, their offspring and new pals take on separate adventures as they travel through time, battle mysterious forces and try to save a much-loved character. The play also focuses on Albus’s strained relationship with his famous dad, and how he tries to prove his own worth.

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Prepare for a long day; part one is two hours and 40 minutes while part two is two hours and 35 minutes, each with a 20-minute interval. Between part one and two there’s a one-hour-and-a-half interval, giving you enough time to venture out for food. Chinatown is right on your doorstep, as well as Soho with its many excellent restaurant offerings.

Alternatively, make the most of the interval to board a Big Bus Tour (£28, booked separately), which departs from alongside the theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. The hour-long route takes in hotspots like Trafalgar Square, Waterloo Bridge, Westminster and Piccadilly Circus, during which you’ll learn fun facts about London and spot filming spots from the Harry Potter movies. Your guide may even transform into a Harry Potter-themed quizmaster too...

Once the bus drops you back at the theatre, there’s still enough time to grab a quick bite to eat before you return for part two of the show, which is packed with even more guaranteed giggles and incredible, immersive stage effects, making the audience feel like they're part of the play. Tickets can be pricey and can even sell out, so consider going mid-week; Wednesday viewings start from £49.50 per person.

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This laid-back coffee house is where JK Rowling kick-started her career as a writer, penning her first few novels in the back room, overlooking Edinburgh Castle.

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Crime writer Ian Rankin has also written here, but it's Rowling fans who've had the most noticeable presence – the toilets are covered in Potter-themed graffiti. Tragically, in July 2022 The Elephant House was damaged in a fire and is still temporarily closed.

Edinburgh’s Old Town is packed with places that stoked the imagination of JK Rowling including creepy Greyfriars Kirkyard. Stories of ghosts and ghouls lurk in the 16th-century graveyard, but Potter fans make a beeline to the tomb of Thomas Riddell who was buried here in 1806. It’s thought his name inspired Rowling’s arch-villain Tom Riddle AKA Voldemort.

From Greyfriars Kirkyard you can see the striking turrets of George Heriot's School, the 350-year-old institution which may well have influenced Rowling’s vision of Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Fellow literary city Oxford is a must-visit for Potter fans. Its towering spires and hallowed halls have inspired many writers including JRR Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings here. Its ancient university colleges have also been used as a location in several of the Harry Potter films.

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With grimacing gargoyles and strange mystical creatures peering down from the buildings' intricate stonework, Oxford is a feast for the eyes and imagination. You may even spy actress Emma Watson, who played bookworm Hermione Granger and hails from Oxfordshire. She was appointed a visiting fellow of Lady Margaret Hall.

The learned halls of the Bodleian Library, one of Europe’s most ancient, featured as Hogwarts' library in the films. The oldest part of the building, the Duke Humfrey's Library, was used as the location while the Divinity School starred as the wizardry school's infirmary.

JK Rowling checked herself into room 552 at this grand Edinburgh hotel to complete the final book in the series. Guests in the suite, now renamed after the author, can sit at the writing desk where she worked her magic. It also contains a marble bust that she signed. A stay here doesn’t come cheap though – the 5-star Balmoral is a far cry from the nearby cafés where Rowling first began the books.

Make like a muggle and go to the London railway station where young wizards begin their journey to Hogwarts. You might not pass through the portal at Platform 9 ¾ and onto Hogsmeade station but you’ll need to catch a train here anyway to head to Scotland, home to many key locations in the books and films.

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Stop for a photo opp at the Platform 9 ¾ plaque outside of the Harry Potter Shop before boarding a train north. Make sure you stock up on jelly slugs or Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans for the four-and-a-half-hour journey.

If you've been wondering where to find the real-life Diagon Alley, this is it. The ornate Leadenhall Market appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, in the scene where Harry got his first wand.

The entrance to the Leaky Cauldron pub is actually an opticians in Bull’s Head Passage, within this Victorian covered market.

Board the Hogwarts Express, otherwise known as the Jacobite Steam Train, for a spellbinding 84-mile journey from Fort William to Mallaig. The fishing port isn't quite Hogsmeade but you’ll pass over the magnificent 21-arched Glenfinnan viaduct, one of the most memorable locations of the films.

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You’ll see this gorgeous stretch of water from aboard the Jacobite Steam Train – the loch was used as a location for Hogwarts lake in the films. The whole journey aboard the steam train is a succession of majestic scenes. It's easy to see why the Highlands so inspired Rowling and countless other authors.

Wild, remote and beautifully bleak, Rannoch Moor is where the sinister Dementors boarded the Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. The West Highland Line passes through here and on a foggy day it's easy to imagine the hooded wraiths emerging from the mist.

To hear real-life tales of sorcery, join the Walking with Witches trail in Lancashire. The 12 so-called Pendle witches lived around brooding Pendle Hill and the trail takes you in their footsteps through the Ribble Valley to Lancaster Castle where they stood trial in 1612 and were sentenced to death.

Witchcraft was greatly feared by King James I and it's thought Lancashire was viewed as a wild and ungodly place. The notorious 16th-century witch trial is entrenched in local legend here – you can find about more about the case at the fascinating Pendle Heritage Centre. 

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No self-respecting fan of the macabre would miss a visit to Transylvania. The mountainous region in Romania is steeped in superstition and has spawned numerous tales of vampires and werewolves. In Harry Potter, it's where dragon aficionado Charlie Weasley went to study.

Dating back 700 years, this castle is still a family home today, but it doubled for Hogwarts in exterior shots for the first two Potter movies.

Visitors can take an "On Location" tour, getting the behind-the-scenes gossip while exploring the spots used in Harry Potter and other productions including Downton Abbey.

Although it wasn't used as a film location, Wistman's Wood is as close to the Forbidden Forest as you could imagine. The twisted and tangled lichen-covered branches of this wood in Dartmoor make it a deeply mysterious place. You won't see any Acromantula (giant spiders), thankfully, although you may encounter the hellhounds that are said to hunt mortal souls here.

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You will come face-to-face with Aragog, the Acromantula, if you dare step into the Forbidden Forest at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter. You'll find the popular attraction at the Leavesden Studios, where all eight films were made.

Visitors can venture through Hogwarts' gates and into the off-limits forest where mythical creatures lurk among the trees' giant entwined roots. Special effects were created by artists who worked on the films, so expect plenty of excitement and spooky surprises – just don't get caught by Professor Dumbledore...

Fans of the magical films will love this behind-the-scenes look of the series. There's a vast collection of sets, props and costumes, including many that have never been seen before. Other highlights include an incredibly intricate model of Hogwarts that took six months to build and the set of cobbled Diagon Alley.

This sacred site near Tintagel is one of many in the bewitching landscapes of north Cornwall. A series of three spectacular waterfalls cascade below a hermitage that's thought to have been established by 6th-century Celtic saint Nectan. The waters of the kieve (basin of the waterfall) are rumoured to have healing powers – legend has it that King Arthur's knights came here to be blessed before their quest for the Holy Grail.

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The otherworldly place remains a spiritual one – you'll pass by trees adorned with strips of cloth known as "clouties". Following in an old Celtic tradition, people tie rags and ribbons to trees at these sacred wells for good luck and healing. But if nothing else you’ll have had a lovely walk through an ancient woodland.

Another Hogwarts stand-in, UNESCO-listed Durham Cathedral's cloisters were used as Hogwarts interiors in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and the Chamber of Secrets. 

It was here that Harry released Hedwig the owl from his hands, and where Ron and Hermione learned how to turn animals into goblets.

From piskies and spriggans (Cornish fairy folk) to wizards and witches, Cornwall is awash with folklore and this fascinating museum is the place to learn all about it. It's a veritable treasure trove of intriguing witchcraft-related artefacts and regalia, both ancient and modern. Hermione Granger would love it.

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Dust down your wand and enrol at the College of Wizardry for a magical (and somewhat mad) few days. This unofficial "live-action role play" takes place in atmospheric Czocha Castle in southwest Poland and draws witch and wizard wannabes from around the world wishing to experience the world of Hogwarts. Although detention to anyone who actually calls it that.

The surreal and immersive experience sees students sorted into houses then attend classes in potions, herbology and ancient runes. Meals are served Hogwarts-style in a grand hall and students sleep communally in dormitories.

Quidditch-inspired Fireball (without the brooms) classes are held in the castle grounds, where all manner of magical creatures can be spied roaming around. This three-night event is definitely one for hardcore Harry Potter fans.

Potions and quidditch mastered, now all you need to know is how to handle your owl. Handily the English School of Falconry in Bedfordshire has a two-day course dedicated to keeping and flying the wise birds of prey. Enrol on this and you'll be commanding your own Hedwig in no time.

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You won't meet Moaning Myrtle but you may spy the hooded monk who's said to haunt this crumbling Derbyshire country house. It's been preserved in the state it was found by the National Trust to show how the once grand estate fell into disrepair during the Victorian era. 

It’s easy to imagine ghostly goings-on as you wander around the abbey’s creaking rooms and extensive grounds. In fact, two young boys sadly drowned in the estate’s fishpond in the 1840s. Don't miss the seriously spooky and dilapidated school room.

The great cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral stood in as the corridors of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in three of the Harry Potter films. The astonishing fan vaulting is a sight to behold and eagle-eyed fans may recognise details from the films such as the door at the west end of the south-side passage. It was the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

Take flight to the land of the dragons, to discover a place rich in legends and folklore. Dinas Emrys, near Beddgelert, is the legendary mountain home of the red dragon that adorns the Welsh flag. It's said wizard Myrddin Emrys (Merlin) helped the Celtic King Vortigern build his castle after discovering two dragons (a red and white one) sleeping in a lair beneath a lake in these mountains.

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According to Welsh mythology Cadair Idris, a mountain at the southern end of the national park, was the ginormous chair of giant warrior poet Idris who liked to stargaze here. It certainly has fantastic views of Snowdonia and beyond. The mystical peak also has links to the legends of King Arthur.

After all of those adventures, you could no doubt sleep for a hundred years. Check into the Harry Potter-inspired rooms at this 19th-century hotel near Victoria station and fall into an enchanted slumber. Guests creep down a candlelit and portrait-line passageway to a bookcase, which conceals the door to the themed rooms.

The characterful rooms, either family or double, are stuffed full of faux-castle details such as stained-glass windows, archways, trunks, tartan blankets, cauldrons, and four-poster beds hung with velvet curtains. Room service in front of the wood-burning stove will ensure a suitably wizard stay.

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