[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 18 May 2014. Minor edits have since been made from the original post to update some info.]

 

19 January 2014, Sunday

Wakey wakey, it’s 7:30am and we have a full day ahead to explore London today. Despite the time difference, I slept quite well, perhaps due in part to the comfy bed and thick blanket that kept me warm. After washing up, IJ and I headed out in search of a nice place to have breakfast.

We walked around the streets but it was still early and most of the shops weren’t open yet. Furthermore, it was a Sunday morning. After walking for around 20 minutes, we headed back to Regent Street and chanced upon a café that was open – Caffé Concerto.

It was nicely decked out and looked quite posh. A glance at the menu showed that it was indeed quite posh, but hey, we’re on Regent Street after all. By then, we were running out of options so we settled for that.

We were their first customers of the day. I ordered a latte and a full English breakfast. It came with all the works – double sunny side up, bacon, sausage, hash brown, mushrooms, baked beans and toast. It was quite good and I enjoyed it. For GBP 13, it better be worth it!

Breakfast done, it was time to see the sights. I told IJ about the bicycle rental system that we saw the day before, about how I had used it in Paris last time and how cheap and good it is, and IJ was very interested to try it out. I’m glad IJ was game enough to try it out because it turned out to be the funnest thing ever.

We didn’t have to walk too far to find a cycle hire booth. There was one at Great Malborough Street, Soho, and we hired one bike each. The rental fee is GBP 2 for 24 hours and payment is by credit card. If you return it within 30 minutes, there is no additional charge. It is meant to be a convenient way to travel short distances, and a much cheaper and probably even faster way compared to travelling on the Tube.

There are lots of these cycle hire booths scattered all over London city and most are within 5 minutes’ ride of each other. Just look out for the blue logo with the white background. So if you plan to return your bike at a booth but all the slots are filled up, you can consult the map at the booth to find out where are the other booths nearest to your current location. Some locations are more popular and there won’t even be any bicycles left, but like I mentioned, you can always find another booth nearby.

With our ultra trendy grey Barclays bicycles in tow, we bravely took on the streets of London. There is quite a strong cycling culture in London so it is very safe to cycle on the roads. Some areas even have dedicated bicycle lanes. I don’t usually dare to cycle on the road in Singapore, but over there, I felt very safe doing so.

From Soho, we cycled to Buckingham Palace, where the Change of Guards parade was already in progress. We didn’t get to see it but we heard the marching band from a distance. We then cycled through St James’s Park, which was lovely because of all the huge trees there.

We then cycled to the Big Ben and Palace of Westminster again. Next, we cycled across the bridge to the other side of the river, cycling past the London Eye, Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern, HMS Belfast and of course, stopping for photographs with the famous Tower Bridge in the background.

It was a sunny day and an absolute joy to cycle around. The best thing about cycling is that you can access small lanes and corners that you otherwise wouldn’t explore on foot. You get to see a lot more sights and feel like a local for a day. Plus, you get a bit of exercise and save some money too, so it’s a win-win-win situation!

We finally returned our bikes at St Katherines Way, near Tower Bridge. From there, we walked to Tower Hill and took the Tube back to Leicester Square, because we were quite tired and running a little late. For the short train ride, the Tube ticket cost GBP 4.70, not worth it!

We went to Leicester Square because we wanted to grab dinner and IJ was dying to try out the chow mein that he spied yesterday. The chow mein was packed in those typical paper boxes and it was filled to the brim with the side dishes. For GBP 6, it represented very good value. I couldn’t even finish it because the portion was just too huge for me.

After gobbling down dinner, we headed back to our YHA hostel to freshen up for a short while before going out again. I then realized that my DSLR was not working well – it could not lock focus. I suspected the damage must have been caused by the vibrations from the bicycle ride earlier. Tough luck, just Day 2 into the trip and my camera was spoilt! And it was too late to get it repaired now. I was contemplating what to do but we were in a hurry for our next programme.

From our hostel at Noel Street, we cycled to London Euston train station and it took us about 15 to 20 minutes. We then bought our 2-way train tickets to Watford station, costing GBP 10.20.

The reason why we were going to Watford is because that is where the Warner Bros. Harry Potter studio is located! Or rather, that’s the nearest train station. From Watford, we’d have to pay another GBP 2 to take a bus to the studio.

I was super excited to visit this film studio because ladies and gentlemen, that was where the Harry Potter series were actually filmed! After the conclusion of the films, Warner Bros. converted part of the Leavesden studios into a studio tour where Harry Potter nuts like myself could pay money to visit the sets and see the props that were used for the actual films. It was a smart move of course.

The entrance fee for the studio tour is GBP 30 for adults and you’ll have to book your tickets beforehand. According to the website, it is to “ensure that you have best experience possible”, so they “have limited the number of visitors that can be on the Studio Tour at any one time.” For more information, visit the official website.

I had booked tickets for the 5pm slot, and we arrived at the studio just before 5pm. The moment I stepped into the main building, I could feel the magic in the air.  Huge portraits of all the characters were hung around the lobby area, and where we queued up, there was The Cupboard Under The Stairs, where Harry Potter once lived.

Even though our time slot was 5pm, we still had to join the queue and wait for our turn to enter. There were loads of other people even at that time – I can only imagine how much money Warner Bros. was making.

After waiting patiently for about 20 minutes, it was our turn to enter. We stepped into a holding chamber before being ushered into a cinema for a short video presentation. I was itching to get into the studio itself, not watch a video clip! But thankfully, what followed next didn’t disappoint.

After the screen was raised, it revealed a door behind it. The tour guide asked if anyone was celebrating their birthdays that day, and four people stepped up, and they had the honour of pushing the doors open. And voila, behind those doors was The Great Hall! The actual Great Hall that was featured in the films.

Unlike most of the other sets, the Great Hall set was constructed with actual stone for the floor because it was used for all the 8 films. So Warner Bros. wisely decided to preserve the Great Hall set and look how handy it has become now.

For a Harry Potter fan, it was a dream come true to be inside The Great Hall. I love films and I love the behind-the-scenes aspect of it as well, being a film student in my university days. So it was just magical to be standing in a real life set of a film series that I love (actually I love the books more than the films).

Of course, there were no candles floating in mid air, and the ceiling didn’t change according to the weather outside, but it still looked every bit like what we saw in the films. As always, the actual hall is smaller than it looks in the films, just like how a TV studio appears much bigger on TV than it actually is.

Around the hall were costumes that were worn by the actors themselves, including robes of the four houses and the staff members like Dumbledore and Snape. There were also gargoyles hanging from the walls and the counters containing the rubies that represented the number of points each house was awarded for the house championship trophy. It was lovely but it was quite rushed. We could only spend about 10 minutes in there before we were being politely chased out.

Next up was The Big Room, which contained more costumes, sets and props. This is the main part of the tour and you can take your own time to browse the exhibits. Here, you can visit Dumbledore’s office, the Potions classroom, The Burrow belonging to the Weasleys, and many other set pieces. There is also a green screen room where you can mount a broomstick and film a short sequence of yourself flying through Hogwarts – for a price, of course.

After The Big Room, The Backlot is next. This is an open-air area where you’ll find the purple 3-storey Knight Bus, Hagrid’s motorcycle and Mr Weasley’s blue flying Ford Anglia car that Harry and Ron used in the second film. For most of us, the real highlight here is the opportunity to taste Butterbeer.

This is one of the only two places in the world (currently) where you can buy Butterbeer, the other being The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Orlando. For GBP 4.95, you can buy a small cup of Butterbeer and keep the cup as a souvenir. It is non-alcoholic and it tastes like a mix of root beer and caramel. I would say it’s pretty yummy and worth checking it out.

After going through The Backlot, you’ll enter a small enclosure where Creature Effects are housed, and you’ll find many of the head models of elves, dwarves and creatures that were featured in the films. It wasn’t particularly interesting so I moved on quite fast, to the next room, the Art Department. Here, you’ll find sketches of the buildings and sets, and conceptual drawings of the characters. Unless you’re an art student or designer, you probably won’t spend too much time in here as well.

Next up is the wonderful Diagon Alley. It is just a short segment but it is incredibly detailed. Unfortunately, my iPhone was running out of juice by this time and I didn’t get to snap many pictures here. The tour rounds off with The Model Room, which houses a 1:24 scale construction of the Hogwarts castle and grounds, which is seriously impressive.

That’s where the tour officially ends, but the tour wouldn’t be complete without a chance to grab some souvenirs of your visit, right? So before you head to the exit, you’ll have to go through the massive megastore, which stocks every single thing affiliated to the Harry Potter universe you can think of. Wands, Chocolate Frogs, Quaffle, scarves bearing the Gryffindor house colours, Hedwig plush toys, everything! It’s really quite insane.

I spent a good 45 minutes browsing and picking my souvenirs, finally settling on a Harry Potter wand (GBP 25), 3 x chocolate wands (GBP 4.95 each), a Gryffindor scarf (GBP 24.95) and a thermal mug (GBP 11.95). These wizards really do know how to suck Muggles like me dry. Oh well.

IJ was not a huge Harry Potter fan so he was already done touring the studio long ago and was waiting for me at the café. We finally left at around 8:30pm and caught the bus and train back to London Euston, and cycling back to our hostel. For a Harry Potter fan, it was a dream come true to visit the studio and I recommend a visit if you’re a die-hard Harry Potter fan. Just try not to give in to temptation too easily, like me!