en.infoglobe.cz » Scotland – Following the Traces of Harry Potter

Scotland – Following the Traces of Harry Potter

Published: 2.1.2020
The Hogwarts School of Magic is located somewhere in the Highlands, so it's no wonder the landscape is literally interwoven with references to Harry Potter books. J. K. Rowling, who wrote the books, was inspired mainly in the streets of Edinburgh, where she lived at that time. On every corner you can find some unobtrusive reminder from the books, be it street names that look strangely reminiscent of the names of the key characters, or the places where the books themselves were written.

Elephant House Café is one of these mysterious places. It is basically an uninteresting city café, in which Rowling, however, put together a manuscript for the first volume of books about the young wizard. Today, the door is not torn and it is almost impossible to come here for a cup of coffee. The opulent Hotel Balmoral plays an interesting contrast, where on the contrary, chapters closing this extensive saga have been written in strict secrecy.

Edinburgh  Vistas of Edinburgh  Greyfriars, a 16th century cemetary

The author often gained inspiration from walking around the area, near the Elephant House Café is the entrance to Greyfriars, a cemetery that worked during the 16th century. Right here are a little search to find tombstones of a certain Tom Riddle or William McGonagall. Right behind the cemetery is the George Heriot’s School, which looks reminiscent of the already mentioned Hogwarts. It is also interesting that this school uses a system of classifying pupils in four tracks, whose names are not Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but Lauriston, Greyfriars, Raeburn and Castle. Not far from the graveyard, one can stroll along the ancient cobblestone Victoria Street, which served as an inspiration for Diagon Alley. Today it even has a joke shop, but unfortunately it is not led by Fred and George Weasley.

Victoria Street also known as Diagon Alley   omnipresent Harry Potter atmosphere in Edinburghu

Edinburgh strongly inpisred Harry Potter books, but if we remember the movies, we need to look around the rest of Scotland. Definitely the most conspicuous experience for film fans is a visit to the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which can be seen in several films, but plays the biggest role in the second episode, where Ron and Harry are driving over him in a flying Ford Anglia with Hogwarts Express on his heels. Directly opposite the viaduct lies the shimmering Loch Shiel, which in the movies most often replaced the lake spreading on Hogwarts grounds and in the background was filmed the iconic scene of Harry's flight on the hippograve in the third part.

Glenfinnan viaduct   Loch Shiel

GPS: Victoria Street 55°56'55.3"N 3°11'34.0"W

Text and photos: Barbara Nováková



Discussion at the article (0)


Related Articles

Scotland, Edinburgh – A Walkthrough of Britannia Royal Yacht
Published: 7.12.2020
Edinburgh is a Scottish city with a radiant atmosphere from Harry Potter movies. Scotch whiskey and history must not be missed here. If you are already in Edinburgh, be sure not to miss a visit to the famous Royal Yacht Britannia. It is interesting to see how not only the royal family lived on the ship. Admission £ 17 per person is worth every penny, plus the audio guide's interpretation is in Czech.

Scotland – Traces of Roman along the Border
Published: 9.1.2020
In connection with Scotland, everyone will surely recall the fierce people fighting for independence throughout the history of this wild country, be it the Norman and Viking raiders, or the English and Irish usurpers. For the first time, however, the Romans attempted to penetrate the area at that time inhabited by the wild tribes of the Picts and the quieter Britons under the command of Agricola. However, they soon found that the land was not profitable enough for the long-term stay of the soldiers, so they decided to leave the north of Great Britain again and leave the newly built roads, fortresses and ramparts lying fallow.

Scotland – Eilean Donan Castle and Arriving at Skye Island
Published: 6.1.2018
In the morning, we set out to beautiful Highlands situated in the northwest. On our way, we pass snow-caped mountains veiled in morning mist. This tempts us to stop and take a beautiful picture. This time we are heading to a place to what we are looking forward the most to – Skye island. A road bloc complicates our travels. It absolutely confuses our GPS which frighten us a bit. We are running of fuel while gaining kilometers and there are not many gas stations around. Eventually, everything works out well and we continue in our journey.

Scotland – Glasgow and Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park
Published: 23.12.2017
Autumn is an unusual time of the year to travel. For a long time, we were thinking if to even set out despite less dayilight time, winter, often rains yet Scotland captured us with its beauty and we would eventually buy our flight tickets. There is a regular connection between Prague and Edinburgh. Glasgow is about an hour of car ride from Edinburgh. Yet first we would travel bit further to the west and make a trek in the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park.

Scotland – Beauty of Skye Island
Published: 13.1.2018
Early in the morning we set out to explore the beautiful Scotish island of Skye. Today, we are about to expect the rain whole day. We are disappointed by that because the place is beautiful. However, as rains are quite common around here it is nothing easy to plan your trip accordingly.

Scotland – Cairngorms National Park I
Published: 20.1.2018
After we leaved the beautiful island of Skye we go back onto the land. We travel over 100 miles to the east to Aviemore summer resort where we would spend two nights.

Scotland – Cairngorms National Park II
Published: 27.1.2018
Upon our walk around Loch an Eilein lake, we return to have quick lunch in Aviemore village. Then we set out back to snow covered Scotish nature. This time we walk through a 5 kilometer trail in Ellan Wood, close to Carrbridge village which itself is situated about 20 minutes of car ride from Aviemore.

Scotland – The Hermitage, Perth, and St Andrews
Published: 3.2.2018
We leave the Aviemore summer resort and travel down to the south to Perth. There we intend to spend our last night in Scotland. We are about to travel for hour two hours by car.

Scotland – A Trip to Inchcailloch Island and Kilchurn Castle
Published: 30.12.2017
On this day we set off to central Scotland, to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. Loch Lomond is the largest Scotish lake with the area of 71 square kilometers, the maximal depth of the lake is192 meters. There are over 30 small islands and we strive for visiting one of them.

Scotland – A Country You Will Curse or Love Forever – VIDEO
Published: 6.8.2019
When I first went out into the world at 18, it was Scotland. I still remember the moon in it, when I almost traced it all to this day. For 7 years I wanted to go back and finally it was time. I got on a motorbike in Prague and set off for about 2000 kilometers long way to the northwest.

Scotland: Across Lonely North – VIDEO
Published: 3.9.2019
It is time to leave the landscape of lakes, mountains, and long valleys in the center of Scotland and head through the inhospitable wasteland to the north to Thurso in sight of the Orkney islands. Instead of the highway A9, leading along the coast, I also chose deserted roads through endless moors and wetlands.

Scotland: Off Skye to the Foothills of Fort William's Highest Mountain – VIDEO
Published: 1.10.2019
My visit to Scotland was coming to an end, but I still had about 2,000 kilometers to go home. But Scotland is beautiful, so why hurry? So I stopped at several places on the Isle of Skye and gradually reached the highest mountain of Ben Nevis.

Scotland: Through Wilderness to Rannoch Moor – VIDEO
Published: 20.8.2019
In the long valley between Fort William and Pitlochry in the middle of Scotland lies a large heath and in the middle of it one of the most deserted train stations. Surrounded only by lakes and heathland, you can still have tea inside it.

Scotland: Inverness – Gateway do Vysočiny – VIDEO
Published: 13.8.2019
Near the famous Lake Ness, there lies at the mouth of the river of the same name into the sea and the ancient city of Inverness. Today it serves as a natural center for the entire Highlands of Scotland. But the city itself is worth a stop and a little exploration.

Scotland: Loch Tay Dochart Waterfalls – VIDEO
Published: 27.8.2019
Our Slovenian adventure full of knowledge continues. After visiting the Kranjska Gora, which is surrounded by breathtaking mountain scenery, we move on to another natural gem - the Vintgar Gorge (Blejski Vintgar, Vintgar Sotesque).

Scotland: Endlessly Beautiful Island of Skye – VIDEO
Published: 24.9.2019
If I could only return to Scotland in one place, it would be either a remote and deserted mountainous island of Harriss, or justified by Skye. And the more I think about it, the more Skye wins.

Scotland: A Surprise in Applecross and a Journey to Skye – VIDEO
Published: 17.9.2019
The mountains in the north-west of Scotland rarely exceed 800 meters and roads usually run along rivers or coasts. Therefore, I would not expect here to be as beautiful and high as Applecross pass. Let's go to there!

Scotland: Rocky Mountains of West Coast – VIDEO
Published: 10.9.2019
After a whole day in the wetlands in the north of Scotland, I headed west along the coast to get back to the mountains. They are much lower than those in the center of the country, but it does not detract from their beauty. Because of the harsh climates, heather and grass are often not kept on them, often leaving only majestic gray rocks.


Related Photogallery

Scotland - Rough Nature, Medieval Architecture, Amazing Whisky
What comes across your mind when you hear Scotland? Most people like Scottish whiskey, kilt, Loch...


Related Videos

Scotland: A Journey from Isle of Skye to the Foothills of the Highest Mountain in Fort William
In today's video, we'll go on a journey together, this time from the beautiful Isle of Skye to Be...

Scotland: The infinitely beautiful Isle of Skye
The charming Isle of Skye offers almost everything in a small area - mountains, waterfalls, cliff...

Scotland: A Surprise at Applecross and a Way to Skye Island
I really did not really expect the high Applecross pass on my way to the Isle of Skye. The mounta...

Scotland: On Rocky Mountains of the West Coast
After days in the north, we head to the west of Scotland, where we hit the mountains again. They ...

Scotland: Across Remote North
North of the country is really inhospitable, do not expect any large lakes, animals or forests. Y...

Scotland: Loch Tay and Dochart Waterfalls
Just before the mouth of Lake Tay lies one of Scotland's most famous waterfalls. Directly above t...

Scotland: Through Wilderness to Rannoch Moor
In a long valley in the heart of Scotland, you will find a large heath, in the middle of which is...

Scotland: Inverness – The Gateway to Highlands
Inverness now serves as a natural center for the entire Highlands of Scotland. In bad weather, yo...

Scotland – A Land You Will Curse but Love Forever
Scotland has beautiful beaches, endless heaths, romantic valleys, crystal clear lakes and snow-ca...

Place

Czech republic

Partners:

We were awarded the certificate even thanks to you!

Dôveryhodná firma 2017

 

Guide:

Important Information:

Information and warnings on travelling abroad is to be found HERE.

Mobile application:

aplikácia Infoglobe

stiahnuť zadarmo pre Androidstiahnuť zadarmo pre iPhone

 

 

Today:friday 29. 3. 2024
Holiday:Taťána
Today:
friday 29.3.
6 °C
Tomorrow:
saturday 30.3.
11 °C

TIP: INFOGLOBE app is available for your device, download HERE.

X

TIP: INFOGLOBE app is available for your device, download HERE.

X