A nerd-cation pilgrimage to the homeland of Harry Potter and Doctor Who

Traveling companion(s): Holly and Sole
Type: Harry Potter Meets Doctor Who
Budget: Midrange ($1000-$5000)

Sole and I are both diehard Potterheads and Whovians. She contacted me last January to ask if I’d be interested in making a nerd-cation pilgrimage to the United Kingdom to visit the homeland of two of our favorite stories: Harry Potter and Doctor Who.

We cast a wide net at first, noting every possible location we could visit within a reasonable budget. Eventually we narrowed our travels to three cities: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff, as those cities had the biggest draws for our nerdy hearts while still being accessible by public transit.

What did you do?

London

We flew into London via Iceland (stunning!), late Saturday morning, and had only about 40 hours until our next leg (Edinburgh, Scotland). So we ended up taking one of those hop on, hop off bus tours of London just to feel like we were able to experience more of London; stopped by Platform 9 3/4; attended the Doctor Who Festival; visited the breathtaking studios where the Harry Potter movies were filmed, and saw the musical, Matilda.

Then we started our first full day in London with a Muggle Tour. This was by far one of the best tours I’ve ever taken. We went to various places throughout London where scenes were filmed in all Harry Potter movies (including the original Diagon and Knockturn Alleys).

And then we landed in Edinburgh!

I’d heard through the grapevine known as “the Internet” that JK Rowling had found inspiration for a few character names in the local churchyard, and we set off to find them. But it got too dark, so I went back another day.

When in Edinburgh, we ate lunch where J.K. Rowling worked on the first Harry Potter book, and saw the fan graffiti left behind in those restrooms…

We took a Hairy Coo bus tour with a local Scot, who filled us in on his beliefs about Scottish independence, while showing us around his hometown in the Highlands. And he introduced us to his favorite local hairy coos (a breed of Scottish cattle known for its long, wavy hair).

We saw filming locations from Monty Python, Game of Thrones, and Outlander…

I finally had some time to explore Greyfriars Kirkyard in daylight in hopes of finding some names from Harry Potter…

In Cardiff…

We visited the Doctor Who Experience, which allows you to see the sets, props, and costumes used when filming the series, as well as participate in an interactive exhibit that includes flying the TARDIS!

The creepiest part of the Doctor Who Experience was having to walk through a garden of Weeping Angels! I almost grabbed Sole’s hand just to survive.

We strolled through the Cardiff Christmas Market, explored Cardiff Castle and its air raid shelters; and visited Millennium Centre and Ianto’s Shrine — two key filming locations from Torchwood, a Doctor Who spinoff…

At the end of our trip, we stayed in the Georgian House Hotel in their Harry Potter-theme wizard chambers. They were supposedly haunted and I didn’t sleep a wink!

What would you have done differently?

We made the mistake of booking a party hostel for our first two days in London and ended up awake almost the whole night due to the booming music (and young couple enthusiastically partaking in adult activities in the bunk next to us). We would have only booked one night in Cardiff, as we discovered that apart from visiting the sites we planned on seeing, there wasn’t much that interested us.

What’s your best travel advice for other offbeat travelers?

Pack light! We were both able to fit all of our items in carry-ons, which made it easy for us to carry our luggage as well as store it in our hostel lockers.

Don’t be afraid to travel creatively from place to place. We got to Cardiff from Edinburgh almost for pennies by combining a flight to Bristol, and then taking the train the rest of the way. But almost had to pay nearly $100 because we didn’t realize we would need to pay to have both a purse and a carry-on.

Search blogs, Pinterest, and travel guides for tips on how to save money and find off-the-beaten-path sights to see. We met up with one of my favorite bloggers in Edinburgh, and she gave us some great tips, including how to find two tombstones in a local graveyard that inspired the names of two Harry Potter characters.

Don’t be afraid to travel in the off-season. we went to the UK in November, which meant it was a little chilly. Thankfully, we’re from Minnesota, so the amount of money we saved by being a bit chilly was more than worth it.

We used Oyster cards in London, like locals, to be able to use the tube system quickly and efficiently.

We stayed in hostels every night except for one night when we splurged on the Wizard Chambers.

We kept a Google spreadsheet of ideas at first, then eventually shifted our ideas into blocks of time and determined what was and wasn’t going to fit into our itinerary. Once we determined our final options, we booked things, then tracked confirmation numbers and contact information in our spreadsheet. We then converted it into one printable page to keep with us on our trip as well as share it with our families. The spreadsheet also helped us keep track of our budget so we made sure we split costs evenly.