Harry Potter Sights in Edinburgh: An In-Depth Guide
Edinburgh is a dream destination for Harry Potter fans, but it’s easy to miss some of the most important fan sights there.
I hate finding out about cool sights after I’ve already visited a destination, which is why I’m such an avid researcher and why I started this literary travel website to begin with. I’ll never let you miss out like I have in trips long past.
Edinburgh is on some levels the ultimate Potter mecca, because it’s where author JK Rowling turned her three fledgling chapters into the 7-book series we know today.
In this post, I’ll dive deep into the Edinburgh / Harry Potter connection. I’ll tell you — both from research and from first hand experience hunting down these places myself — every Harry Potter sight you should see while in Edinburgh. I’ll give you inside information and my honest opinions, and debunk many common misconceptions about some of these sights.
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Whenever possible, I recommend buying books at local bookshops or through Bookshop.org, because shopping there puts the profits right into the hands of indie bookstores all over the country.
The Edinburgh / Harry Potter Connection
It’s well-known that the idea for Harry Potter occurred to Jo Rowling while she was on a train from Manchester to London. Over the next few years, she fleshed out the story and began writing the first chapters while living in Porto, Portugal.
Rowling’s time in Porto was marked by an abusive marriage she endured and finally escaped, and Harry Potter is a part of that story, too. Rowling’s ex-husband held hostage the manuscript pages of the first Harry Potter book, a ploy to keep her from leaving him. As she plotted her escape, she stole the early pages back one page at a time. By 1993, when she fled the marriage and the country, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her young daughter and the first three chapters of the book.
Related: The Livreria Lello is a famous Porto bookstore that attracts thousands of daily visitors for supposedly being a Hogwarts library or Flourish and Blotts inspiration, but is it true?
Broke and with nothing to lose, Rowling dove headlong into her writing; her goal was to finish the book before beginning teacher training (she didn’t expect to make much income as a writer). Her daughter asleep in her stroller, Rowling would spend hours at a time in Edinburgh’s various cafes, finishing the first Potter book.
Edinburgh remained home for Rowling, even after the publication and success of the first and subsequent books. She wrote all 7 books while living there and still resides in the greater Edinburgh area with her family to this day.
She said in 2008,
“Edinburgh is very much home for me and is the place where Harry evolved over seven books and many, many hours of writing in its cafés.”
With all this Potter history, Edinburgh is a fantastic destination for those in search of Harry Potter sights.
Important Disclaimer: The author of this blog does not condone nor agree with the recent statements of JK Rowling about the trans community. I encourage anyone reading this to get more information about the challenges facing our transgender friends at the Trevor Project. Trans lives matter.
Related: These Harry Potter sights are just some of the many literary sights in Edinburgh for book lovers to take in.
Harry Potter Locations in Edinburgh
Elephant House: “Birthplace” of Harry Potter
One of the most well-known Harry Potter locations in Edinburgh is the Elephant House café in downtown Edinburgh, the self-proclaimed “Birthplace of Harry Potter.” JK Rowling has publicly challenged this claim, as she had already started writing Harry Potter before she ever came to Edinburgh. However, she said on X formerly Twitter: “it’s not the birthplace, but I *did* write in there so we’ll let them off.”
As a young single mom in Edinburgh, Rowling preferred doing her writing at cafés, one of which was indeed Elephant House. She said in an early career interview that “It’s a lovely space with a really great view of [Edinburgh] castle.”
There are even a few photos that exist of a young Rowling sitting in the back room of Elephant House café and writing. Like many other businesses in Edinburgh and London, this small business has really leaned in to promoting their part in Harry Potter history, obviously recognizing the monetary potential of becoming a mecca for Harry Potter fans.
That has definitely ramped up over the years in this particular case. When I first visited Elephant House in 2009, they were advertising themselves on their sign as the “Birthplace of Harry Potter.” Inside, there were several news clippings and photos hung up mentioning Potter and Rowling, but it otherwise functioned as a regular old café — one that sold absolutely delicious hot chocolate and did indeed have a great view of the castle from the back windows.
Much has changed since then. The Elephant House has taken its Potter association much, much further, embracing it almost as its entire identity.
Note: Sadly, the Elephant House suffered a severe fire in August, 2021, and had to close. While undergoing refurbishment, they have opened a temporary location around the corner on Victoria Street.
In the temporary Elephant House, you are immersed in a Potter-inspired world. The stairwell is decorated with magical elements, including hand-drawn maps of Potter sights in Edinburgh. They even sell their own branded version of Butterscotch Beer, catering to Potter fans who want the experience of drinking Butterbeer in the “Birthplace of Harry Potter.”
The number one reason to visit Elephant House, however, is in an upstairs corner. Here, you can find the table in Elephant House on which Rowling frequently wrote, salvaged from the fire. They’ve even created a faux window with a view of Edinburgh Castle to mimic what she would have seen as she sat and dreamed up the magical wizarding school.
On the table are notebooks for Potter fans to leave notes. Some sign it like a guest book, while others opt to write messages of gratitude to Rowling, while others leave little drawings.
Location: 21 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EN
Temporary Location: WRX4+F8 Edinburgh
Note: The original location for the Elephant House Café will supposedly reopen in Summer, 2024.
Related: Readers in Edinburgh will love the free Edinburgh Writers’ Museum not far from Victoria Street.
Victoria Street (Diagon Alley)
Victoria Street is one of the most famous streets in Edinburgh. The buildings date from the 19th century and are built in the neoclassical style, like most of the old part of the city. The views up and down Victoria Street are absolutely iconic, with brightly colored shopfronts on a lower level and the classic Edinburgh stone and a pedestrian terrace above.
It’s gorgeous in its own rite, but many Potter fans visit for a specific reason — the long-touted rumor that it inspired the winding shopping street of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter series. But did Victoria Street really inspire Diagon Alley?
JK Rowling popped up on X / Twitter yet again to debunk this myth, claiming she dreamt Diagon Alley up entirely in her head, and no specific street inspired it.
Even so, there is a distinctly Diagon Alley-esque vibe here, with the curving slope of the street and the colorful shops that line it. Potter fans will doubtless enjoy seeing it and perhaps imagining themselves in the hidden London lane.
While on Victoria Street, you can visit the temporary location of the Elephant House Café as well as a couple of Harry Potter shops on the street, including the most famous, the Museum Context.
Related: Do NOT miss out on these 10 Edinburgh bookshops. Indie bookstore lovers will absolutely flip for them.
Museum Context Harry Potter Shop
One of the most prominent shops on Victoria Street in Edinburgh is the Museum Context, a seller of licensed Harry Potter merchandise. This Harry Potter themed store is housed in the former location of Robert Cresser’s Brush Shop, a store that once sold broomsticks.
Naturally, Potter fans have made the leap to suppose it may have helped inspire the Quidditch supply store in Diagon Alley, or that the vibe was leant to Ollivander’s Wand Shop, and a blue plaque outside the store carries a message to this effect.
As Rowling has already said that Victoria Street did not inspire Diagon Alley, it’s also likely that this small shop did not directly inspire anything in the Potter world, but there’s nothing stopping you from pretending all the same.
Regardless, Potter fans enjoy exploring this elaborately themed Edinburgh Harry Potter store, with two stories full of magical decorations and wizarding gear for sale. It’s a very popular spot, so don’t be surprised if you find a long queue to enter.
Location: 40 Victoria St, Edinburgh EH1 2JW
Related: London is lousy with wizarding shops, but which are the best London Harry Potter shops to visit? I break it down for you in this guide.
JK Rowling’s handprints
In 2008, JK Rowling became the second ever recipient of the Edinburgh Award. This is a recognition given each year to a current or former Edinburgh resident who has “made a positive impact on the city and gained national and international recognition for Edinburgh.”
The Edinburgh Award is presented during an official ceremony, and the recipient’s handprints are reproduced on a flagstone outside Edinburgh’s City Chambers.
That means that you can see her handprints memorialized in stone, though ever so discretely.
Rowling’s handprints are an oft-missed Harry Potter sight for Edinburgh travelers and locals, alike, but an easy stop on your tour of Old Town Edinburgh. When you enter the City Chambers courtyard, look for the Edinburgh Award flagstones. JK Rowling’s is on one of the first flagstones on the left side of the courtyard.
Location: City Chambers, 253 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1YJ
Related: Rowling is not the only writer to receive the Edinburgh Award; Ian Rankin was the first recipient of the Edinburgh Award in 2007. Alexander McCall Smith, author of one of my favorite cozy fiction series and also the 44 Scotland Street series that takes place in Edinburgh, won the award in 2020.
Balmoral Hotel
When JK Rowling was writing the first Harry Potter book, she loved to write in cafés. When she immediately skyrocketed to fame, however, she had to give up that writing habit. By the time she was writing the final Potter book, she had three children, a new husband, and at least a couple of dogs. Finding a calm place to write started feeling impossible.
By that time a very wealthy woman, she decided to “throw money” at the problem, as she explained it. She bought herself some peace and quiet in the form of a luxury suite in the iconic 5-star Balmoral Hotel in downtown Edinburgh.
Here, she stayed in room 552 (now known as the JK Rowling Suite) for six months to finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. When she was finished, she signed — or graffitied, depending on how you look at it — a bust in the suite.
The JK Rowling Suite is still an operational hotel room, so you won’t be able to pop by just to visit. But, if you have the money and care to splurge, you can stay overnight in the room. You’ll get to see her signature on the bust as well as the desk where she finished writing.
Location: 1 Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 2EQ
Check prices and availability:
Related: Rowling isn’t the only author to have left famous graffiti. I took a sunset tour of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion and tracked down the graffiti of another famous English writer there.
Tom Riddle’s grave in the Greyfriar’s Kirkyard
Any Edinburgh Harry Potter tour will take you to the Greyfriar’s Kirkyard in old town Edinburgh to see the grave of one Thomas Riddell, awfully close to the Tom Riddle from the Harry Potter series.
JK Rowling has denied having been inspired by any of the names in Greyfriar’s Kirkyard (though she has copped to being a collector of unusual names in general). All the same, it’s a fascinating Harry Potter sight in Edinburgh if you’re a fan of the books or the movies, particularly because of the important scene that takes places at a certain graveyard at the end of the 4th book.
Greyfriar’s Kirkyard is also just a cool, atmospheric, interesting historical sight well worth exploring during your travels.
Tip: In order to find the real Tom Riddell’s grave, you can use Google Maps to navigate there. Just note that Google Maps takes you to the wrong side of the cemetery wall; walk around and back to the same spot from the other side, and you’ll find the vertical grave for Thomas Riddell.
Location: Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh EH1 2AW
Related: Jim Dale and Stephen Fry read the American and English versions of the Harry Potter audiobook series, respectively. Though people heatedly debate which is the better Potter narrator, the truth is, they are both among the best audiobook readers out there. Read my recommendations to find some other fantastic narrators.
Nicolson’s Cafe
Nicolson’s Cafe is one of the only “true” Harry Potter sights in Edinburgh that hasn’t been debunked, but sadly it has closed down. These days it’s a Chinese restaurant, but it used to be a small cafe where Rowling frequently worked on the first Potter book.
“I used to write in Nicolsons all the time. I once wrote an entire chapter in there in one sitting and barely changed a word afterwards. Those are the days you remember.”
Rowling has said in multiple interviews how grateful she was to the owners of Nicolson’s for letting her sit and write for hours, usually having only paid for a single cup of coffee. To show her gratitude, she gave many of her first interviews in Nicolson’s, to give them some publicity, like this early interview after the first book was published.
You can’t visit the cafe any more, but you can visit the Chinese restaurant that now occupies the space and at least get the same window and street view.
Location: 6a Nicolson Street, Edinburgh
New: Edinburgh MinaLima Harry Potter Shop
The MinaLima shop in London is one of the best and most popular Harry Potter things to do in London, so the company decided to expand their operations and open up a brand new store location in Edinburgh!
If you don’t already know, MinaLima is the graphic design company responsible for all the graphic designs of the Harry Potter films. They also designed and released illustrated (and interactive) editions of the first three Harry Potter books.
Their London location is popular for its extensive, detailed, Potter-themed decor, and based on the photos, the Edinburgh shop has a similar fantastical, upscale feel. It opened toward the end of 2024 and is sure to quickly become a staple for Potter fans in Edinburgh.
Location: 42-44 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh,
Harry Potter-esque Experiences in Edinburgh
There’s no denying that there’s a distinctly magical feel to Edinburgh. There’s just something about the city that feels like it came straight out of a Harry Potter book. If you’re looking to fill up your itinerary with more magical experiences, you can consider trying out some of the following.
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle may not have directly inspired Hogwarts, but it likely at least worked in Rowling’s subconscious as she sat in the Elephant House, gazing at it through the cafe window. It sits atop a rocky hill overlooking the city, much like Hogwarts sits atop a rocky Scottish cliff as well.
A tour of Edinburgh Castle should definitely be on your Edinburgh itinerary. You’ll get some great views of the city and learn a ton about the castle’s storied history.
Tickets book out in advance, so you’ll want to reserve online before visiting. You can even book an afternoon tea experience at Edinburgh Castle.
Tip: It gets VERY windy up here so high above the city. I remember feeling like I’d blow away. So take that into consideration when planning your wardrobe!
Location: Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NG, United Kingdom
The Witchery by the Castle
Right near the entrance to Edinburgh Castle, Potterheads can enjoy a meal or even an overnight stay at The Witchery by the Castle. It’s a hotel and restaurant named for the hundreds of people burned at the stake as witches on Castlehill.
The Witchery occupies as 16th century building and has nine historic guest rooms with a very castle vibe, kitted out with antiques, four poster beds, and lavish decorations.
If you don’t want to splurge to stay overnight, consider a meal in their hotel restaurant, which specializes in historically-inspired foods made with local produce.
Location: WRX3+GP Edinburgh
The Cauldron Edinburgh
The Cauldron is a small chain of Harry Potter-inspired potions experiences. At the Edinburgh branch, you can sign up for a potions making experience, during which you’ll brew two (alcoholic) cocktails while waving a wand and enjoying some dry ice effects as well.
I haven’t opted to do this myself, so I can’t vouch for it personally. The general consensus of attendees tends to be: the welcome drink is delicious, and the brewing is fun, but the drinks you actually make are not the tastiest.
Location: 57a Frederick St, Edinburgh EH2 1LH
Related: There is another branch of The Cauldron in London, one of the many Harry Potter things to do in London. Harry Potter lovers in Manchester can also check out a branch there.
Edinburgh Harry Potter Walking Tours
All of these Edinburgh Harry Potter locations can be easily visited on your own, so a tour isn’t absolutely necessary. Still, if you enjoy a good walking tour and don’t want the fuss of navigating amongst all these sights on your own, you can take one of the many Edinburgh Harry Potter walking tours.
There are multiple options for tours, so choose the one that works best with your schedule and needs. For diehard fans, you can even take a 4 1/2 hour Harry Potter-themed tour of Edinburgh (I haven’t done it, but reviewers rave about it).
Related: Read my honest evaluation of the London Harry Potter walking tour and how to pick from among the many tour options.
Travel Resources At-A-Glance
All of the following are links to sites and services I actually use to book and plan my travel or to purchase books or travel gear.
For flights: Skyscanner is my number one go-to resource for booking flights. I love using the “explore” function to find the cheapest places I can fly during a given time or using the fare calendar to identify the cheapest days to fly.
For hotels and lodgings: For hotels, hotels.com, and for vacation rentals, VRBO.com. I’ve had much better experiences with private rentals through this website than through other popular private vacation rental websites.
For car rentals: Kayak allows comparisons across a wide range of booking agencies and lists reviews of companies as well. I’ve found this to be the most user-friendly and efficient way to compare car rental prices.
For tours & excursions: Viator and Get Your Guide are my top choices for booking excursions and tour experiences in a new destination.
For travel gear: Amazon.com and REI for more outdoorsy items. Check out my travel gear recs here.
For booking trains & buses: I find the Omio app and website to be the most easily navigable for comparing options for public transportation, especially in Europe,
Best travel credit card: My favorite travel rewards credit card for European travel has been the Chase Sapphire Rewards card. Visa is accepted just about everywhere in Europe, and there are no foreign transaction fees on the card. Some of the travel benefits I love on the Chase Sapphire include free TSA pre-check or Global Entry (worth it every time), an annual $200 travel credit, an annual $200 hotel benefit, built-in rental car, and trip insurance, and points are worth 50% more when used to book travel. I travel around Europe a LOT, and I end up with many free flights and hotel stays from using my points on my Chase Sapphire.
For books: Bookshop.org often has prices as good as Amazon or sometimes better, but profits go to indie bookstores all over the country. Whenever possible, consider buying your books from this online indie bookshop resource.
This should be enough information to keep even the biggest Harry Potter fan entertained in Edinburgh. Which of these sights would you be most excited to see?
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