Pottering about Edinburgh

Last weekend we were lucky enough to visit Edinburgh, Scotland. Being massive Harry Potter nerds, we just had to stop at all the locations around the city related to Potter. In case you didn't know, J.K. Rowling has lived in Edinburgh ever since she started working on the first book, Philosopher's Stone, and as such, many locations around the city serve as inspiration for her magical world. The inspiration is clear, even from places that haven't been confirmed, such as the castle that looms over the city looking an awful lot like our beloved Hogwarts!

The impressive Edinburgh Castle

We visited as many of these places as we could, both with our lovely friend, Jack, who lives in Edinburgh, and via a walking tour we took with Orange Free Tours. This tour was super awesome, and our guide, Megan, was very knowledgeable. As the name suggests, the tour is free, and you pay as much as you can/think the tour was worth at the end. We would definitely recommend!

Now without further ado, we are going to tell you about all the great places we visited, as well as some cool facts we learnt along the way!

City Chambers 

At the heart of Edinburgh, one can find the City Chambers. This is a government building that is believed to have inspired the Ministry of Magic, not least because of its function, but due to the fact that like the wizarding government, this building has 12 floors, most of which can be found underground. In the courtyard of the building, recipients of the Edinburgh Award place their handprints in concrete, later to be covered in gold. Here you can find J.K. Rowling's handprints from when she won the award in 2008 for her efforts in inspiring reading again, both in children and adults.

J.K. Rowling's hand prints in the City Chambers courtyard 

Victoria Street 

A sign found on Victoria Street

Victoria Street

All over the UK, many a cobbled, windy street claim to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley. Victoria Street is one of these, and the resemblance is quite apparent, as the brightly coloured, eccentric shops are very reminiscent of those found on the wizarding high street. The area also hosts many vintage clothing shops, and it is said that JK visited these stores and put together random items into outfits, thus creating the quirky fashion sense her characters seem to have!

What's more, this street houses two very special HP themed shops; The Boy Wizard and Museum Context. The Boy Wizard has a few stores across the city, but the one here is definitely the biggest, and sells an assortment of licensed HP products. Museum Context is also very cool, hosting three floors of magical goodies, official products, but also wizarding inspired products, such as items emblazoned with runes, telescopes, compasses and more. Plus, the top floor holds a very fun Potter photo booth, so definitely check that out if you can!

A mirror in Museum Context
Check out that Basilisk in the reflection!

Balmoral Hotel

The Balmoral Hotel is probably one of the most famous HP sites in Edinburgh, as it was featured in the 2007 documentary 'J.K. Rowling - A Year in the Life.' This location is so poignant as it is where J.K. spent 6 months in one of the top floor suites, finishing the final novel of the series, Deathly Hallows. Upon finishing the book, Rowling chose a bust of Hermes from the room, and inscribed 'Deathly Hallows was finished here' on the back. This bust is now turned around so those lucky enough to stay in the room can see the note, whilst simultaneously allowing the face of Hermes to look out of the window over the city.

The Balmoral Hotel
The window on the top floor, on the corner of the building in the
centre of the photograph is in the JKR Suite!

So important is this room, that the suite was since been renamed the 'J.K. Rowling Suite,' and now hosts signed copies of all of the books. Additionally, the door to the suite is painted the exact shade of purple as Dumbledore's robes are described to be, and also has an owl shaped door knocker. Sounds like our kind of room!

George Heriot School

Whilst this location is also unconfirmed, it's still rumoured to be some sort of inspiration behind Hogwarts School, which is pretty cool! George Heriot School is a boarding school, and also operates a house system, much like Hogwarts. Therefore it's quite possible it had some impact on J.K's writing.

The Elephant House Café

The café proudly boasts as being the 'birthplace of Harry Potter,' though this is not strictly correct as the café didn't actually open until after Philosopher's Stone was published! Any true fan knows Rowling thought of the idea for the books on a train, However, it is true that J.K. wrote large chunks of the Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban here, which is still pretty cool! If you're lucky, you might even find Rowling's favourite table free and get to sit where she sat.

The Elephant House Cafe

One of the most striking things about this establishment is actually the toilets - stay with us... Over the years, it has become a custom for Potter fans to write messages on the walls of the loo, whether this be messages to J.K. herself in the hopes she might see them, favourite quotes from the books, down to theories, favourite pairings and basically anything relating to Potter at all. After enjoying some cake in the café, we of course made a stop off here and wrote our own little messages on the wall!

Just one of the walls in the bathroom,
covered by glass to preserve the notes

Light in the Darkness

Greyfriars Kirkyard

Right behind the Elephant House, one can find Greyfriars Kirkyard. Three of the graves in the kirkyard are said to have inspired names for some of Rowling's well-known characters, yet only one, that of William McGonagall, has been confirmed. Rowling won't comment on the other two as they are considered quite modern, meaning they may still have relatives alive who could then sue for the use of the names without permission, however the fact that the graveyard is in such close proximity to the cafés J.K. frequented, it is quite possible they were her inspiration. These other two names are 'Moodie,' of course relating to famed auror Alastor Moody, and 'Thomas Riddell,' which understandably is believed to have inspired Rowling's own Tom Riddle.

Poet William McGonagall's grave
The only grave confirmed to have inspired Rowling.

Thomas Riddell's grave
The inspiration behind Voldemort?

Moodie's grave

We had such a great trip in Edinburgh, and getting to visit all these magical locations definitely made our Potter-loving selves very happy! The city itself is utterly lovely, and having all this stuff dotted around makes it extra special. If you ever get the chance to visit, we highly recommend doing so.