Alnwick castle was home to Harry Potter cast
Alnwick Castle in Northumberland has been named as one of ten “undiscovered gems” by leading travel website Dealchecker.co.uk.
It’s hoped thousands of Harry Potter fans from across the globe may visit the UK to support their home nation at the Olympics – and then journey up to Northumberland to see the real Hogwarts.
Alnwick Castle is the setting for the Quidditch game in the Harry Potter movies and also doubled for Hogwarts itself."
The choice of Alnwick as one of the UK’s must see sites for Olympic visitors shows the Harry Potter brand is still a powerful tourist magnet even a year after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – the final film in the movie franchise.
This year’s Olympics comes five years after the publication of JK Rowling’s final book about the boy wizard but it seems tourists, particularly from Japan and the USA, still love Potter.
A spokesman for dealchecker said: “Alnwick Castle is the setting for the Quidditch game in the Harry Potter movies and also doubled for Hogwarts itself. There are Potter-themed tours, a fantastic knights’ quest and dressing up for kids.”
The castle dates back to 1096 but despite its history it seems to have gotten the nod as one of Britain’s best attractions purely on the Potter connection.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park opened two years ago in Orlando Florida and has proven to be one of the sunshine state’s most popular attractions.
At the time London Mayor Boris Johnson criticised the fact that the park was chosen to be in Orlando, rather than in London, stating that it was “utterly mad” to leave it to the Americans “to make money from a great British invention.”
It seems with thousands of US visitors expected to pore into the UK in coming weeks Alnwick may be about to benefit from the combined Olympic and Harry Potter effects, too.
Have you visited Alnwick Castle or are you going to this summer? Tweet us your pictures to @FemaleFirst_UK
Shabana Adam @Shabana_FAM