A day trip to Gloucester
Fun fact, it took a day trip to Gloucester for me to learn how to properly pronounce Gloucester, its not “Glow-chester”, its “Gloster”. Anyway, James and I made sure to schedule a day trip to Gloucester solely to see the Gloucester Cathedral as it is a Harry Potter film site. I am a massive Potterhead so I obviously took a trip to visit the Cathedral and just like that James and I were off to live out our childhood dreams of going to Hogwarts – okay maybe my childhood dream.
Gloucester Cathedral
Exploring the Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral itself is free however they do recommend donations to maintain and support the Cathedral. James and I spent about two hours wandering throughout the Cathedral, taking a copious amount of photos and of course re-enacting scenes from the movies. Yes we’re that lame.
On the very day that we were visiting, the Cathedral was hosting a wedding, and the bride looked beautiful. I did not want to get married in a Church but I might have to consider it after seeing a wedding in Hogwarts. Can you imagine how beautiful the photos will look?
Harry Potter Films
Gloucester Cathedral has been used for various films, however I was mainly concerned with Harry Potter. For three of the Harry Potter Films it lent itself as the halls of Hogwarts. Specifically The Sorcerers Stone, The Chamber of Secrets and the Half-Blood Prince.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- The entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, and the Fat Lady’s Portrait, and the Gryffindor Common Room hallway were all filmed in the south section of the Cloisters at the Cathedral.
- The troll entering the girl’s bathroom on Halloween was filmed in the north section of the Cloisters at the Cathedral.
- The Lavatorium is used to film Ron and Harry hiding in the hallway as the troll enters the girl’s bathroom.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- The scene where the statement “The Chamber of Secrets has been opened” was painted in blood on the wall was filmed on the east wall of the Cloisters.
- The scene where Moaning Myrtle floods the toilets was captured on the east wall of the cloisters as well.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- The Lavatorium was used to film Harry eavesdropping on Snape and Draco discussing the unbreakable vow.
- The West Walk of the Cloisters was used to film Harry and Ron laughing at the first years, as McGonogall approaches them and sends them to enroll in Potions.
Check out this photo of James pretending to be Harry and Ron overlooking the first years!
Gloucester City Center
Following our exploration of the Cathedral James and I decided to explore the city center. Around Christmastime you can find many stalls and shops and a lovely Christmas Market. We made our way to the Gloucester Docks and strolled through the picturesque canals. While exploring we stumbled across “The Tailor of Gloucester”, which is the real-life version of the famous storybook. It seems Gloucester is just full of magic and childhood memories.
Gloucester was quite a small town, and we had seen everything in a matter of hours. We decided to to kill some time by sharing a meal together.
Immediately next to the train station is a Pub that had a lunch special, £10 for 2 mains. James ordered the fish and chips which came in quite a large portion, and I ordered the Rice and Vegetable Curry. The pub was perfect as it wasn’t too crowded and we were able to leisurely eat and kill some time while waiting for our train back to Exeter.
Total Cost: £72
Cost Breakdown
- Food: £10
- Train:£62
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I love reading the post, and see how much you love Harry Potter! 🙂 Ive seen the movies, but I dont remember that cathedral 😀 but it looks beautiful ! I am glad you had a great trip 🙂
Thank you!
Wow! This cathedral looks amazing. The detail is absolutley stunning. It’s always cool to visit the places you’ve seen in your favourite movies, too. Congrats for getting to visit a great spot.
Thank you!
What a great adventure! My kids love Harry Potter and could only dream of seeing Hogwarts in person. I must say that cathedral is absolutely beautiful!
It is so amazing to see! If you’re ever in the U.K. It’s quite easy to come across HP locations!
That’s neat. I had just assumed the school in the film had been an actual school location! Any idea why they didn’t shoot all of the films there?
Not sure why they opted to film in multiple locations, but I know they’ve filmed all over the U.K.!
Before reading your post I was looking quickly at the pictures and I was saying “that’s something familiar in these windows….”, then I overlook an Harry Potter between the lines and that’s it! All the images became clear, with the flow of students in black robes, the gothic ceiling and windows, Harry, Ron, Hermione….
Me and my husband made a day trip this autumn from Milan to London only to visit the Warner Bros Studios, so I can completely understand why you chose to take a train to visit this cathedral 🙂
Great tip, because if it will happen for me and my husband to be nearby Gloucester, now I know where I have to go first!!
Gloucester Cathedral looks stunning and even without seeing most of the HP movies and never even read the books it really reminds me of the setting from the glimpses I have seen. I love how you say you were windowshopping because you were broke ha! So refreshing! Thanks for sharing your day in Gloucester with us!
WOW…the hallway looks pretty amazing. I am not a big HP fan but have seen all the movies.
It really is breathtaking, HP fan or not!
As another Harry Potter geek we’ve just added Gloucester to our bucket list! And if you aren’t a HP fan cone on! Look at that architecture!!!
It really is just a beautiful cathedral!
Haha I think almost every place of worship takes some form of tithe! It’s something I would gladly donate to, especially since is the preservation of human culture. But more importantly, the filming site for Harry Potter! How awesome is that! Christmas markets are always nice and glad you had some time to chow down. Fish and chips are my favorite! 🙂
I love fish and chips they are so tasty! But it was a great trip!
Awesome post! I definitely need to visit there!
Thank you, it’s beautiful definitely recommend it!