Alnwick Castle was high on the list for a visit as it is where the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was filmed in the first two Harry Potter movies – Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It did not disappoint!

First a little about the castle itself, minus the Harry Potter hype! It was nothing short of spectacular – full of history with loads to look at across the inside and outside of the castle and grounds, which were extensive. Everything was meticulous, which in itself was remarkable given that construction commenced in 1096, so it is well over 900 years old. Note photos above and below.

Alnwick Castle has been the ancestral home of the Percy family since 1309, and Ralph Percy, its current day owner, is the 12th Duke of Northumberland. As we walked through the State Rooms and saw many family heirlooms dating back over the centuries, it was interesting to learn that the castle still serves as the Percy family home. In fact, it is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor Castle. Understandably no photos were allowed inside, however this video gives a glimpse of the grandeur.

Being so close to the England-Scotland border, Alnwick Castle has been a key defence stronghold for centuries. It has seen many battles over the years, including the War of the Roses and the Scottish Wars of Independence. Notably, King Malcolm III of Scotland was killed here in 1093.

We took the filming tour which was super interesting and our tour guide Alex was brilliant (photo 4 above). While it focused on Harry Potter filming locations which was fine by us, dozens of other productions have also been filmed here, including Downton Abbey, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the 1991 version with Kevin Costner), Black Adder, Transformers: The Last Knight, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and even the Ellen DeGeneres Show filmed an episode here!

Some of the notable Harry Potter filming locations included:

Courtyard
Scenes of students walking between classes, including when Ron says Hermione is a nightmare (photos 1-3 above)

Outer bailey
Madam Hooch’s flying lessons and quidditch lessons (photos 4-11 above, up to and including the clock)

Inner bailey
The Whomping Willow flying car crash scene (photos 12 to 16 above, up to but not including the tunnel/gate).
Note: The girls sat in this car at Warner Bros Studios in London, although 16 versions of it were used for the film in various states!

Lion arch
The entrance to Hogwarts and the entrance to the forbidden forest (photos 17-20 above, from the first tunnel/gate to the fourth last photo)

Experiencing all of this, as well as having been to Warner Bros Studios in London and various other Harry Potter filming locations and inspirations throughout our trip, would surely be enough to please any Harry Potter fan!

We also enjoyed visiting the lovely market town of Alnwick, which dates back to AD 600. The last seven photos below (starting with the Alnwick sign) are from around the township, including Alnwick Tower (which is actually a BnB! – sixth last photo below) and the Bondgate Tower (last photo below), which was part of the 15th century town walls (noting that our photo of this did not work out so this is a similar stock photo).