Hogwarts.. Alnwick (4 April 2009)

The famous Hogwarts school created by JK Rowling is based on Oxford University as well as Alnwick castle. Alnwick is pronounced with a silent w..which it sounds like Annick. Alnwick castle is situated near to Newcastle which is about less than 2 hours train ride from Edinburgh. The place is famous for the filming location for Harry Potter's first flying lesson. Remember the scene whereby Harry flew on his broom in the first movie and he caught the magical crystal ball for Longbottom in front of some building...as well as the first flying lesson...

To get to Alnwick, take a train to Alnmouth and then a local bus to the castle. Go for both the castle and the garden though they were quite pricey, it's worth for every Harry Potter fans. Opening times were from April to Oct as the castle will be closed during winter. I think it's the same for most castles in the UK. So when planning trips to castles in the UK, avoid winter time.

This time I went with some classmates for some break before our final exam at the end of April.

the place where Harry caught the crystal ball










the flying scene (see the below photo)


scene from the movie (credit to allmoviephoto.com)




the garden






tree house

How to get there:

Take a train from Edinburgh to Alnmouth and the local bus to the castle.

Alnmouth is quite near to Newcastle.