AT HOME EXPERIENCES: VIRTUAL HARRY POTTER TOUR OF EDINBURGH

I recently took part in an at-home virtual Harry Potter tour of Edinburgh, called the "Harry Potter Magic in Edinburgh Tour". This 1 hour tour was led remotely by an expert tour guide from her home in Edinburgh. I booked the experience via Airbnb, and it was priced at £11 per person. 

Read on to find out my review!

I’ll start with a disclaimer that I, like many disillusioned Harry Potter fans of my generation, am not a fan of J.K. Rowling as a person due to her misguided and harmful views. Not to get too serious, but it’s true.

That being said, I do think that Harry Potter might be one of the very rare cases that the art can be separated from the artist. With the franchise spawning more theme parks, merchandise, spin-off content, and branded butter beer drinks than you can shake a wand at, it’s safe to say that it’s morphed into much more than the sum of its parts over the years. 

And if the art can’t be separated from the artist… well, the “art” in question is a children’s book series about the adventures of a posh boy wizard, so maybe it’s not a big loss.

With that disclaimer out of the way… like a lot of millennials, Harry Potter was an essential part of my growing up, with its language, themes and characters woven into the dialect of our everyday life. To this day, you can ask 9 out of 10 people my age what their Hogwarts house is, and they’ll answer you without missing a beat. (Something that Gen Z quite rightly makes fun of us for.)

I also have always wanted to visit Edinburgh but have never got the chance, so I figured this at-home Edinburgh tour would be a great way to feel like I was there without leaving the safety of my house.

I was first on the call, and was greeted by my friendly guide Jule, sporting a Hogwarts uniform complete with Ravenclaw tie. We chatted for a bit about Edinburgh before the other participants joined. It’s safe to say I was the oldest person on the call, so I might caution you that this seems to be more of a kid’s / family experience.

That being said, I did notice from the reviews that some adults had done it as a work team building exercise, so maybe it’s flexible. You also have to take time of day into account; I was taking part in this in the afternoon on a weekday. 

Jule explained that she is originally from Germany, and since moving to Edinburgh for university has made the city her permanent home. It’s safe to say she is a tried and true expert in Harry Potter, and has even written an academic paper about its mythology. 

Our first task was to determine our Harry Potter house, by picking a negative and positive character trait and using a chart to see which house these aligned us with. I ended up in Ravenclaw, which does happen to be my house, if you must know. 

Next, our guide brought up our customised “Marauder’s Map” of Edinburgh, asking us which phrase famously opened it up in the series. The Hufflepuff representative, a much younger participant with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Harry Potter, correctly guessed “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” 

I won’t lie that I found these quiz sections slightly awkward, but I would like to stress this was not the guide’s fault at all. She had a really nice, bubbly energy and kept the conversation going – but there is just something about buzzing in to beat a literal child at a pop quiz on the name of Neville’s pet toad that makes you think maybe you need to re-evaluate some of your choices.

First, Jule took us through a little bit of Edinburgh’s role in the creation of Harry Potter, talking about Rowling’s history with the city. From her humble beginnings as a single mother seeking solace in the city’s cosy cafes, to penning Deathly Hallows in an ultra-swanky hotel room at The Balmoral, the author has come a long way. 

Next, Jule took us virtually through the streets of Edinburgh using photos she had taken during lockdown – meaning the streets were amazingly and eerily quiet. She assured us that this was wholly unusual as any other year they’d be crammed with tourists. 

Without giving away too much of the tour, we remotely visited a few different points of interest – some Harry Potter themed, some not – including the grand castle-turned-private-school that inspired Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and a statue that resembled one particular senior wizard (but was actually of John Knox.) 

We virtually visited some of the famous cafés that Rowling reportedly wrote the series in, including the only one that thought to capitalise on that fact by adding the tagline “JK Rowling Wrote Harry Potter Here” to their signage.

I am always curious with these sorts of things whether, given recent events, they regret tying themselves so inextricably to her, but I expect it brings in a lot of business so perhaps not. (Judging by the graffiti, a fair few Potterheads are making the pilgrimage to declare their devotion to the wizard on the toilet walls!)

Our guide took us to a graveyard, where JK Rowling found a lot of inspiration for names from the gravestones for characters in Harry Potter. I’ll add this to my ever-growing list of Slightly Icky Things JK Rowling Has Done, tick!

Next, my favourite part of the tour… our guide explained that (spoiler alert – I mean you’ve had twenty years, if you haven’t read it by now you’re probably not gonna) the fact that Tom Marvolo Riddle and Voldemort are the same person caused problems with international publication, given that “Tom Marvolo Riddle” is a super-subtle anagram for “I Am Lord Voldemort”, and this did not necessarily translate into other languages. 

Because of this, they had to give Tom Riddle a variety of new, decidedly less sinister-sounding names depending on the country. For example, the French translation named him Tom Elvis Jedusor to create “Je suis Voldemort”. Let’s also not forget my personal favourite, the Swedish translation: “Romeo G. Detlev Jr.", which when untangled from its anagram becomes "Jeg er Voldemort" meaning "I am Voldemort". 

I just love the thought of some long-suffering over-qualified translator tearing their hair out while they try with all their might to create a passable anagram for this evil wizard. 

After a few more quiz questions, we closed the map with a “mischief managed”. 

I think this at home Harry Potter tour would be a fun thing to do with a group of friends who are die-hard fans, with your kids and family, or maybe as a team-building exercise as one review mentioned. If you are joining it solo, I would recommend bearing in mind that it’s likely you could be with a significantly younger group. Nothing wrong with that, just changes the feel of a tour!