Take of Virtual Tour of Harry Potter’s London

Getting to visit Platform 9 3/4 from your couch is a different kind of magic.
Getting to visit Platform 9 3/4 from your couch is a different kind of magic. | Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

You can’t Apparate out of quarantine, but you can take a break from being stuck inside with a different kind of magic: a virtual tour of London that focuses on Harry Potter-specific locations.

As MuggleNet reports, the hour-long online trip begins at 89 Charing Cross Road in London’s West End and guides you through a series of stops related to the Harry Potter franchise, including: the Palace Theatre, where Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is performed; Covent Garden, an inspiration for Diagon Alley and a filming location for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; Borough Market, the real-life Leaky Cauldron; the Millennium Bridge, which the Death Eaters demolished in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; and Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station.

As you make your way through London without leaving your comfiest armchair, you’ll also get to partake in quizzes and games, which, according to one review, includes being sorted into Hogwarts Houses that compete against each other in trivia matches.

While sightseeing on your computer screen doesn’t quite have the same effect as strolling along the cobblestone streets and snapping photos of yourself hanging onto the trunk-laden cart beneath the Platform 9 ¾ sign, the virtual tour does have a few selling points that the in-person version doesn’t. For one, a ticket costs just over $6—much less expensive than the Warner Bros. tour it’s modeled after, which will set you back about $58. The online tours also run no matter how many people have joined, whereas in-person tours are sometimes canceled if they don’t reach a minimum number of guests.

You can find out more about the virtual tours, organized by TripAdvisor’s travel activity company Viator, and sign up for one here.