That's magic! Google adds the spellbinding set of Harry Potter's Diagon Alley to its Street View service

  • Diagon Alley is a row of shops that features in the Harry Potter films
  • Google Street View users can now virtually walk up and down the alley and look in the store windows
  • The set includes Ollivander's Wand Shop and Gringotts Bank
  • It is the first set from Warner Bros Harry Potter studio tour to go online

By Victoria Woollaston

PUBLISHED: 09:36 EST, 5 July 2013 | UPDATED: 11:08 EST, 5 July 2013

Harry Potter fans can now explore the set of Diagon Alley - the row of shops that sell wizarding goods in the books and films - on Google Street View. 

It lets users virtually stroll alongside Ollivander's Wand Shop, peer through the door of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and visit Gringotts Bank from their front room.

It is the first set from the Warner Bros' Making of Harry Potter studio tour to be made available on the mapping site.

Explore Diagon Alley on Google Street View 

 

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The Diagon Alley set features in the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, when Harry visits the row of shops with giant Hagrid and other characters throughout the series of books.

According to the books, written by J.K Rowling, the street is only open to wizards and witches and is hidden from non-magical people called Muggles.

 

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One entrance to Diagon Alley can be reached on foot by passing through The Leaky Cauldron - a wizarding pub - which is also invisible to Muggles.

Wizards can also apparate to the site, or use the Floo Network, which involves travelling from one place to another through fireplaces.

You can now explore the set of Diagon Alley - the famous street from the Harry Potter films

You can now explore the set of Diagon Alley - the famous street from the Harry Potter films - that features Ollivander's Wand shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and Gringotts Bank - on Google Street View. The set is the first part of the Warner Bros studios tour in Leavesden to be made available online

Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary, pictured, is a shop in Diagon Alley that sells potion ingredients in the Harry Potter films.

Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary, pictured, is a shop in Diagon Alley that sells potion ingredients in the Harry Potter films. In the books it sells Potion Kit Bags for 10 sickles and Cleaning Solutions & Restorative Draughts. It has a chain of stores with another shop appearing in Knockturn Alley later in the series

The set contains Gringotts Bank which is run by goblins, an ice-cream parlour, pet shops, book shops, Ollivander's Wand shop, magical clothing shops, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes joke shop, broom shops, Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary, and more.

The DVD of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets includes a video 'guided tour' of Diagon Alley but the Google Street view images are the first time the set has been photographed and put online.

Reports suggest that the set of Diagon Alley took more than three months to make.

Warner Bros studio then spent six months making the 20,000 items and props used in the windows and in the sets of the shops.

Warner Bros open the studio tour in Leavesden, just outside London, in March 2012.

Ollivander's is a wands shop that opened in 382 BC, according to the books.

Ollivander's is a wand shop that opened in 382 BC, according to the books. The Google Street View images show a wand lying on a faded purple cushion in the window. The story goes that Harry Potter was taken to Ollivander's in 1991 to buy a wand for his first year at Hogwarts. Harry tried dozens of wands before he was chosen by a wand of Holly and Phoenix Feather - a 'brother' to the wand that had killed his parents

You can now peer through the door at Weasley's Wizards Wheezes from the Harry Potter films on Street View.

You can peer through the door at Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes from the Harry Potter film set on Street View. In the books it is joke shop run by Fred and George Weasley. It opened its doors at number 93 Diagon Alley in the book Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

The Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment shop's name, pictured, is not revealed in the books.

The Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment shop's name, pictured, is not revealed in the books. The shop was first referred to as such in the 'Tour Diagon Alley' feature included on Disc 2 of the DVD release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and was then confirmed on the Pottermore site

Flourish & Blotts sells a variety of magic books, including textbooks for Hogwarts courses.

Flourish & Blotts, pictured, sells magic books. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, celebrity author Gilderoy Lockhart signs copies of his autobiography at the shop the day Harry visits

A tour costs £29 for adults and £21.50 for children.

Each tour session typically lasts around three hours and other sets include the Great Hall, Dumbledore's Office, the Ministry of Magic, Gryffindor Common Room and Boys' Dormitory, Hagrid's Hut and a 1:24 scale model of Hogwarts Castle.

During the tour there is also a pit stop at Privet Drive with the chance to have your photo taken outside the Dursley’s home, and the opportunity to drink a a jug of Butterbeer at the Leaky Cauldron pub.

There is also a lesson in casting spells.

Although the tour currently only focuses on Harry Potter, Warner Bros. have highlighted the possibility to expand the tour to other Warner Bros. franchises in the years to come.

The Diagon Alley Street View images are part of Google's wider Business Photos project where companies let the search engine take 360-degree photographs of their offices.

Google has previously photographed Battleship Island, that featured in the James Bond film Skyfall as well as NFL’s Indianapolis Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Street View trekkers recently visited the Galapagos Islands - which is closed off from tourists - to capture photos of the areas famous giant tortoises and other unsual creatures.

Google, in partnership with Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) and the Galapagos National Parks Directorate (GNPD), sent hikers to the Islands to take panoramic images of its wildlife.

The hikers captured thousands of images using the football-like cameras mounted on a tower on top of the 42lb (19kg) computer backpacks.

Earlier this week Google announced it would be letting people borrow the Street View Trekker cameras but people had to apply for the scheme.

Gringotts Wizarding Bank, pictured, is at the end of Diagon Alley, at the intersection with Knockturn Alley. In the books Gringotts is run by goblins

Gringotts Wizarding Bank, pictured, is at the end of Diagon Alley at the intersection with Knockturn Alley. In the books Gringotts is run by goblins

This image shows the entrance to The Daily Prophet's main offices. In the books, the editor of The Daily Prophet paper is Barnabas Cuffe.

This image shows the entrance to The Daily Prophet's main offices. In the books, the editor of The Daily Prophet paper is Barnabas Cuffe. The paper is delivered to subscribers by owl and subscriptions cost 1 Knut. There is also a weekend edition mentioned in the films called the Sunday Prophet


Comments (21)

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Big deal! It looks like Plymouth Hoe done up in pastel colours. And I wish Google would stop constantly trying to keep its face in the media free of charge and disappear down a worm hole.

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Great for children and it's good to see there are still children's books that can encourage them to read and become interested in story telling, all part of the development process as they learn to read more sophisticated books as they grow older.

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I love this place, I heard they are adding other WB films too which should be good.

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I went a year ago, it was fab and will definitaly go back

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'Witchkraft' should not be venerated. It is a sin and it is sad to make money frm it.

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They have a nice Harry Potter land in Orlando Florida, and the weather is generally quite nice there too.

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My daughter was lucky enough to visit this just last week she loved it and I think went back a second time to buy more stuff from the gift shop and she is 21.

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I see their bank is run by goblins as well... - Frances US, Lynn, 5/7/2013 17:40 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hmm Well Gobblins of Greengotts... cannot be any worse then the Major British Banks...

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Love to get a huge loft and turn it into this!

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the books are great but the films are lame

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