VisitBritain

While in London, Potter fans cannot miss a priceless photo op at the enchanted Platform 9-3/4 at King's Cross Station (www.hp-lexicon.org/atlas/britain/atlas-b-kings.html). Would-be sorcerers can try their hand at pushing a trolley through the brick wall between platforms nine and 10, otherwise known as the portal to the wizarding world.

Fantastical England

New this year, Beyond Boundaries Travel (www.hpfantrips.com) will offer Harry Potter fans the unique chance to ride in the same carriages used as the Hogwarts Express in the film. Part of the London celebrations of the new movie release, on July 18 the famed Hogwarts Express train will depart from London's Paddington station for travel to Oxford in the morning. Travellers will receive a map of the filming locations in and around Oxford, to use for a self-guided walking tour of the city. While in Oxford, they can take in pubs, shops, and the sights of the university town. Tickets are $145 per person, $72 for kids under 7. Tickets will be sold on a first come, first serve basis.

The university's Christchurch College is a must while in Oxford, the location used for the magnificent Hogwarts dining hall and many of the school's famous moving staircases. Should any travelers have a run-in with an ill-tempered magical creature, the Hogwarts hospital can be found in the Divinity School, which was used as the school's infirmary in the fourth Potter film. The university's circular Bodleian Library contains several antique manuscripts and mysterious works, including an ancient book of spells and witchcraft in Duke Humphrey's Library, another location used in the films.

Gloucester is also one of England's best places to visit for a spot of Harry Potter magic this year with the local cathedral (www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk) bearing a fresh touch of Hollywood sparkle – thanks to the location being used again for the scenes set at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While visitors may not meet Nearly Headless Nick or Moaning Myrtle in these halls, an ancient wooden door will lead them down to the old crypt, said to be haunted by monks from the old Gloucester monastery.

Also in Gloucestershire, visitors can learn more about the owls used by Hogwarts' students at the National Bird of Prey Centre (www.nbpc.co.uk). The Centre is home to more than 60 species of owls, eagles and hawks, and offers an "Owl Experience Day" where owl enthusiasts can learn how to handle and fly these magical creatures.

Can't get enough of Hogwarts? You can also visit the stunning Alnwick Castle (www.alnwickcastle.com), in the North of England, which was used for interior and exterior shots of Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter movies. To many visitors, their first sight of this glorious medieval castle can seem foreboding, and its history lacks nothing in drama and intrigue.

Sorcerers Scotland

The majority of the blockbuster series' breathtaking scenery was shot in the spectacular Scottish Highlands. The most north-westerly point of the British mainland, Cape Wrath (www.capewrath.org.uk) meets Voldemort's fury in the anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with some of Britain's most spectacular cliffs playing a lead part in the dramatic climax of the new film. Visitors can reach Cape Wrath only by bus through 11 miles through wild unspoiled scenery.

One of the many east-west lochs across the Western Highlands, Loch Arkaig (www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/speanbridge/locharkaig) is another location featured extensively in the new movie. Visitors can enjoy a beautiful drive across the Caledonian Canal, continuing to the Dark Mile, at the end of which they'll find the Witches Pool at the Cia-aig Falls. A stone staircase leads to the top of the falls, which are spectacular.

The magical steam train transporting Harry Potter to the wizard school of Hogwarts is in real life the Jacobite Steam Train (www.scotland-inverness.co.uk/jacobite.htm) operated by West Highland Railway, which runs 42 miles from Fort William to Mallaig. Along its way, the train passes through some of the scenery shown in the film, including Ben Nevis and the lochs and rugged countryside of Glen Nevis.

Steall Falls, the waterfall at the base of the Glen Nevis (www.glen-nevis.co.uk) mountain, is where Harry battles with a dragon for the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. At Glenfinnan Viaduct, the Hogwarts Express steams across 416 yards of raised track over 21 supporting arches. Harry and Ron miss the train and fly to Hogwarts in a car that zooms around some of the viaduct’s 100-foot high arches. The train stalls on the viaduct, as Dementors stalk the train and torture Harry.

Other Highland filming includes a craggy, desolate hillside in the mountains of Glencoe Close (www.visitglencoe.co.uk), which provided the backdrop for Hagrid’s Hut, the Sundial Garden and the Bridge to Nowhere for the Prisoner of Azkaban. Loch Eilt is the location where Hagrid is seen skipping stones across the water and Black Rock Gorge near Evanton in Easter Ross was filmed for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Magical Wales

Living up to J.K. Rowling's description of a "lonely and beautiful place," Freshwater West beach and coastal path on the Pembrokeshire Coast (www.visitpembrokeshire.com) in Wales will be featured in the first part of the concluding Potter instalment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I, as the location of the "Shell Cottage" scenes. A beautiful wind swept, exposed beach, Freshwater West is the most well known of Pembrokeshire's surf beaches. Freshwater West is the perfect location for visitors in search of a secluded sandy beach that isn't too commercialized. Backed by sand dunes with scenic cliffs at either end, the beach is home to plenty of rock pools that can be explored and a restored seaweed collector's hut.