Diagon Alley was first featured in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It is also a location in video game adaptations such as Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, and Lego Harry Potter: Years 1–4.
Diagon Alley is home to not only Gringotts Bank, Flourish and Blotts and Mr Mulpepper's Apothecary but also the dusty Ollivanders wand shop, where Harry's wand famously chose him. The shop was home to more than 17,000 individually labelled wand boxes during filming.
In The Chamber of Secrets, when Harry is in the Weasley house using the 'Floo Network' and mispronounces Diagon Alley as “diagonally”, how does he end up in Knockturn Alley? - was he sent in a diagonal direction, or was he spat out at a random exit that was coincidentally right next to Diagon Alley?
Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley is a winding London high street – with a number of side-streets and back alleys – that is accessible to wizards, but hidden from Muggles. It contains Gringotts Wizarding Bank and various types of shops for magical items and creatures.
Step into the excitement of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ and enter three magical worlds: Hogsmeade™ in Universal Islands of Adventure, Diagon Alley™ in Universal Studios Florida, and Ministry of Magic™ in Universal Epic Universe with this ultimate Vacation Package for Harry Potter™ fans.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) - Diagon Alley Scene
Is Diagon Alley real in London?
CECIL COURT THE REAL DIAGON ALLEY. Cecil Court being "just off Charing Cross Road" and with its curious mix of bookshops and antique shops, is widely believed to be the real Diagon Alley, or at least the thoroughfare on which Diagon Alley was based.
In 2008, Hagrid brought a new child to Diagon Alley to shop for their first year at Hogwarts. Diagon Alley had been repaired since the Second Wizarding War and any shops that had been closed were now reopened.
Muggles can get into Diagon Alley if someone lets them in. It's Hogwarts that only magic people can see (and even then the non-magic people like Filch and Myrtle's parents can be let in). Also, it was clearly implied that Arabella Figg was lying about seeing the Dementors.
Other sets constructed for the film included the Hogsmeade village and The Three Broomsticks public house. The use of real-life locations significantly changed the look of Hagrid's hut. For Prisoner of Azkaban, the landscape around the set changed from being completely flat to the side of a hill.
Where to Find Diagon Alley ... Just off Charing Cross Road. We began our tour where the young wizard's adventures began: the fictional Diagon Alley, which Harry enters by magically passing through a brick wall in the Leaky Cauldron pub, described by J. K. Rowling as being just off Charing Cross Road.
It feels muddy, a minefield of unanswered questions and unexplained motivations. And speaking of which, the characters often flat-out state their motivations, but they don't feel believable or even particularly coherent. It says it's Hogwarts, but it doesn't feel like Hogwarts.
Knockturn Alley. Knockturn Alley was a wizarding shopping street that was connected to Diagon Alley. It had a reputation for being associated with the Dark Arts. For example, it was this alley that housed the unsavoury shop, Borgin & Burkes.
Diagon Alley was first featured in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It is also a location in video game adaptations such as Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, and Lego Harry Potter: Years 1–4.
Cecil Court: Cecil Court, a quaint pedestrian street in London known for its antiquarian bookshops and historic charm, is widely believed to have inspired Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter series.
A comparison of Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade shows their biggest difference is their theming. Sure, the food is different, the drinks are different and the rides are different, but simply put: One is themed as the fictional town of Hogsmeade, while the other is themed as the fictional neighborhood of Diagon Alley.
While the Leaky Cauldron is fictional, when the first Harry Potter movie was made, the entrance to the famous pub was very real indeed and thousands of Harry Potter visit it every year!
For access to both Universal Studios Florida (home to Diagon Alley) and Islands of Adventure (home to Hogsmeade), you'll need a park-to-park ticket or two single-day tickets. A single-day, park-to-park ticket starts at about $164 per adult, but prices can vary based on the season.
Harry Potter's story is set in a magical, largely fictional Britain, but the film series used many real locations as evocative backdrops. Other settings, like Diagon Alley, exist only at Leavesden Film Studios (20 miles north of London).
