The success of the Harry Potter films has resulted in a spate of tour operators organising tours of Harry Potter film locations – and don’t forget there’s a third Harry Potter film coming out in June 2004. There’s no reason why you cannot see some of these locations yourself without joining a tour. Here is where some of Harry Potter’s movie locations can be found:

Hogwarts school was shot in and around Lacock Abbey with some additional computer graphics to add to the mystery. Some of the scenes in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third soon to be released movie were shot around the narrow streets and stalls of south London’s Borough Market – a favourite movie set where much of Bridgit Jones was filmed.

Platform 9-¾ was filmed at London’s main line station, King’s Cross between platforms 4 and 5. This is where Hogwarts students catch the train to Hogwarts boarding school. These days you will see, as the Beetle did the other day, a simple Platform 9-¾ sign hanging on a brick wall in a corner of the station. The adjoining railway station, the Gothic-style St. Pancras, was used for exterior shots. Australia House in central London provides the façade for Gringott’s Bank.

Various sites around Oxford were used in the first two films. Christchurch College was a model for the Hogwarts dining hall. Parts of the Bodleian Library were used for Hogwarts school scenes (the Divinity School as the Hogwarts hospital wing; Duke Humfrey’s Library as the Hogwarts library. The cloister and other parts of 900 year old Gloucester Cathedral were used in Hogwarts scenes. Up in the north east of England, the exterior of Alnwick Castle was used for Hogwarts’ Quidditch games and flying classes.

• The British tourist office can provide information, including a map of some Harry Potter film locations (0800-462-2748) or go to www.travelbritain.org/moviemap).
• Warner Brothers’ official Harry Potter movie site has previews and more: www.harrypotter.com.
• The BBC has Web pages with useful information and photos on Harry Potter sets, including Lacock, Oxford and Gloucester. See: www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/harry_potter/index.shtml

If you ever wondered which European countries were joining the European Union this year, look no further, for here is a list:

Travel industry experts say that small central European countries joining the European Union on May 1 are unlikely to lose their identity as visitors flood in. The concerns increased following an announcement by low-cost airline easyJet earlier in the year that it will start flights to the Slovenian capital Ljublijana. “It is a viable worry,” Frances Tuke, of the Association of British Travel Agents, told CNN. “There is always some concern over any new travel destination that is poorer than the origin of its tourists.” And Matthew Mavir, boss of lastnightoffreedom.com, a stag and hen weekend package supplier, warned that Ljublijana could easily lose its identity as the big tour operators move in. “It has happened with Prague and Dublin, so there is a definite danger,” Mavir said. “The more money you can save on a low-cost flight to these places, the more you have to spend on beer and going out.” easyJet’s spokeswoman refuted this saying: “That is unfair: easyJet carries a whole range of people from all walks of life, from students to lords and ladies.” A spokeswoman from the Slovenian Tourist Board in London said that Ljublijana attracted a sophisticated sector of the market that would appreciate its charms. “Hotels in the city are still expensive,” she said.