1 Edin­burgh may not be the first thing that crosses your mind when tal­king about Harry Pot­ter. Howe­ver, this is where it all star­ted. Edin­burgh is known as the bir­th­place of Harry Pot­ter as J. K Row­ling wrote some of the very first chap­ters of the books here.

2 Many cha­rac­ters, places and events might have been in­spi­red by the magic of this his­to­ric city.
Edin­burgh has be­co­me a po­pu­lar pil­gr­image for Pot­ter­heads who want to ex­pe­ri­ence some of the magic. J.K. Row­ling star­ted to write the story of Harry Pot­ter while sit­ting in many of Edin­burgh's warm and cozy cafes.

3 One of the most im­pres­si­ve places lin­ked to Harry Pot­ter is the gra­vey­ard Grey­fri­ars Kir­k­yard. Fans be­lie­ve that J.K Row­ling used some of the names on the tombs for in­spi­ra­ti­on for the lea­ding cha­rac­ters - you will see names like Ro­bert Pot­ter, Wil­liam McGo­na­gall (a fa­mously bad poet), Eliza­beth Moo­die and Mar­ga­ret Lou­i­sa Scrym­geour Wed­derb­urn. By far the most fa­mous re­si­dent of this gra­vey­ard is Tho­mas Ridd­le which as all Harry Pot­ter fans know, is the name of He who must not be named, aka Lord Vol­de­mort.

4 Scot­land's ca­pi­tal might also be the bir­th­place of Hog­warts. Even though J.K. Row­ling has never of­fi­ci­al­ly de­ter­mi­ned the lo­ca­ti­on many people be­lie­ve that the ma­gi­cal school is based on Ge­or­ge He­ri­ot's School in Edin­burgh's city cent­re.
This school was built in 1628 with four tow­ers and a breath-​taking go­thic ar­chi­tec­tu­re - ideal con­di­ti­ons for the crea­ti­on of Hog­warts.

5 In case you want to see the city’s most no­ta­ble Harry Pot­ter sights by a know­led­ge­a­ble and en­ter­tai­ning guide, The Pot­ter Trail is an award-​winning ninety-​minute ex­pe­ri­ence like no other. Led by a the­med tour guide, the en­chan­ting trail be­gins at the Grey­fri­ar’s Bobby Sta­tue and fi­nis­hes on Vic­to­ria Ter­race, vi­si­ting all of the top Pot­ter sights along the way. Alt­hough this tour is free, do­na­ti­ons are re­com­men­ded. You may even learn a spell or two along the way!