Explore Harry Potter's 'Diagon Alley' on Google Maps

Part of being a Harry Potter fan has always been to somehow step into this magical world which (according to the books) exists everywhere around us - a hidden platform on Charing Cross station, a phone booth to the Ministry of Magic and a street of magic hidden behind a grimy bar.

Now the last one - the famed Diagon Alley - has been brought to life by Google Maps. Google Maps will now allow fans to explore the set of Diagon Alley from the Warner Bros studio Tour in London. In street view mode, viewers can see 360-degree angles of Ollivander’s wand shop, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes joke shop, Flourish and Blotts bookshop and Mr Mulpepper’s apothecary.

[caption id=“attachment_941237” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screenshot of ‘Diagon Alley’ on Google Maps[/caption]

Set on a cobbled wayfare, the alley as seen on Google Maps is detailed and full of quirky details - right down to the items kept in the shop window displays. The Weasley twins’ practical joke emporium is rendered in a lurid orange, promising ‘shenanigans for all’ and topped off with a huge top-hatted, waving mannequin.

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Warner Bros. Studio Tour says the Diagon Alley set took more than three months to build, and it took six months to create over 20,000 products to put on the shops’ shelves.