Starring London: The City’s Top Movie & TV Locations

Lights! Camera! Action! London’s homes, civic buildings, and distinctive skylines have played a starring role in countless film and television classics. From Harry Potter and James Bond to Sherlock Holmes and Bridget Jones, there’s a location for many of your famous movie characters. Grab your camera, hop in an Uber, and check out our picks of the best spots in London to relive your favourite screen moments:

James Bond

Fans of Britain’s smoothest spy can head over to Vauxhall for sweeping vistas of the MI6 building that the Silva blew up in Skyfall. This impressive (and somewhat intimidating), structure also appears in GoldenEye, Die Another Day, and Spectre, and note that this is also the real-life headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service. The MI6 building overlooks the River Thames, which provided the backdrop for the dramatic boat chase in The World is Not Enough.

Love Actually

Love really is all around in London. Swing by picturesque Grosvenor Chapel in Mayfair to see where Peter and Juliet tied the knot. In the British Prime Minister’s residence and offices at 10 Downing Street in the City of Westminster, Hugh Grant’s lovable PM character met his sweetheart. To relive one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in movie history, stroll around the charming, cobbled streets of St Luke’s Mews in Notting Hill, where Mark declared his (unrequited) love for Juliet. The opening and closing scenes of Love Actually, which show real-life, joyful airport reunions, were filmed at Heathrow Airport.

Sherlock Holmes

Sleuths and crime fiction fans will be in their element at 187 North Gower Street, which provides the location for the exterior of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson’s famous address at 221B Baker Street. Nearby is Speedy’s Café, which also appears up in the popular BBC television series and is a mecca for Sherlock fans.

Harry Potter

All aboard the Hogwarts Express! Departures for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry leave from King’s Cross Station on Euston Road, and filming those scenes took place on Platform 4 and Platform 5. The site of the famous Platform 9 ¾ is marked on the wall where a trolley protrudes, and it’s a perfect selfie opportunity for all Harry Potter fans.

Sliding Doors

In this 1998 quirky romance film, Gwyneth Paltrow’s fate plays out in two parallel universes. Her love life and her career take radically different paths depending on whether (or not), she catches a tube train on the famous London Underground.

Bridget Jones’s Diary

Grab some Chardonnay and a box of chocolates so you can relive the romantic trials and tribulations of Bridget Jones, one of the big screen’s best-loved heroines. Bridget laughed, cried, drowned her sorrows, and sang her heart out in her cosy bachelorette pad above The Globe Tavern in Borough Market. The lively gastropub is a great spot to stop for a Real Ale and some classic British pub grub.

Notting Hill

One of the most famous doors in movie history is the blue door to William Thacker’s flat in Notting Hill. The property itself, at 280 Westbourne Park Road, is actually the former home of Richard Curtis, the film’s screenplay writer. Though the original door was sold at auction for a staggering sum, a replacement can be seen. You can also visit the location of William’s Travel Book Co. on 142 Portobello Road, as well as the real-life Travel Bookshop, at 13-15 Blenheim Crescent, on which it was based.