Although you may not recognise its real name, you can actually go visit the filming location for Hogsmeade Station from the Harry Potter films, which is located in Goathland, North Yorkshire.
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Growing up watching and reading Harry Potter, I’ve always loved trying to find the locations they used for the films, even though I often didn’t live anywhere nearby! Although I lived in South Yorkshire for most of my life, I actually saw more of the locations in Scotland and London before I made it to Goathland last year!
Goathland is located in the North Yorkshire moors, about 10 miles inland from the seaside town of Whitby, which you’re probably more likely to have heard of! Goathland was also used for the tv show Heartbeat, which ran from 1992-2010, which features both the railway station and village shops in the show.
If you’re interested in visiting more Harry Potter locations, make sure you check out my guide to Visiting the Harry Potter Locations in London!
Which Harry Potter film was Goathland in?
Although it’s only in the film for a short period of time, Goathland serves as Hogsmeade twice in the first Harry Potter film – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. You can see it briefly at the beginning of the film when the Hogwarts students get off the train in the dark and they meet Hagrid, but you’ll recognise it better when it’s shown again at the end of the film.
When it comes to the end of the movie, you’ll recognise the station from when Harry says goodbye to Hagrid and he gets the photo album from his parents, and of course you can’t forget when Hermione says “Feels strange going home, doesn’t it?” to which Harry replies with “I’m not going home, not really”.
As Hagrid waves goodbye and the train leaves, the camera pans out to a wider shot of whole station, which really brings it to life! Although the station is small, when you’re on the platforms or the bridge you really feel like you’re apart of the wizarding world!
Getting to the station
There are a few different ways you can get to Goathland station, the most obvious one being by train. If you’re staying in either Whitby or Pickering then you can take the train, which takes around 45-50 minutes each way. Make sure you check the timetables and if there’s anything planned that day – set days of the week have different timetables, so make sure you keep this in mind
You can also get to Goathland by car – this is the best way I’d recommend getting there. It’s around 40 miles from York (1 hour), 10 miles from Whitby (20 minutes), and 25 miles from Scarborough (45 minutes). While there is a carpark at the station, this is super tiny so I’d only recommend it if you’re taking the train! There are two village carparks though, which have plenty of space (and a few sheep sometimes!), so I’d recommend these!
You can also find tours that go through Goathland, so if you have a spare full day I’d recommend checking one of those out!
If you’re thinking of taking a trip up to Scotland, make sure you check out my guide to the Harry Potter Locations in Edinburgh, which is great for lovers of the books!
Can you take a train at Goathland?
Yes! The North Yorkshire Moors Railway has multiple scheduled times the trains run through the station each day, so if you wanted to take a day trip to Whitby or vice versa you could easily get a return ticket from the station or online!
Make sure you check the timetables before you go so you know when the last train departs, but return tickets are around £15 for adults (16+) and free for kids (up to 15 years old).
I hope this guide to visiting Goathland Station inspired you to take a trip to the moors! What wizarding location should I write about next?
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