The Shop That Must Not Be Named

York


Casting a spell over Harry Potter fans, this shop opened on the Shambles – the street said to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley – in 2017. Wands? Tick. Quidditch fan gear? Tick. Potions? Tick. Pure magic for muggles. There's now no less than three Potter shops on the Shambles, but this is the original and still the most convincing.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby York attractions

1. The Shambles

0.02 MILES

The Shambles takes its name from the Saxon word shamel, meaning 'slaughterhouse' – in 1862 there were 26 butcher shops on this street. Today the butchers…

2. Merchant Adventurers' Hall

0.09 MILES

York's most impressive semi-timbered building is still owned by the fraternity that built it almost 650 years ago and it is the oldest surviving guildhall…

3. Dig

0.1 MILES

Under the same management as Jorvik and housed in an atmospheric old church, Dig gives you the chance to be an 'archaeological detective', unearthing the…

4. Jorvik Viking Centre

0.11 MILES

Interactive multimedia exhibits aimed at bringing history to life often achieve exactly the opposite, but the much-hyped Jorvik manages to pull it off…

5. Church of the Holy Trinity

0.13 MILES

Tucked away behind an inconspicuous gate and seemingly cut off from the rest of the town, the Church of the Holy Trinity is a fantastically atmospheric…

6. Barley Hall

0.16 MILES

This restored medieval townhouse, tucked down an alleyway, includes a permanent exhibition of life in the times of Henry VIII. It was once the home of…

7. York Dungeon

0.17 MILES

Two thousand years of York’s gory history are acted out at this Northern version of the London Dungeon, which added new attractions during a 2016 revamp…

8. Clifford's Tower

0.23 MILES

There's precious little left of York Castle except for this evocative stone tower, a highly unusual four-lobed design built into the castle's keep after…