Tucked away down Greek Street, beside the Palace Theatre currently housing the Cursed Child production, the shop makes for a perfect destination for any Potter fan. The ground floor is full of notebooks, stationery and other art you can purchase, but the other three floors are stuffed full of original props, artworks and a plethora of hidden touches to discover. It's a bit like doing the WB Studio Tour in a matter of minutes - without the hefty price tag!
My favourite parts were the staircases plastered in Daily Prophet headlines; the Marauder's Map; Snape's handwritten notes in the potions schoolbook (it was the original book - as I found out from the wonderfully helpful assistant!) and the Hogwarts letters spilling out of the fireplace. From what I understood, the majority of pieces were hand-created, and all perfectly detailed - tiny things you might not have noticed in the films, but absolutely breathtaking in real life. The identity cards in the image above even feature the artists themselves!
As the shop is just around the corner from the theatre, it's perfect for whiling away any time before a showing (if you're lucky enough to have tickets!), or, if you're doing a tour of Potter things in London (for those of us who can't afford the studio tour or the jaunt across the Atlantic...) it would make an excellent alternative to the busy shop in King's Cross station. Although I'd recommend both, of course - MinaLima don't sell wands and scarves, after all!
If you can't make it to London any time soon there's a wonderful e-shop here, but don't blame me if you're tempted by anything...
This isn't sponsored, by the way - I'm just a sucker for all things Potter and this is a lovely alternative to museums or art galleries, especially if you've got small Potter fans with you. My friends and I may be approaching the tail-end of our twenties, but we enjoyed it just the same!
Love Dani
xoxo
