Harry Potter-Centered Trip Itinerary

• Travel Day
• 1 Night in Stirling, Scotland
• 2 Nights at Fort Augustus, Scotland
• 1 Night Edinburgh, Scotland
• 4 Nights in London, England
• Travel Day Home

Flights to Scotland on Points & Miles for a Family of Five

My favorite way to fly our family of five to Europe is Flying Blue, the airline alliance of Air France and KLM. All of the major flexible points currencies transfer to them (AmEx, Chase, Capital One, and Citi), making it easy to rack up their points, and kids ages 2-11 get a 25% discount on award fares. This works out especially well for our family because all three kids are still in that age range.

We live in upstate New York and often find great flight options out of Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ). I booked our flights on KLM from Toronto to Edinburgh, Scotland, for 85,000 points plus $611 in taxes and fees. 

We’ve now flown KLM in all three of their classes—economy, premium comfort (same as premium economy), and business class. I don’t think I would use points to pay for premium economy at the time of booking; however, if I could get this upgrade option for about $200/person at check-in, I would do it again. 

Aspire Lounge No. 41 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

We flew from Toronto to Amsterdam and then had a 3.5-hour layover. My husband and I both have Priority Pass lounge access through The Platinum Card® from American Express. This allows us each to enter a lounge and bring two guests. There are two lounge options through Priority Pass at AMS airport. We chose the Aspire Lounge No. 41 because we were already in Terminal 2, and it made for easy access.

All information about The Platinum Card® from American Express has been collected independently by Travel Mom Squad. The Platinum Card® from American Express is no longer available through Travel Mom Squad.

We had to go to the entrance and scan a posted QR code to get on the waitlist. When we first signed up, we were number 248, and we waited in the terminal for about 40 minutes until our number was called.

The Aspire Lounge No. 41 wasn’t the worst lounge we’ve ever visited, but it also wasn’t the best. The girls ate their weight in chocolate muffins, and we had a decent breakfast with coffee. I’d still go back if this were my only lounge option on a more extended layover like we had. 

Arriving in Edinburgh, Scotland

We arrived in Edinburgh around 5 pm, and it was already dark. It was very easy to navigate the airport and find the rental car. We picked up our rental car and then drove about 45 minutes north to Stirling, Scotland, for our first night of the trip. Our two basic Holiday Inn Express Stirling rooms were booked for 18k IHG points per room for one night. Free breakfast was included. It was your typical Holiday Inn Express breakfast, but the highlight for the girls was the unlimited Nutella.  

Family Trip to the Scottish Highlands

The next morning, we continued our drive to the Scottish Highlands, making a few Harry Potter-related stops along the way. We stopped in Glencoe to see the filming location for Hagrid’s Hut, had lunch in Fort William, and then continued to Ben Nevis, Steall Waterfall, Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glenfinnan Monument, and Loch Shiel. Loch Shiel was the filming location for the Black Lake at Hogwarts in the movies and is at the same stop as the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct. 

Fort Augustus, Scotland Airbnb

We spotted reindeer on the side of the road in the Scottish Highlands

Things to Do in the Scottish Highlands with Kids

The Scottish Highlands are an incredible place to explore with kids. This area is full of adventure, history, and beautiful scenery. We spotted reindeer and so many birds in the wild as well. Unfortunately, the “Hogwarts Express” (the famous Jacobite Steam Train) doesn’t run in the winter, but if you visit between April and October, you can ride it. 

Urquhart Castle

• Culloden Battlefield and seeing hairy “heilan coos” (highland cows) on the neighboring fields
• Balmoral Castle (grounds open for free for December)
• Cairngorms National Park/Cairngorms Reindeer Centre

Culloden Battlefield

Harry Potter Sites in Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh is where J.K. Rowling spent a lot of time writing the Harry Potter books. She completed the series at the Balmoral Hotel and even found inspiration in names on headstones in the Greyfriars Kirkyard Cemetery for characters in the books. 

Edinburgh Hotel for Families

We ended our time in Scotland with one night in Edinburgh. I booked two rooms at the Holiday Inn Express Edinburgh City Centre using two free-night certificates topped up with 10k points each. This hotel also included a free breakfast. 

Getting from Edinburgh to London

After our last day in Edinburgh, we took a very rainy walk to Edinburgh Waverley Station to catch our 9:30 a.m. train to London Kings Cross Station. I booked first-class tickets directly through the official website. The first-class tickets gave us lounge access at the train station in Edinburgh and included a lot of food and snacks for our four-hour ride. The total cost was about £300 for two adults and three kids.

Things to Do in London with Kids

There is no shortage of fun things to do with your kids while visiting London. We had previously visited the city and done some of the most popular things, but below is a list of what we did on this trip. This time around, we focused on the Harry Potter sites. 

• London Kings Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4
• British Museum
• Westminster Abbey
• Big Ben
• London Eye
• Harry Potter Studio Tour

• Leadenhall Market
• Tower of London
• Tower Bridge
• Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Play, Parts 1 & 2

Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars offers one of the best hotel redemptions in the center of London. Standard rooms at this hotel sleep two adults, and you have to book the room for two—but then you can contact the hotel to add a rollaway bed for £100/night for a child aged 12 and under. Suites sleep up to 3 adults. 

Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars also participates in the Hyatt Family Plan Rate. If you book your first room using points or cash, you can contact Hyatt or the hotel to add a second room for up to 50% off the cash rate. As a family of five, we needed two rooms at this hotel. I booked a standard king room for 77,000 points total for our four nights. We had a mix of peak and off-peak award nights. Then I contacted Hyatt to book our second room with the Family Plan Rate for about £175 per night on average.

Flights Home: London to Toronto

Bottom Line

Any family trip to Europe, especially during the winter holiday season, can be very expensive. Luckily, points and miles can help cut down on costs and make these bucket list trips come to life. Our eight-day Harry Potter trip through the U.K. created special memories for our family, and I’m so thankful to have points and miles to help make more special birthday trips like this happen in the future. 

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