A fun new family experience has launched in York – at what is being billed as ‘one of the smallest new visitor attractions in the world’.
Visitors to the popular Potions Cauldron on Shambles can now enter a secret chamber in the ancient shop to learn how to make their own magic.
Here you can learn how to make your very own potions in spellbinding workshops by highly skilled magical mixologists.
“You’ll find a host of new, highly-skilled potion makers who’ve now made their home in the Potions Cauldron and it is a great relief that they are willing to share their skills with our visitors,” said Phil Pinder, co-owner of The Potions Cauldron.
“Inside visitors will have the chance to learn secrets from the likes of the great Helena Clogbottom, who is a marvel at restorative potions – and you’ll even have the chance to make and try your own concoctions.
“There is even rumour that older wizards, those over 18 years old, can even mix up their own slightly ‘poisonous’ potions!”
It is the latest addition to what many visitors now consider to be York’s ‘Harry Potter street’. Said to have inspired the design of Diagon Alley in the movie versions of the stories, Shambles now has several shops that appeal to fans of JK Rowling’s wizard stories.
Supernatural surprises
Full details of the experience are being closely guarded, but there are rumours of the chamber coming alive with visits from famous, and infamous potion-makers from times past along with other supernatural surprises.
The new potions experience can accommodate up to 12 trainee potion-makers on each 25 minute session.
Prices and booking
The Potions Experience is available seven days a week and costs £5.99 per Wizard for a standard session and £7.99 for poisonous potion experience (proof of age required). Pre-booking is recommended online
The experience is suitable for wizards over five years of age, though it may not be suitable for children (and their parents) of a nervous disposition.
The poisonous potions class, strictly for wizards 18 and over, lasts about 50 minutes and includes alcoholic additions.
The new potions experience is the latest magical offering from Potions Cauldron owners Phil and Ben Fry, following its opening in 2018 and recent success of the Hole In Wand, the wizard golf adventure in the Coppergate Centre.