J.K. Rowling wrote much of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Edinburgh.
Rowling moved to Edinburgh in 1993 with her daughter Jessica and later lived there while developing the Harry Potter manuscript. She wrote in several settings, including cafés, and completed parts of the first novel while caring for her young child. Edinburgh subsequently became closely linked with the author’s public story.
The city’s architecture, streets, graveyards, and schools are often discussed in connection with possible Harry Potter inspirations. Some claimed links are based on resemblance or local tradition rather than confirmed statements by Rowling, so individual inspiration stories should be treated carefully.
Rowling did not write every page of the first novel in Edinburgh, and the book’s conception began earlier. She has described getting the initial idea for Harry Potter while travelling by train from Manchester to London in 1990. The manuscript was developed over several years before publication.