Where Was Ferris Bueller's Day Off Filmed?

The Short Answer

Ferris Bueller's Day Off was filmed primarily on location in Chicago and its northern suburbs, including Northbrook, Highland Park, Winnetka and Glencoe, Illinois. Key sites include the Art Institute of Chicago, Willis Tower, Wrigley Field and the Ben Rose House. The Bueller family home exterior is the exception, filmed in Long Beach, California.

John Hughes set Ferris Bueller's Day Off in the fictional town of Shermer, Illinois, but shot nearly all of it in real places around Chicago. Released in 1986, the film follows one elaborate skipped school day through art museums, ballgames and a downtown parade, and most of those locations remain recognizable decades later.

The city locations cluster downtown and are walkable in a single day, while the suburban sites sit a short drive north. This guide covers every major filming location, what was shot at each one, and what visitors can expect to find there today.

Every Location At A Glance

Location	Where	What was filmed	Access
Art Institute of Chicago	Chicago	Art museum visit and Seurat painting scene	Ticketed
Willis Tower (Sears Tower) Skydeck	Chicago	Observation deck visit overlooking city	Ticketed
Wrigley Field	Chicago	Cubs baseball game scene	Ticketed
Glenbrook North High School	Northbrook	School exteriors and pick-up scene	Outside only
Ben Rose House (Cameron's House)	Highland Park	Cameron's house and Ferrari garage scenes	Outside only
Chicago Board of Trade Building	Chicago	Overlooking trading floor; Ferris proposes to Sloane	Free to see
Dearborn Street & Adams Street (Parade route)	Chicago	German-American parade and Twist and Shout performance	Free to see
Glencoe Beach	Glencoe	Beach scene overlooking lake	Free to see
Bueller House Exterior	Long Beach	Bueller family home exterior	Private property
333 West Wacker Drive	Chicago	Mr. Bueller's office building exterior	Free to see

Filming Locations Map

10 locations. The map loads when it scrolls into view.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Location By Location

The museum supplied one of the film's most famous sequences, the quiet gallery scene where Cameron stares into Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. The real painting still hangs in the museum and draws fans year round. Admission is ticketed and the museum is open to the public, so visitors can stand before the same pointillist canvas that transfixed Cameron. Allow a few hours, since the collection extends far beyond this single work.

Ferris, Sloane and Cameron take in the city from the observation deck, then called the Sears Tower Skydeck. Today the deck sits on the 103rd floor of the renamed Willis Tower and remains one of Chicago's most popular attractions. Tickets are required and can sell out on busy summer days. From the glass ledges, visitors get the sweeping view of the lakefront and skyline the trio admired during their day off.

The friends catch a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field, one of the few locations where the film simply documented reality. The ballpark still hosts Cubs home games throughout the season, and guided tours run on many non-game days. Tickets are needed either way. Fans of the film often pair a visit here with the nearby Lakeview neighborhood, which retains the same residential ballpark feel seen on screen.

The school exteriors and the parking lot pick-up scene were shot at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, the school director John Hughes himself attended. It remains an active school, so access is exterior only and viewing from the street is best outside school hours. The building looks much as it did in 1986. Since classes are in session on weekdays, the quietest times to photograph it are evenings and weekends.

Cameron's house, where the Ferrari crashes through the glass garage, is the modernist Ben Rose House in Highland Park, designed by architect A. James Speyer. It is a private residence, so visitors must be content with a view from the public street and should respect the owners' privacy. The steel and glass structure sits on a wooded ravine and remains instantly recognizable from the film's most painful moment. Parking is limited on the narrow residential road.

The Art Deco tower appears in the sequence where Ferris and his friends overlook the trading floor and Ferris playfully proposes to Sloane. The exterior and lobby are accessible to the public, though no interior tours are currently offered. The building sits at the foot of LaSalle Street in the financial district, making it an easy add-on to any downtown filming location walk. Its dramatic canyon of neighboring towers is worth the short detour alone.

The German-American parade and the exuberant Twist and Shout performance were staged along Dearborn and Adams Streets downtown. Hughes intercut real parade footage with a restaged version featuring 10,000 local extras, and the sequence remains the film's centerpiece. The streets are fully public, and the Flamingo sculpture near the Daley Plaza area stands close by. Walking the route takes only a few minutes and pairs naturally with other Loop locations.

The beach scene overlooking the lake was filmed at Glencoe Beach on Lake Michigan in the north suburb of Glencoe. The beach is open to the public and offers a quiet stretch of sand and water popular with local families in summer. It is a calm spot to end a suburban filming location drive, with views across the lake that match the film's framing. Check seasonal hours before visiting, as access can vary outside the warmer months.

The Bueller family home is the one major location outside the Chicago area, filmed in Long Beach, California. The house is a private residence, so it can only be viewed from the street, and the owners' privacy should be respected. Midwest fans may find the drive across the country hard to justify for one stop, but for completists in the Los Angeles area it is a quick visit. The exterior remains easily recognizable from the film's opening scenes.

The curved green glass tower at 333 West Wacker Drive served as Mr. Bueller's office building exterior in the film. The building stands at the Chicago River's bend, one of the most photographed spots in the city, and can be viewed freely from the public sidewalk. Its rounded facade reflecting the water and skyline appears in countless Chicago postcards. It sits within a short walk of Willis Tower, making it an easy inclusion on a downtown route.

Where It Is Set Versus Where It Was Filmed

The story takes place in the fictional Chicago suburb of Shermer, Illinois, a stand-in inspired by Northbrook, where Hughes grew up and attended Glenbrook North High School. In practice the production filmed across Chicago and its northern suburbs, including Northbrook, Highland Park, Winnetka and Glencoe, with some exteriors and interiors handled in Long Beach and Los Angeles, California. So while the Buellers nominally live in Shermer, their house exterior actually stands in Long Beach.

Tours That Visit These Locations

Most Ferris Bueller locations downtown sit within walking distance of one another, but a guided film tour adds context and points out buildings visitors might otherwise miss. One currently listed option covers this film's stops along with other Chicago screen credits.

Walking Tour With Parade Route Stop

Downtown Chicago TV & Movie Filming Locations Walking Tour

This 45 dollar downtown walking tour visits the parade route near the Kluczynski Federal Building and passes Willis Tower, alongside stops tied to other movies and shows shot in Chicago. It holds a 4.4 rating from 26 reviews.

4.4 out of 5 · 26 reviewsChicago

From$45Check availability

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Ferris Bueller's Day Off actually filmed in Chicago?

Yes. Most of the film was shot on location in Chicago and its northern suburbs, including Northbrook, Highland Park, Winnetka and Glencoe. The Bueller family home exterior is the notable exception, filmed in Long Beach, California.

Is Shermer, Illinois a real place?

No. Shermer is a fictional suburb based on Northbrook, Illinois, where director John Hughes grew up and attended Glenbrook North High School, the school used for the film's exteriors.

Can you visit Cameron's house from the film?

The Ben Rose House in Highland Park is a private residence, so it can only be viewed from the public street. The modernist house, designed by A. James Speyer, is still recognizable from the film.

Is the Seurat painting from the museum scene still on display?

Yes. Georges Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, the painting Cameron studies in the film, still hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago and can be seen with regular admission.

Where was the Twist and Shout parade scene filmed?

The German-American parade sequence was staged along Dearborn and Adams Streets downtown. Hughes combined real parade footage with a restaged version that used 10,000 local extras. The streets are public and free to walk.

Can you go inside the school from the movie?

No. Glenbrook North High School is an active school with exterior-only access. Visitors typically photograph the building from the street outside school hours.

A Ferris Bueller pilgrimage splits neatly into two parts: a walkable downtown loop covering the Art Institute, the Skydeck, the parade route and the office towers, and a short drive north for the school, the beach and Cameron's glass house in Highland Park. Anyone determined to complete the set can add the Bueller home in Long Beach, California. The downtown walking tour offers an easy way to cover the Loop stops while picking up stories from other productions filmed across the city.

Sources

The Short Answer

Every Location At A Glance

Filming Locations Map

Location By Location

Art Institute of Chicago

Willis Tower (Sears Tower) Skydeck

Wrigley Field

Glenbrook North High School

Ben Rose House (Cameron's House)

Chicago Board of Trade Building

Dearborn Street & Adams Street (Parade route)

Glencoe Beach

Bueller House Exterior

333 West Wacker Drive

Where It Is Set Versus Where It Was Filmed

Tours That Visit These Locations

Walking Tour With Parade Route Stop

Frequently Asked Questions

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