Where Was Trading Places Filmed?

The Short Answer

Trading Places was mainly filmed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where exteriors were shot over a few weeks between December 1982 and March 1983. Additional scenes were filmed in New York City, including trading floor sequences at the World Trade Center, and the final beach scenes took place on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands on the last day of production.

Trading Places, released in 1983, follows a street hustler and a commodity broker whose lives are swapped as the result of a cruel wager between two wealthy brothers. The story is set in Philadelphia and New York, and the production went to considerable lengths to shoot on real streets rather than studio backlots.

The result is a film with a strong sense of place. Philadelphia's Center City provides most of the recognizable locations, from Rittenhouse Square to the grand banking halls of Broad Street, while Long Island, Lower Manhattan and the Caribbean complete the picture.

Every Location At A Glance

Location	Where	What was filmed	Access
Rittenhouse Square	Philadelphia	Billy Ray Valentine panhandling and questioned by police while pretending to be blind and legless	Free to see
2014 Delancey Place	Philadelphia	Exterior of Louis Winthorpe III's house (taken over by Billy Ray Valentine)	Outside only
Curtis Institute of Music	Philadelphia	Exterior and entrance to the Heritage Club	Free to see
Wells Fargo Building (formerly Fidelity Bank)	Philadelphia	Duke & Duke brokerage firm exterior and lobby	Outside only
30th Street Station	Philadelphia	Train station scenes, departure to New York	Free to see
Community College of Philadelphia	Philadelphia	Police station exterior	Free to see
Clothespin Sculpture	Philadelphia	Scene where Winthorpe meets Ophelia after bank incident	Free to see
Mill Neck Manor	Mill Neck	Exterior of the Dukes' mansion	Private property
World Trade Center (Comex trading floor, historical)	New York City	Climax trading floor scenes (site destroyed 2001)	Closed
St. Croix beaches	Christiansted	Final tropical beach scenes	Free to see

Filming Locations Map

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

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Location By Location

This is where Billy Ray Valentine panhandles while pretending to be blind and legless, and where police question him. One of Philadelphia's most pleasant public parks, the square sits in Center City and is accessible year-round. It remains a popular tourist spot surrounded by other attractions, so it fits easily into a walking itinerary of the film's locations.

The exterior of Louis Winthorpe III's house, later taken over by Billy Ray Valentine, stands on this quiet street in the historic Rittenhouse area. It is a private residence, so access is exterior only and visitors should view it from the public sidewalk. The block preserves an elegant historic character that made it a convincing stand-in for Winthorpe's genteel world.

The conservatory's facade and entrance served as the Heritage Club, the exclusive venue in the film. Located just a short walk from Rittenhouse Square, the building is a working music school. It is open for events and tours, and free recitals are often available, offering one of the few chances on this list to actually go inside rather than admire the architecture from the street.

The Duke & Duke brokerage firm's exterior and lobby were filmed here, and the bank interior used the Fidelity Bank lobby at 135 South Broad Street. The building is commercial space, now part of Wells Fargo, so it is exterior only for visitors. The stately facade still reads convincingly as the home of an old-money firm, and it sits near other Center City sites including City Hall.

The train station scenes, including the departure to New York, were filmed at this grand neoclassical terminal. It remains an active Amtrak station with public access to the concourse and platforms, so visitors can walk straight in and stand where the characters did. Its cavernous main hall is one of the most atmospheric filming locations in the city and requires no ticket to enjoy.

The police station exterior was shot at the college's historic building on Spring Garden Street. The campus grounds are accessible to visitors, and the building's imposing architecture suits its screen role as an institutional landmark. It sits slightly north of the main cluster of Center City locations, so it works well as an add-on for completists tracing every stop from the film.

The scene where Winthorpe meets Ophelia after the bank incident takes place at this well known public art installation near City Hall. The sculpture is viewable 24 hours a day and sits in the heart of Center City, making it one of the easiest locations to check off. It is steps from the Wells Fargo Building, so the two pair naturally on foot.

The exterior of the Dukes' mansion is Mill Neck Manor, a grand estate on Long Island, New York. It is now a private facility used for charity work connected to services for the deaf, and access is limited or unavailable to the public. Travelers hoping to see it should not count on getting past the grounds, though the manor occasionally appears in local events coverage.

The climactic trading floor scenes were shot on the Comex floor at the World Trade Center, with real traders appearing as extras. The site was destroyed in 2001 and no original trading floor remains. Today the location is occupied by the 9/11 Memorial, which visitors can experience, though nothing of the film's set survives there beyond the footage itself.

The final tropical beach scenes were filmed on the beaches near Christiansted in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on March 1, 1983, the last day of production. The beaches remain public and popular with tourists, backed by resorts. For devoted fans, they offer a sunny endpoint to a locations tour that otherwise revolves around wintery Philadelphia and Manhattan streets.

Where It Is Set Versus Where It Was Filmed

The story is set in Philadelphia and New York, and the production honored that setting by filming primarily on location in Philadelphia, with additional shooting in New York City and St. Croix. The main divergence is the Dukes' mansion, which stands not in Philadelphia but on Long Island, and the tropical finale, which takes the characters far beyond the cities the plot inhabits.

Tours That Visit These Locations

Philadelphia's Trading Places locations cluster tightly in Center City and are easy to explore independently on foot. For New York, a guided film locations tour covers Lower Manhattan sites connected to this title and many other productions.

Guided 3-Hour NYC Film Tour

New York City: Movie and TV Show Locations Tour

A 3-hour guided tour of New York movie and TV locations that includes Lower Manhattan stops relevant to this film, alongside sites from other famous productions.

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