Chicago · autumn 1985Roll call 9:00amAbsent

Ferris Bueller’sDay Off

Matthew Broderick at 24, in a striped shirt, smiling slightly beside a window, black and white — Matthew Broderick, June 1986, in Sweden to promote the film. Yes, he’s looking at you. Towpilot · CC BY-SA 3.0

9am · Plan the day. Go there

John Hughes shot it in autumn 1985, in the Loop and the suburbs where he grew up, then in Los Angeles. One weekday, nine hours. Spend it.

Says who?

Filming began on 9 September 1985 in Chicago and its suburbs, and finished on 22 November; after about a month in Illinois the production moved to Los Angeles. The film opened on 11 June 1986.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
John Hughes wrote, directed and produced it; Matthew Broderick plays Ferris Bueller.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Period 1 · 9am to 6pm

Plan the
day off.

Every stop takes an hour, starting at nine. The dial checks each hour against the real opening times, so the Art Institute will turn you away on a Tuesday. Be home by six.

0.0 miles

9am…
10am
11am
12pm
1pm
2pm
3pm
4pm
5pm

The bell has gone. Pick a day, then your first stop.

Says who?

Period 2 · The Art Institute of Chicago

Look into
the Seurat.

In the film, Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884 entrances Cameron. Ferris and Sloane kiss in front of Marc Chagall’s America Windows, stained-glass panels in blue. The three friends mimic Rodin’s statue Portrait of Balzac.

Seurat’s painting of Parisians resting on a riverbank in the sun, made of tiny dots of colour — Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884. Art Institute of Chicago. Georges Seurat · Public domain

1×

The whole Sunday afternoon.

The classical stone front of the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue, with banners and a bronze lion — The Art Institute’s Michigan Avenue front and its two bronze lions. Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0

Hughes often visited the museum as a child. The film’s end credits say the Art Institute objects filmed there are the museum’s copyright.

Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Sunday 11am–5pm, Thursday 11am–8pm; closed Tuesday. Adults $32, Chicago residents $20; children free.

Says who?

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Art Institute of Chicago tickets and tours

111 South Michigan Avenue

Live marketplace results for Art Institute tickets and guided visits.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

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Period 3 · South Dearborn Street

Randolph
to Jackson.

On the float, Ferris lip-syncs Danke Schoen and then performs Twist and Shout. Ride the float south, one cross street at a time.

Randolph
WashingtonDaley Plaza
Madison
Monroe
AdamsFederal Plaza · the Flamingo
Jackson

At Randolph: The parade is the Von Steuben German-American parade, and the end credits thank it.

The rusted steel Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza at night — Daley Plaza and the Chicago Picasso, July 2011. EightySixFilms · CC BY 2.0

A tall red steel arch sculpture in a granite plaza between black steel towers — Calder’s Flamingo in Federal Plaza, at Dearborn and Adams, March 2022. Chris Rycroft · CC BY 2.0

A public street and plaza, free at any hour. Walk Dearborn south from Randolph to Jackson.

Says who?

On Location Tours

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off tour

The Loop · From $65 a person

A Ferris walk through the Loop, from the Art Institute to the parade scene. Private groups of three or more; a few public dates in the anniversary year.

See the tour

Period 4 · Height, money, baseball

Up, down
and out to the game.

A visitor lying on the glass floor of The Ledge, with streets far below — Lying down on The Ledge, 103 floors up, September 2014. HaSt · CC BY-SA 4.0

103 floors up

In 1986 it was the Sears Tower; the three take in the view from the top. The Ledge is a glass box that sticks out 4.3 feet from the tower, its glass 1.5 inches thick.

From 1 October to 28 February: daily 9am–8pm, Saturday 9am–9pm; last entry 30 minutes before closing. Adults (12 and up) from $32, children 3–11 from $24.

Says who?

The Art Deco Board of Trade tower lit at dusk at the end of a canyon of office buildings — The Chicago Board of Trade Building at the end of LaSalle Street, December 2023. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0

The trading floor

Choose Chicago places the trading-floor scene here: Cameron looks down on the floor, and Ferris proposes to Sloane. The film’s production notes name a different exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, among its Chicago landmarks.

It is an Art Deco building with a marble and bronze lobby, and it played the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises in Batman Begins.

An office building with an Art Deco lobby and the Chicago Board of Trade Building Museum. Free inside on Open House Chicago weekend, 17–18 October 2026.

Says who?

The red Wrigley Field marquee above a crowd at the ballpark entrance — The marquee at Clark and Addison, June 2024. Greg McCollum · CC0

Wrigley Field7.9 km north of the tower

The three catch a Cubs game here. The film’s end credits thank the Chicago Cubs and WGN Television.

Ballpark tours take 75–90 minutes and start at the Gallagher Way gate, on the west side; tours run only on the dates in the schedule.

Says who?

Period 5 · Breaking the fourth wall

Turn it
to camera.

Ferris lets you in on everything. So do these places: turn each one round and it tells you where it was really shot.

Nobody has owned up yet.

On screen
A Long Beach residential street, Belmont Heights, August 2011. The Bueller house is a private home elsewhere in the city. Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Buellers’ house, somewhere in suburban Chicago.
Says who?
On screen
Schiller Street at Astor Street in the Gold Coast, the street of the Chez Quis front door. The house shown is the Charnley-Persky House, a museum. w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0
Chez Quis, the smartest table in town.
Says who?
On screen
The performing arts entrance at Glenbrook North, March 2025. CL Minecraft · CC BY-SA 4.0
Shermer High School.
Says who?
On screen
Calder’s Flamingo in Federal Plaza, at Dearborn and Adams, March 2022. Chris Rycroft · CC BY 2.0
One parade, one afternoon.
Says who?

On Location Tours

Downtown Chicago TV & Movie Sites Tour

The Loop · 2 hours · From $45

A two-hour walk past downtown screen locations, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off among them.

See the tour

Period 6 · The Ferrari

Run the miles
back to zero.

Choose Chicago’s advice for the garage where Cameron hands over his father’s car: check your mileage. Your planned day put 6.4 miles on it (the whole Loop and Wrigley, as the crow flies). Take them off.

6.4 miles on the clock.

Says who?

The car is a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California. Only 100 were built between 1957 and 1963, and 48 still existed at the time of filming.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Modena Design & Development was given one month to make three replicas: a hero car, a stunt car and a fibreglass shell for the crash.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
The garage is at Madison and Wells; the Sun-Times puts it at 172 West Madison, where the valets take the car for a joyride.
Choose Chicago: Your Chicago location guide to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (updated 11 June 2026)Chicago Sun-Times, via WBEZ: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Chicagoans proud 40 years later (Amy Yee, 12 June 2026)

Period 7 · Class photo

Present,
as themselves.

Alan Ruck, grey-haired and bearded, smiling in a tan suede jacket — Alan Ruck at a Los Angeles premiere, May 2026. Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0

Matthew Broderick in round glasses and a striped shirt and tie — Matthew Broderick at the Library of Congress, April 2022. Shawn Miller, Library of Congress · CC0

Says who?

Matthew Broderick plays Ferris Bueller, Alan Ruck plays Cameron Frye, Mia Sara plays Sloane Peterson, Jeffrey Jones plays Ed Rooney and Jennifer Grey plays Jeanie Bueller.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
John Hughes wrote and directed the film, and produced it with Tom Jacobson; Tak Fujimoto shot it.
AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Hughes graduated from Glenbrook North in 1968 and called the film a love letter to Chicago.
Reel Chicago: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off turns 40: John Hughes’ love letter to Chicago (Barbara Roche, 7 August 2026)Chicago Sun-Times, via WBEZ: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Chicagoans proud 40 years later (Amy Yee, 12 June 2026)

Six o’clock.
Your turn.

Where it is now

7 places you can visit. The Bueller house in Long Beach, the Chez Quis front door and the Ben Rose House are private homes and are not on the map. Glenbrook North is a working school: look from Shermer Road.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Sunday 11am–5pm, Thursday 11am–8pm; closed Tuesday. Adults $32, Chicago residents $20; children free.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. From 1 October to 28 February: daily 9am–8pm, Saturday 9am–9pm; last entry 30 minutes before closing. Adults (12 and up) from $32, children 3–11 from $24.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An office building with an Art Deco lobby and the Chicago Board of Trade Building Museum. Free inside on Open House Chicago weekend, 17–18 October 2026.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public street and plaza, free at any hour. Walk Dearborn south from Randolph to Jackson.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public plaza, open to all.

The Art Institute’s Michigan Avenue front and its two bronze lions. Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0
111 South Michigan Avenue
The Art Institute of Chicago
In the film, Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884 entrances Cameron.
Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Sunday 11am–5pm, Thursday 11am–8pm; closed Tuesday. Adults $32, Chicago residents $20; children free.
Says who?
Lying down on The Ledge, 103 floors up, September 2014. HaSt · CC BY-SA 4.0
233 South Wacker Drive
Skydeck Chicago, Willis Tower
In 1986 it was the Sears Tower; the three take in the view from the top.
From 1 October to 28 February: daily 9am–8pm, Saturday 9am–9pm; last entry 30 minutes before closing. Adults (12 and up) from $32, children 3–11 from $24.
Says who?
The Chicago Board of Trade Building at the end of LaSalle Street, December 2023. Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0
141 West Jackson Boulevard
The Chicago Board of Trade Building
Choose Chicago places the trading-floor scene here: Cameron looks down on the floor, and Ferris proposes to Sloane.
An office building with an Art Deco lobby and the Chicago Board of Trade Building Museum. Free inside on Open House Chicago weekend, 17–18 October 2026.
Says who?
Calder’s Flamingo in Federal Plaza, at Dearborn and Adams, March 2022. Chris Rycroft · CC BY 2.0
South Dearborn Street, Randolph Street to Jackson Boulevard; Calder’s Flamingo in Federal Plaza
The parade route, Dearborn Street
The parade is the Von Steuben German-American parade, and the end credits thank it.
A public street and plaza, free at any hour. Walk Dearborn south from Randolph to Jackson.
Says who?
Daley Plaza and the Chicago Picasso, July 2011. EightySixFilms · CC BY 2.0
50 West Washington Street, on Dearborn
Daley Plaza
Ferris joins the real Von Steuben parade along Dearborn, by Daley Plaza.
A public plaza, open to all.
Says who?

Stay

Sleep near the day.

A hotel on Michigan Avenue by the Art Institute, and one across the street from Wrigley Field.

Chicago Athletic Association hotel

Chicago Athletic Association

12 South Michigan Avenue

Not a filming location. A hotel in a former members-only club with a Venetian Gothic front, on the same stretch of Michigan Avenue as the Art Institute.

Check rooms

Hotel Zachary

3630 North Clark Street

Not a filming location. A hotel just across the street from Wrigley Field.

Check rooms

Go there