Pasadena, CaliforniaCBS · 2007–2019
A group of Caltech physicists and a couch, all on a stage in Burbank. The real places are out there. Let a game choose them.
Tap a hand to see what it beats.
Board 2 · the game
Five hands, ten rules, ten real places. Sheldon explains the game on the show; Sam Kass and Karen Bryla invented it. Whichever rule wins picks where you go next.
Throw a hand. Sheldon throws at the same moment.
No throw yet.
The board is waiting.
0 of 10 places found
Board 3 · the fourth floor
The corridor, the broken elevator and apartment 4A were only ever sets. You can still stand outside the door and do the knock.
The door is shut. Knock.
Sheldon has eternal dibs on one cushion. At Stage 48 you are allowed to sit in it.
The spot is free. For now.
3400 Warner Blvd, Burbank · From $79 · daily, 8.30am–3.30pm
About three hours round the working lot, ending at Stage 48, where apartment 4A, the elevator foyer and the Caltech cafeteria are on show. Children under five are not allowed.
Book the tourBoard 4 · the science
Some scripts arrived with the physics left blank in brackets. Fill them in.
Script page · an illustration
SHELDON [INSERT SCIENCE HERE]
LEONARD [INSERT SCIENCE HERE]
SHELDON [INSERT SCIENCE HERE]
Three blanks. The physics is missing.
Westwood, Los Angeles
David Saltzberg, a UCLA physics professor, was the show’s science consultant from 2007: he checked the whiteboards and filled script gaps marked “Insert Science Here”. In 2015 the cast and crew created the first scholarship endowment at UCLA made by a television series; by 2019 the show had raised $5.5 million. A $24.5 million pledge from the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation later grew it into the UCLA Chuck Lorre Scholars Program.
An open campus in Westwood: walk in and keep to the public paths.
Frescati, Stockholm
On 8 October 2019 the academy opened its physics prize announcement with a nod to the show’s theme song, which academy member Ulf Danielsson quoted. Its secretary general, Göran Hansson, called the show a fantastic achievement for bringing science to viewers round the world. The finale, that May, had Sheldon and Amy win the Nobel Prize in physics.
A working academy north of the city centre: look from outside.
Board 5 · Agua Dulce
Four men in Starfleet uniforms, a desert, a stolen car.
10700 Escondido Canyon Rd, Agua Dulce
In “The Bakersfield Expedition” the four stop at Vasquez Rocks in Star Trek: The Next Generation uniforms on the way to a comic convention, and their car is stolen. SCV News reported in January 2013 that the scene was shot on Stage 5 at Warner Bros. in Burbank, and that the episode drew 19.78 million viewers. Joyn’s guide tells it differently: the four actors left the studio for an outdoor shoot at the park. The 945-acre county park has been used in many films, television shows and commercials.
A county park of 945 acres: walk among the rocks; the interpretive centre has water during its opening hours.
Los Angeles
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Compare toursBoard 6 · Pasadena
Pasadena references run all through the scripts. The show was taped down the road in Burbank; Pasadena gave it a day, an alley and, at the end, a free screening.
Old Pasadena, between Holly Street and Green Street
Pasadena dedicated a street to the show in Old Pasadena: Big Bang Theory Alley, parallel to Raymond Avenue and Arroyo Parkway between Holly Street and Green Street. The city made 25 February “The Big Bang Theory Day” in 2016, for the 200th episode. Councilmember Andy Wilson read the proclamation on 20 February 2016, with the seven stars and Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro and Bill Prady there.
A public walkway between Raymond Avenue and Arroyo Parkway: walk it end to end, then out to Colorado Boulevard.
2 W Colorado Blvd, at Fair Oaks Avenue
Penny waits tables at the Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena, where the show is set; the restaurant on screen is a recreation that looks nothing like a real one. The producers did not ask the chain; in 2012 a spokeswoman told the Star Tribune it had no arrangement with the show.
A working restaurant. It was never a set, so nobody will bring you a wrong order on purpose.
1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena
Caltech describes the show as centred on a group of Caltech physicists who are friends and roommates. The campus covers 124 acres; Visit Pasadena says it was planned as a mix of architectural styles, from Mediterranean to Brutalist. Volunteer tours walk it on Thursday 22 October and Thursday 19 November 2026, at 10.30am.
An open campus: walk in, keep to the paths, and leave labs and student houses alone.
551 S Hill Ave, at California Boulevard
Caltech says “The Hawking Excitation”, in season five, was filmed at the Athenaeum. Visit Pasadena calls it a Mediterranean-style landmark on the corner of California and Hill; access is generally for members and their guests. Caltech’s volunteer history and architecture tours start at its entrance, 551 South Hill Avenue.
A members’ club: look from Hill Avenue, or join a campus history tour, which sets off from its entrance.
Address withheld
Caltech says “The Hawking Excitation” was also filmed in one of the Caltech-owned residences.
Somebody’s home. Caltech does not name it, and neither does this page.
Address withheld
Joyn says part of Howard and Bernadette’s rooftop wedding, season five, episode 24, was shot on the roof of a Pasadena apartment building, with close-ups of Sheldon, Leonard and Penny filmed in Burbank. The roof is private and closed to the public.
People live under that roof. Named, not pinned.
1401 S Oak Knoll Ave, Pasadena
A Pasadena hotel open since 1914, on 17 acres of gardens with the Picture Bridge. Not a filming location.
Check rooms551 S Hill Ave, Pasadena · Thursday 22 October and 19 November 2026, 10.30am
Volunteer docents walk the campus, setting off from the Athenaeum’s entrance. Reserve ahead; larger groups email first.
See tour datesBoard 7 · the people
The cast on a Comic-Con panel, the man who made the show, and a star on the pavement.
6621 Hollywood Blvd, near Whitley Avenue
Kaley Cuoco’s star, the 2,532nd, is at 6621 Hollywood Boulevard near Whitley Avenue; she asked for it to sit near John Ritter’s. Jim Parsons received star number 2,545 in March 2015, with Chuck Lorre at the ceremony. Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki came to see Parsons get his; Lorre told him he had done something beyond imagination.
A public pavement. Kaley Cuoco’s star is outside 6621 Hollywood Boulevard; Jim Parsons’ is elsewhere on the Walk.
10 places to visit, from an alley in Old Pasadena to an academy in Stockholm. The two homes stay off the map.
10 places you can visit: four in Pasadena, three in Burbank and Hollywood, and three further out, in Westwood, Agua Dulce and Stockholm. The Caltech-owned house and the wedding rooftop are named on this page and pinned nowhere.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A members’ club: look from Hill Avenue, or join a campus history tour, which sets off from its entrance.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An open campus: walk in, keep to the paths, and leave labs and student houses alone.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public walkway between Raymond Avenue and Arroyo Parkway: walk it end to end, then out to Colorado Boulevard.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working restaurant. It was never a set, so nobody will bring you a wrong order on purpose.
551 S Hill Ave, at California Boulevard
Caltech says “The Hawking Excitation”, in season five, was filmed at the Athenaeum.
A members’ club: look from Hill Avenue, or join a campus history tour, which sets off from its entrance.
1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena
Caltech describes the show as centred on a group of Caltech physicists who are friends and roommates.
An open campus: walk in, keep to the paths, and leave labs and student houses alone.
Old Pasadena, between Holly Street and Green Street
Pasadena dedicated a street to the show in Old Pasadena: Big Bang Theory Alley, parallel to Raymond Avenue and Arroyo Parkway between Holly Street and Green Street.
A public walkway between Raymond Avenue and Arroyo Parkway: walk it end to end, then out to Colorado Boulevard.
2 W Colorado Blvd, at Fair Oaks Avenue
Penny waits tables at the Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena, where the show is set; the restaurant on screen is a recreation that looks nothing like a real one.
A working restaurant. It was never a set, so nobody will bring you a wrong order on purpose.
Stay
A 1914 hotel on 17 acres of gardens in Pasadena. Not a filming location.
1401 S Oak Knoll Ave, Pasadena
A Pasadena hotel open since 1914, on 17 acres of gardens with the Picture Bridge. Not a filming location.
Check roomsGo round
The Studio Tour ends at the sets; volunteers walk the Caltech campus from the Athenaeum’s door.
3400 Warner Blvd, Burbank · From $79 · daily, 8.30am–3.30pm
About three hours round the working lot, ending at Stage 48, where apartment 4A, the elevator foyer and the Caltech cafeteria are on show. Children under five are not allowed.
Book the tour551 S Hill Ave, Pasadena · Thursday 22 October and 19 November 2026, 10.30am
Volunteer docents walk the campus, setting off from the Athenaeum’s entrance. Reserve ahead; larger groups email first.
See tour datesLos Angeles
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Compare toursWhat’s on
Free public talks in Beckman Auditorium. Real physicists, no laugh track; not about the show.
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Take it home
Jessica Radloff’s book about the show, and a Barenaked Ladies best-of with the theme on it.
Jessica Radloff
Jessica Radloff’s book about the show, published in 2022.
Find the bookBarenaked Ladies · CD, 2011
A 2011 best-of that includes “The History of Everything”, the show’s theme.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 12 of 12 Moments
551 S Hill Ave, at California Boulevard
An episode is filmed at the Athenaeum.
1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena
The show follows a group of Caltech physicists who are friends and roommates.
Pasadena; Caltech does not say which house
The same episode films in a Caltech-owned house.
An apartment building in Pasadena
Howard and Bernadette marry on a Pasadena roof; the close-ups are shot in Burbank.
Old Pasadena, between Holly Street and Green Street
Pasadena marks the 200th episode with a day and a street.
2 W Colorado Blvd, at Fair Oaks Avenue
Penny works at the Pasadena Cheesecake Factory, rebuilt on a stage.
4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank
The show tapes on Stage 25, which is named for it in 2019.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour, 3400 Warner Blvd, Burbank
Apartment 4A, the cafeteria and the elevator foyer open to visitors.
6621 Hollywood Blvd, near Whitley Avenue
Kaley Cuoco and Jim Parsons get stars on Hollywood Boulevard.
Westwood, Los Angeles
A UCLA physicist checks every whiteboard.
10700 Escondido Canyon Rd, Agua Dulce
The four pose at Vasquez Rocks in Starfleet uniforms.
Frescati, Stockholm
The physics Nobel announcement opens with the show’s theme.
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