If being stuck indoors while you practice social distancing has you pining for a day out on the town, dust off your copy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and distract yourself with a nostalgic trip through 1980s Chicago. The movie was a “love letter” to the city from filmmaker John Hughes. “I really wanted to capture as much of Chicago as I could,” he said. “Not just in the architecture and landscape, but the spirit.”
Chicago isn’t just a backdrop for the beloved 1986 film. Places like Willis Tower, Wrigley Field, the Art Institute, and Lake Shore Drive played pivotal roles in the story—almost taking on lives of their own. And by capturing the city’s skyscrapers, cultural landmarks, streets, and people on film, Midwesterners were able to claim a piece of Hollywood for themselves.
Many of the sites featured in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off also were personally meaningful for Hughes. For instance, as a high schooler growing up in Northbrook, Illinois, the future director often escaped suburbia by wandering the halls of the Art Institute.
Here are some of the most iconic Chicago filming locations in the ’80s classic.
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