A visit to the House from A Christmas Story in Cleveland, Ohio, is exactly the kind of tourist attraction I can get behind.
It’s silly, it’s nostalgic, and if you’re a fan of the holiday classic, taking a tour of the house where the movie was filmed is a heck of a lot of fun.
Spoiler alert: I am a HUGE fan.
I used to watch A Christmas Story every Thanksgiving to escape the holiday goose I was being fed instead of the glistening turkey devoured by the Bumpus hounds. When we visited Cleveland, touring the House from A Christmas Story was a no-brainer.
Here’s what to expect from A Christmas Story house tour, including how much it costs, how long you’ll spend there, what’s inside, and what else you’ll see during your visit.
Quick Tips for Your Cleveland Visit
Your Flight: Look for flights into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport using Skyscanner. Love deals? Subscribe to Going.
Your Accommodations: You can stay overnight in the house itself! Browse Booking.com or Hotels.com for more options. Vrbo is my Airbnb alternative.
Your Ride: You may want a car to explore Cleveland. Book a rental car ahead of time.
Top Spots: You’re here for your tour of the house, but once you’re done, you can dine at the historic Rowley Inn and explore Tremont.
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A Christmas Story House Tour: What to Expect
The House from A Christmas Story is open year-round, although tours naturally pick up around the winter holidays. It’s located at 3159 W. 11th St. in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.
The house opened to visitors in 2006, giving fans of the holiday classic a chance to step inside the home that served as the Parker family’s house in A Christmas Story.
A tour includes the house itself, the backyard, and a visit to the museum across the street.
How much does it cost to visit the house from A Christmas Story?
Visits to the house from A Christmas Story cost $20 per person plus a digital processing fee and taxes. Children under five can tour the home for free.
Tours are offered as either guided or self-guided experiences, although self-guided tours are only available on select dates. Guided tours are available on the other tour days.
Buy your ticket online before you arrive. The House from A Christmas Story no longer accepts paper tickets. If you show up without a digital ticket, you’ll need to scan the QR code on one of the tour signs to purchase one online.
If you’re visiting during November and December, check the schedule and book ahead. The attraction has designated self-guided and guided tour days during peak season, and self-guided admission times aren’t guaranteed if there’s a line.
If you’ve booked a guided tour, don’t roll in late. The current policy says to arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled time, and late admission isn’t allowed. If you miss your time, staff will do their best to accommodate you on the next available tour.
How long is the A Christmas Story house tour?
It takes about 45 minutes to walk through the House from A Christmas Story on a guided tour. As you’ll want to spend some time perusing the goods in the gift shop, expect your visit to last at least an hour from start to finish.
The gift shop includes everything you’d expect there, from Ralphie’s “Pink Nightmare” bunny costume to novelty T-shirts to leg lamps. Yes, you can own a leg lamp.
If we weren’t nomadic at the time, I may have considered it.
There’s also a selection of mugs, shot glasses, and memorabilia from other Christmas movies, like Elf. It felt like cheating to me, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also love Elf.
Fun fact: Peter Billingsly played Ming Ming the elf in the movie Elf. He has a longtime friendship and professional relationship with director Jon Favreau. Vince Vaughn is also a pal of both, and who I’d like to imagine is the third wheel in that relationship.
If you’re a fan girl like me, you’ll take a ton of photos on and off your tour that will only add to your time there.
READ MORE: Planning a weekend in Cleveland? Use my detailed guide to make it happen.
What’s inside the house from A Christmas Story?
Our tour began almost on time with a primer on what we were to expect: a visit inside the main house and yard and a tour of the museum across the street.
The visit inside the main house is the best part, but you probably already know that. While inside, you’ll get a primer on the history of the home plus fun trivia to delight and entertain.
Fun fact: Did you know there’s a sequel to the movie called My Summer Story? I bet that’s some niche info right there, as that movie went to DVD shortly after its release.
Here’s another: Jack Nicholson was supposed to play the dad in the movie over Darren McGavin. Can you even imagine??
Following all of those fun facts and more, you’ll be given about 15 minutes to explore the home at will. You’ll be urged to touch whatever you want and recreate scenes to your heart’s content.
Get underneath the sink and lament about how Dad’s gonna kill Ralphie.
Hold that leg lamp as if you’re the one winning a prestigious award.
Grip that Red Ryder carbine action, 200-shot, range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time that caused Ralphie so much anguish.
Put a bar of soap in your mouth as punishment for your foul language.
Actually, maybe don’t do that, especially during flu season. People’s mouths are gross.
What’s in the A Christmas Story museum?
After visiting the house, you’ll stroll across the street to visit the museum. The museum includes art inspired by the movie, scenes in photos as they appeared back at the house in the 1980s, and real props and costumes from the movie.
You’ll see one of six of the Red Ryder BB guns used in the movie.
The one used primarily by Ralphie to shoot his eye out is in the clutches of Billingsly, the actor who played Ralphie. Several have gone missing over time, a theme you’ll notice over the course of your tour with other props.
The museum also details the career trajectories of the main actors in the film, including how they came to be cast in the film. Melinda Dillon, Ralphie’s mom, didn’t have to audition, by the way. She was that impressive.
The tour is over after the short visit to the museum. You’re then on your own to either buy a bunch of stuff at the gift shop or pop over to check out the two classic cars in the driveway next to the store.
Note: The fire engine there isn’t the original from the movie that arrived to save Flick from his own hubris, but a replica.
The old car next to the fire engine isn’t original, either. Darren McGavin’s Oldsmobile Touring Sedan also disappeared somehow after filming.
I’m telling you, theft on set was a real problem.
Where was A Christmas Story filmed?
Cleveland was chosen as a filming location for its fairly reliable annual snowfall, but an unseasonably dry winter forced the crews to create fake snow. They used mashed potato flakes and firefighter foam to make the magic happen.
Even so, only about 15 percent of the movie was filmed in and around the Cleveland house. Our tour guide shared that exterior shots where you can see out of the doors and windows were filmed here in Cleveland.
Scenes where you’re unable to see out of any windows were filmed in Toronto, Canada, on sets and sound stages there. Ralphie’s school scenes were filmed at Victoria Public School in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Exterior shots like the moment Ralphie shoots his eye out and the fantasy sequence featuring Black Bart and his men were filmed in the Cleveland home’s real backyard.
You get to see that, too, with the backdrop of the city’s refineries blowing festive smoke into the air as you picture what all went down here back in the 1980s.
Note: The film crew chose the Cleveland home before even seeing the inside. They didn’t realize the interior would be too small for much of the movie until after the original owner was comfortably set up at a nearby hotel.
That’s why much of the filming had to happen on sound stages in Canada, on top of the country’s penchant for snow well into spring.
Can you stay at the house from A Christmas Story?
You can spend the night at the main house and the Bumpus house. The pricing on overnight stays is higher than what you’d expect for Cleveland, but more manageable if you’re able to split the cost with friends.
Some of the options can house up to six guests. Naturally, book accommodations well in advance if you’re traveling during the winter holidays.
Where to Stay Near the House From A Christmas Story
If you’re not able to find a room at the actual A Christmas Story house, you have other options. Tremont is actually my favorite neighborhood to stay in when visiting Cleveland.
This two-bedroom is just three doors down from the Christmas house and a great compromise if you’re not able to get inside the real deal.
Check out the map below for more Cleveland hotels and apartment-style accommodations:
Is the A Christmas Story house tour worth it?
Yes! If you’re already a fan of the A Christmas Story movie, prioritizing this one on trips to Cleveland is a no-brainer. For me, interacting with the house is what makes the visit worthwhile.
I grew up watching A Christmas Story, so getting to stand in the kitchen, hold a leg lamp, and crawl under the sink was my version of a Christmas pilgrimage.
If you’re a fan of the movies more generally, I’d argue a tour of the house is some of the most fun you’ll have on real sets in the United States.
Traveling the Midwest? Here are a few more guides:
- Top Things to Do in New Glarus, Wisconsin
- Visiting the Real Field of Dreams
- A Guide to Underrated Bay City, Michigan
- Kayak Your Way Through Cave Point County Park
- The New Glarus Brewery: Is it Worth the Hype?
More destinations that are magical at the holidays:
- A Guide to Holiday Markets in Frankfurt
- See the Best of Strasbourg’s Holiday Markets
- A Guide to the Best of Vienna at Christmas
- Solvang Becomes Extra Whimsical at Christmas
- Christmas Meets Halloween in Salzburg, Austria
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