Sometimes a tourist trap can disappoint you. Actually, more often than not, a tourist trap is just that: a trap where you spend your hard-earned cash doing something silly you should’ve known better about.
A visit to the house from A Christmas Story in Cleveland, Ohio, isn’t that.
It’s silly, sure. It’s also a heck of a lot of fun, especially if you’re a fan of the holiday classic.
Spoiler alert: I am a HUGE fan.
I used to watch it every Thanksgiving to try to forget about the holiday goose I was being fed instead of the glistening turkey devoured by the Bumpus hounds.
Visiting the house where some of the movie was filmed was then a no-brainer on our trip to Cleveland. This guide details how you can plan a very fun tour of your own to our favorite attraction in Cleveland.
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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You can visit the house from A Christmas Story!
The house is open year-round, but tours pick up around the winter holidays, naturally. It’s located at 3159 W. 11th St. in Cleveland’s vibrant Tremont neighborhood.
Over a million people have visited the house since 2006 when it opened for business as a site of intrigue and museum. Today, it’s one of Cleveland’s top tourist attractions.
Who currently owns the house from A Christmas Story?
Joshua Dickerson, a Cleveland local, took over as managing partner and part-owner of the house in late 2023 after being involved with the property for many years.
The house’s former owner, Brian Jones, offered Dickerson the opportunity to purchase an equity stake when other sales negotiations fell through. Dickerson has said he plans to maintain the property as it is, continuing its role as a beloved tourist destination.
I was bummed to hear that Jones was stepping away, honestly. He put in a winning bid for $150,000 in 2004 to purchase the home after spending a few years selling leg lamps online.
Note: He had his own lamp, too, a cheer-up gift from his parents when he was found ineglible to join the Navy.
I’ll watch for developments here, as costs have already gone up for tours of the house since our visit. I’d hate to see the place turn into a money-making venture over something that brings so much joy to people.
The Cost of Touring the House
Visits to the house from A Christmas Story cost $20 per person plus a service fee if you buy digital tickets in advance. Children under five can tour the home for free.
Tours are either self-guided or guided. Both options cost the same, so you may as well book a guide.
The ticketing website warns that tours may become self-guided with large groups, but we didn’t have this issue during our guided tour.
Tickets are available in person at the gift shop or online. If you’re visiting in November or December, you MUST buy tickets in advance and pay that service fee. This is a new move by the owner to curb day-of crowding during the holidays.
Honestly, paying the fee is better than the old system. You used to have to get tickets mailed to your home address if you purchased them in advance.
How long does it take to tour the house?
It takes about 45 minutes to walk through the house on guided tours. As you’ll want to spend some time perusing the goods in the gift shop, expect your visit to last at least an hour at the house from start to finish.
Tours happen every half hour year-round, starting at 10:15am. We arrived at exactly 11:38am for an 11:45am tour, and we were sold tickets for the 12:15pm tour, instead.
We didn’t ask about the 11:45am tour, though, and later realized we probably could have made it. There were several latecomers on our tour.
The point is, ask for what you want when you’re out there navigating the world, people.
We loved the guide we got, though, and didn’t mind killing some time at the gift shop.
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.
Our Experience Touring the House From A Christmas Story
We were staying in Tremont during our Cleveland visit, so it was an easy 15-minute walk to the house from our pad. If you drive, there’s plenty of free parking behind the gift shop or along the street right in front of the house.
Anticipation was high.
We got to the house early enough to make a tour time that involved very little waiting, but as you already know, they put us on a later tour.
That gave us time to walk the grounds, peruse the gift shop, and check out the Bumpus house next door from the outside.
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.
Only about 15 percent of the movie was filmed in and around the house, but some of the movie’s most pivotal moments were shot where you are standing.
Our tour guide shared that any scene where you see exterior shots out of the doors and windows was 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 the 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.
While in the house, you’ll get a primer on the history of the home.
The film’s director Bob Clark and his scouting crew had to do much coaxing in the form of shots at a nearby bar to get the original owner to agree to hand over the keys. The film crew chose the home before even seeing the inside.
They didn’t know the interior would be too small for much of the movie until after the 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.
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.
On top of the historical information, the guide also sprinkles fun trivia throughout to keep things moving.
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.
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.
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.
Can you stay at the house from A Christmas Story?
You can spend the night at both 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 fall or winter holidays.
Where to Stay Near the House in Cleveland
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:
Visit the House From A Christmas Story
If you’re already a fan of the A Christmas Story movie, prioritizing this one on trips to Cleveland is a no-brainer.
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
Want to see more?
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