Home Alone

The McCallister family home in both films. In the first film Kevin wakes up here alone after his family has left for Paris without him, enjoys the empty house and then gets ready for the two burglars who want to rob it; in the second the family leaves from here again for the airport. A real filming location for the outside: most rooms were rebuilt on a set in a school gym, and the house has been renovated inside since. It is a private home.

Access · Private home: see it only from the street. Do not step onto the lawn or the driveway and keep your voice down, people live here. Nothing to book.

In the first film the McCallisters run through this airport to catch their plane to Paris, and the same terminals also play the Paris airport where they land. In the second film the family runs through it again, and in the rush Kevin follows the wrong man onto a plane to New York. A real filming location, still Chicago's main airport.

Access · Working airport: you see it when you fly in or out of Chicago. It is not a visit to plan on its own.

In the first film Kevin, alone at home, does the family shopping by himself in this grocery store and walks home with his paper bags. A real filming location: the store has been renovated since 1990 and is still the village grocery.

Access · Grocery store open every day 7:00 to 20:00 (store website). Free to enter.

In the first film Kevin finds a Santa Claus in a small hut on the green by the village hall and catches him as he is leaving. He asks him to pass a message to the real Santa: no presents this year, he only wants his family back. A real filming location: the green and the village hall are still here.

Access · Public green, free at any time; the village hall is a town office.

In the first film Kevin goes to the drugstore by this green to buy a toothbrush. He sees old Marley, the neighbour all the children fear, and runs off without paying, with a police officer behind him, across the park. A real filming location: the green with its bandstand is still here, the drugstore is gone.

Access · Public park, free at any time.

On Christmas Eve, in the first film, Kevin walks past a church where a choir is singing and goes in. This is the outside of that church. The inside, where he sits down next to old Marley, was filmed in another church, Grace Episcopal in Oak Park.

Access · Working church: look at it from the street; the inside opens for services.

On Christmas Eve, in the first film, Kevin sits in a pew of this church during the choir rehearsal and finally talks with old Marley, the neighbour he was afraid of. A real filming location for the inside: the church itself tells the story of the filming, and the outside seen in the film is Trinity United Methodist Church in Wilmette.

Access · Working church: the inside opens for Sunday worship. In December the church screens Home Alone inside, on 11 and 12 December 2026 (church website).

Alone in New York with his father's credit card, Kevin checks into this hotel on Central Park and lives like a guest of honour, while the staff grow more and more suspicious. A real filming location: the hotel owner of the time let the crew film the entrance and the lobby; the suite of the Christmas morning scene is the Hilton Chicago.

Access · Luxury hotel and private homes: the lobby of the film is now part of the private residences. Visitors can book the Palm Court for afternoon tea or a meal.

In Central Park Kevin keeps meeting the pigeon lady, a lonely woman who feeds the birds and frightens him at first. Many of their scenes were filmed near this stone bridge over the Pond, with the Plaza Hotel in view.

Access · Public park, free.

While Kevin explores the city, the two burglars, Harry and Marv, are out in Central Park too: at this ice rink Marv snatches a scarf and Harry plans their next job. A real filming location, still a public skating rink in winter.

Access · Ice rink open from October to April, with a ticket and skate hire. Hours change by day: Monday and Tuesday 10:00 to 14:30, Wednesday and Thursday 10:00 to 22:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 23:00, Sunday 10:00 to 21:00 (Central Park Conservancy).

In the second film this arched front on LaSalle Street plays Duncan's Toy Chest, the big New York toy shop where Kevin meets its kind owner, Mr Duncan, and learns that the takings will go to a children's hospital. Only the outside: the shop inside was built in the Uptown Theatre.

Access · Office building. The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust runs 45-minute guided tours of the light court, Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 13:00, 15 dollars (flwright.org).

The inside of Duncan's Toy Chest, with its floors of toys and the great staircase, was built in this huge movie palace of 1925. A real filming location, but closed since 1981: today you see only the front on Broadway.

Access · Closed since 1981: see it from the street. It sometimes opens for Open House Chicago in October.

The pigeon lady takes Kevin to a hidden place high above the stage of Carnegie Hall, where they watch a Christmas concert from above. The concert hall on screen is Orchestra Hall, here at Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, standing in for Carnegie Hall.

Access · Concert hall: the inside only with a concert ticket. The front on Michigan Avenue is free to see.

On Christmas Eve Kevin goes to the giant Christmas tree of Rockefeller Center to make a wish. It is one of the best loved scenes of the second film. A real filming location: the tree comes back every year.

Access · Public plaza, free. The tree is up from early December to early January: in 2026 it is lit on 2 December and stays until 9 January 2027. The skating rink below needs a ticket.

The big penthouse suite of Kevin's New York hotel, used for the Christmas morning scene of the second film, is the Conrad Suite of this Chicago hotel. A real filming location: the hotel has sold Home Alone 2 stays in that suite.

Access · Hotel: the Conrad Suite is a private suite, seen only by guests who book it.