Fast Facts
- Population
- ~301,578 city proper (2020); 2.8M+ metro
- Gateway Arch Height
- 630 ft, completed 1965
- One Unusual Stat
- Forest Park: 1,371 acres, larger than Central Park
- Miles from Kansas City
- ~250 mi
- Scenic byways
- Great River Road (All-American Road, 2,069 miles, 1.6 miles away); Historic Route 66 (All-American Road, 1,408.6 miles, 1.2 miles away)
What to Know Before You Arrive
St. Louis sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The Gateway Arch, completed in 1965, is a 630-foot monument commemorating Thomas Jefferson and the city's historical role as the starting point for westward expansion; a tram inside each leg carries visitors up to an observation deck.
Forest Park, at 1,371 acres larger than New York's Central Park, holds the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Saint Louis Zoo and the Saint Louis Science Center — none of which charges general admission. City Museum, a separate downtown attraction, is built from reclaimed architectural and industrial materials into a climbable, crawl-through structure unlike a conventional museum or playground.
The city's brewing history runs deep: The National Park Service’s National Historic Landmark record says the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis began in 1852, and the company remains headquartered there. St. Louis has 79 officially recognized neighborhoods, ranging from the historic Laclede's Landing near the riverfront to the Central West End. It sits about 250 miles from Kansas City and 300 miles from Chicago.
The Road Trip Stop
The Gateway Arch is the anchor of a St. Louis visit: a 630-foot monument completed in 1965, with a tram inside each leg carrying visitors to an observation deck at the top. Tram tickets currently run $15–$19* for adults (age 16+) and $11–$15* for youth ages 3–15, with prices varying by date of visit; National Park Pass holders receive a discounted rate.
Plan the visit
- Tram tickets sell out early and often; the operator recommends advance reservations rather than arriving without one.
- The Saint Louis Zoo, Saint Louis Art Museum and Saint Louis Science Center do not charge general admission, though each prices some extras separately: the zoo’s paid attractions and parking, the art museum’s ticketed exhibitions, and the Science Center’s special exhibitions, theater films and planetarium shows. The Missouri Botanical Garden is a separate site at 4344 Shaw Blvd and does charge admission; check each site’s current policy before visiting.
- City Museum is a multi-hour visit given its scale as a climbable structure rather than a walk-through exhibit hall.
- The riverfront, downtown and Forest Park are in different parts of the city; a car or rideshare between them is typical rather than a single walkable loop.
*Fees subject to change, please check gatewayarch.com for updated information.
Neighborhoods
Downtown / Gateway Arch grounds
The riverfront core holding the Arch, its museum, and Laclede's Landing, a historic entertainment district nearby.
Forest Park
A 1,371-acre park holding the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri Botanical Garden and Saint Louis Science Center.
Central West End
Explore St. Louis places the Central West End on the eastern edge of Forest Park and lists coffee shops, fine-dining restaurants, bookstores and boutiques among its amenities.
The Grove / Midtown
The Grove is a business district along Manchester Avenue in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, about 4 miles west of the Gateway Arch in a straight line; Explore St. Louis describes it as a cultural, dining, entertainment and nightlife hub. Midtown, home to the Saint Louis University campus, is a separate neighborhood located about 3 miles west of the city riverfront.
The Food Stop
Explore St. Louis describes toasted ravioli as deep-fried, ground beef-stuffed pasta; it calls St. Louis-style pizza thin-crust and square-cut, topped with Provel, a processed blend of Cheddar, Provolone and Swiss. Menus and hours change, so check a restaurant’s own site before planning around a named business.
Anheuser-Busch’s St. Louis brewery offers public tours; the National Park Service’s National Historic Landmark record says the brewery began in 1852. The brewery’s own site lists tour hours of 11am–4pm Sunday through Friday and 10am–4pm Saturday and posts closure dates on its home page. We were unable to confirm the fees for the current season; check the brewery’s own site for tour availability and pricing.
Been here a while
Places that have been serving a long time. All were still trading when we last checked. Each name links to its source.
- 1913Crown Candy KitchenDescribed as the oldest operating soda fountain in the St. Louis area
- Ted Drewes Frozen CustardRoute 66 custard stand; its manager says its "concretes," launched in 1959, inspired Dairy Queen's Blizzard (a claim)
23 breweries within 10 miles of St. Louis, 9 of them brewpubs with a kitchen.
See all 23
- 21st St Brewers Bar2017 Chouteau Ave, Saint Louis
- 2nd Shift Brewing Co1601 Sublette Ave, Saint Louis
- Brew Hub Taproom5656 Oakland Avenue, Saint Louis
- Civil Life Brewing Company3714 Holt Ave, Saint Louis
- Earthbound Beer2724 Cherokee St, Saint Louis
- Ferguson Brewing Co418 S Florissant Rd, Saint Louis
- Heavy Riff Brewing6413 Clayton Ave, Saint Louis
- Square One Brewery and Distillery1727 Park Ave, Saint Louis
- Urban Research Brewery4501 Manchester Ave, Saint Louis
- 4 Hands Brewing Co1220 S 8th St, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Alpha Brewing Co.4310 Fyler Ave, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Anheuser-Busch InBev1 Busch Pl, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Bluewood Brewing1821 Cherokee St, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Center Ice Brewing Company3126 Olive St., Saint Louisproduction site*
- Modern Brewery5231 Manchester Ave # E, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Perennial Artisan Ales8125 Michigan Ave Ste 116, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Rockwell Beer Company1320 S Vandeventer Ave, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Schlafly Beer/The Saint Louis Brewery, LLC2100 Locust St, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Schlafly Bottleworks Maplewood7260 Southwest Ave, Maplewoodproduction site*
- Side Project Brewing7458 Manchester Rd, Maplewoodproduction site*
- Twisted Roots Brewing3690 Forest Park Ave, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Urban Chestnut Brewing Co4465 Manchester Ave, Saint Louisproduction site*
- Wellspent Brewing Company2917 Olive Street, Saint Louisproduction site*
*Check before you go. This list says what the source records as open and where it is — nothing more. Opening hours, whether a kitchen is serving, and whether anywhere suits your family are not in this data and change without notice. A production site may have no public room at all. Please confirm with the venue.
Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)
The Home Teams
St. Louis Cardinals
MLB (National League)The Cardinals play downtown at Busch Stadium.
St. Louis Blues
NHLThe Blues play at the 18,096-seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, their home arena since 1994.
St. Louis City SC
MLSSt. Louis City SC plays at Energizer Park, a 22,423-capacity soccer-specific stadium across from Union Station in the Downtown West neighborhood of St. Louis.
Day Trips
| Destination | Time | Distance | How we got it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hannibalguide | 2 hr 25 min | 116 mi | routed |
| Mark Twain's boyhood hometown on the Mississippi River, with caves and riverfront history, north of St. Louis. | |||
| Jefferson Cityguide | 2 hr 35 min | 133 mi | routed |
| Missouri's state capitol on the Missouri River, west of St. Louis. | |||
| Columbia, Missouri | 2 hr 30 min | 125 mi | routed |
| Columbia is home to the University of Missouri, whose own site describes the city as a college town situated midway between St. Louis and Kansas City. In a straight line, Columbia is about 117 miles west of St. Louis and about 121 miles east of Kansas City. | |||
| Illinois side of the river (East St. Louis / Cahokia Mounds) | 17 min | 9 mi | routed |
| Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, in Collinsville, Illinois, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 and preserves the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city; it lies about 7 miles east of the Gateway Arch in a straight line, across the Mississippi River. The site says its grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk; check its open/closed page for the interpretive center and gallery before planning. | |||
2 of these are places the Hub has its own guide to — marked guide and linked from the name.
Routed figures are computed over map data at free-flowing speeds, between map points rather than street addresses, so a real drive runs longer.
Distances routed by OSRM and places geocoded by Nominatim, over map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Zoos, Aquariums and Wildlife Parks Nearby
Within 60 miles of St. Louis, nearest first.
Grant's Farm — some details below are unconfirmedSt. Louis
- Season
- seasonal
- Admission
- Free · Child Free (general admission)
General admission free; some events need advance tickets; closed on day of check
* We could not confirm: parking cost and season dates not shown. Check their site before you go.
Saint Louis ZooAZA-accreditedSt. Louis
- Hours
- 9am-4pm (current day listing)
- Season
- year-round
- Admission
- Free
- Reservations
- Not required
General admission free; some attractions charge
St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station — some details below are unconfirmedSt. Louis
* We could not confirm: hours/prices not shown on homepage. Check their site before you go.
Butterfly House (Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House) — some details below are unconfirmedAZA-accreditedChesterfield
* We could not confirm: details not checked; hours/admission not checked. Check their site before you go.
Endangered Wolf Center — some details below are unconfirmedAZA-accreditedEureka
- Reservations
- Required
All visits are educator-guided tours booked in advance; 6750 Tyson Valley Rd, Eureka
* We could not confirm: tour prices not shown on homepage. Check their site before you go.
Big Joel's Safari — some details below are unconfirmedWright City
* We could not confirm: official site blocked automated reading; details not checked; hours/admission not checked. Check their site before you go.
This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. 3 of these carry an accreditation we confirmed against the accrediting body’s own register. Where there is no badge we did not confirm one — that is not a judgement on the place, and a good many municipal, state and university sites belong to no register we check. 5 entries are marked with an asterisk: we could not confirm part of what is listed, and the note under it says which part. Opening times, prices and seasons change without notice, so check the operator’s own site — every name above links to it.
Venues and Annual Events Nearby
Within 60 miles of St. Louis, nearest first.
Where to see something
Fabulous Fox TheatretheaterSt. Louis
- Address
- 527 N. Grand Blvd.
- Capacity
- 4,500
William Fox movie palace; reopened 1982.
Powell HalltheaterSt. Louis
- Address
- 718 N. Grand Blvd.
- Capacity
- 2,150
Home of the St. Louis Symphony; renovated hall reopened Sept 2025.
The MunyamphitheaterSt. Louis
- Hours
- Event days only (mid-June to mid-August season)
- Address
- 1 Theatre Dr. (Forest Park)
- Capacity
- 11,000
First U.S. municipally owned outdoor theater; ~1,500 free seats.
Blueberry Hill (Duck Room)clubUniversity City
- Address
- 6504 Delmar Blvd.
Chuck Berry played the Duck Room monthly until 2014.
What is on, and when
Fair Saint Louiscultural festivalSt. Louis
- Usually
- July (Independence Day), over several days
- Held at
- Gateway Arch National Park
- Since
- First held 1981 (as V.P. Fair)
Washington Town & Country Fair — some details below are unconfirmedfairWashington
- Usually
- Early August
- Held at
- Washington Fairgrounds
* We could not confirm: anything beyond the month it usually runs. Check their site before you go.
This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. Events are listed by the month they usually fall in, because that is what we hold — we do not publish dates, and a month is not a promise. Check the organiser before you plan around one. One entry is marked with an asterisk: we could not confirm part of what is listed, and the note under it says which part. Opening times, line-ups and ticketing change without notice, so check the venue’s or organiser’s own site — every name above links to it.
Water Parks and Theme Parks Nearby
Within 60 miles of St. Louis, nearest first.
Mid America Adventuretheme park and water parkEureka
renamed from Six Flags St. Louis in Aug 2026; Fright Fest through Nov 1
This is a list of what is near you, not a recommendation of any of it. Prices, hours and ride closures change without notice — every name above links to the park’s own site.
Roadside Oddities Nearby
Jesse James Wax MuseumQuirky museumStantonabout 55 miles away
- Cost to see it
- Costs something — we did not find the price published
- When you can see it
- We did not find opening times published
- Nearest road
- I-44 / Route 66
Wax museum claiming Jesse James wasn't killed in 1882
- Fine for most children, but look it over before you let them loose
Read on the page we checked
These are things you can go and look at, not a recommendation of any of them. Oddities move, get sold and quietly disappear more than anything else we list, so check anything you are driving a long way for. Where this list says we did not find a price or opening times published, that is exactly what we mean. A blank is not “free” and not “always open”. Some sit on private land and can only be seen from the road — please do not go onto anyone’s property. Every entry links the page we read it off.
Practical Road Trip Info
Gateway Arch tram tickets are date- and time-specific and commonly sell out; book ahead rather than expecting same-day availability.
General admission is free at the Saint Louis Zoo, Saint Louis Art Museum and Saint Louis Science Center, but parking and some tickets are separate. Zoo parking is $20* per car for non-members, according to the zoo’s parking page; parking at the Science Center’s Oakland building is $15*. The art museum’s parking terms could not be confirmed, so check its site before visiting. The Missouri Botanical Garden, a separate site, charges admission.
Downtown, Forest Park and the brewery district are spread across the city; a car is the practical way to move between them.
St. Louis has a full four-season climate; summer visits to the Arch grounds and Forest Park can be hot and humid.
*Fees subject to change, please check stlzoo.org for updated information.
*Fees subject to change, please check slsc.org for updated information.
The Local Debate
Family-Friendly
City Museum
A climbable structure built from reclaimed materials, with tunnels, slides and outdoor elements sized for a range of ages.
Saint Louis Zoo
A free zoo inside Forest Park.
Saint Louis Science Center
A free, hands-on science museum in the Forest Park area.
Gateway Arch tram ride
A short tram trip to the observation deck, with a museum at the base covering the monument's history.
Plan Your Visit
Gateway Arch
- Address
- 11 N 4th St, St. Louis, MO 63102
- Hours
- Check the official site for current hours
- Price
- Tram ride $15–$19 adult, $11–$15 youth (3–15); prices vary by date*
- Link
- gatewayarch.com
*Fees subject to change, please check gatewayarch.com for updated information.
We checked fees, reservations, opening hours and closures on 2026-09-23. These change without notice — confirm with gatewayarch.com, stlzoo.org, slam.org, slsc.org, missouribotanicalgarden.org, citymuseum.org, cahokiamounds.org and budweisertours.com the week you travel.
Sources — 37 claims, 35 checked against the source on 2026-09-23
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Population 301,578 city proper (2020); metro area 2.8M+; at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers | St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Gateway Arch: 630 ft, completed 1965, commemorates Thomas Jefferson and St. Louis as gateway to the West; tram to observation deck | St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| City Museum built from reclaimed architectural and industrial materials | St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Forest Park: 1,371 acres, larger than Central Park; holds Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis Science Center, all free | St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Anheuser-Busch brewery operating in St. Louis since the 1860s, still headquartered there | St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| 79 officially recognized neighborhoods including Laclede's Landing and Central West End; ~250 mi to Kansas City, ~300 mi to Chicago | St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| St. Louis Blues play at the 18,096-seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, home arena since 1994 | St. Louis Blues — Wikipedia | Checked |
| St. Louis City SC plays at Energizer Park, a 22,423-capacity soccer-specific stadium across from Union Station in Downtown West, St. Louis | St. Louis City SC — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Gateway Arch tram tickets: adult (16+) $15–$19, youth (3–15) $11–$15, prices vary by date, National Park Pass discount available | Gateway Arch — official site (Buy Tickets) | Checked monitored · 2026-09-23 |
| Tram Ride to the Top tickets sell out early and often; advance reservations recommended | Gateway Arch — official site | Checked monitored · 2026-09-23 |
| St. Louis Cardinals play at Busch Stadium, downtown St. Louis | No source accepted yet | Not confirmed |
| Toasted ravioli described as deep-fried, ground beef-stuffed pasta; St. Louis-style pizza described as thin-crust, square-cut and topped with Provel (checked 2026-10-14) | Explore St. Louis — Emblematic Eats | Checked |
| State historic site at 30 Ramey Street, Collinsville, Illinois; UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982; grounds open daily from dawn until dusk (checked 2026-10-14) | Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site — official site | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| Gateway Arch address and current hours | Gateway Arch — official site | Not confirmed |
| The Zoo is always free; paid attractions are included in the Adventure Pass (checked 2026-10-14) | Saint Louis Zoo — hours and prices | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| Museum admission is free every day; the exhibition announced on the home page is ticketed (checked 2026-10-14) | Saint Louis Art Museum — home page | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| General admission is always free; special exhibitions, OMNIMAX theater films, planetarium shows and the Discovery Room are ticketed (checked 2026-10-14) | Saint Louis Science Center — FAQs | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| The Garden is at 4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis, and lists a paid general admission ticket (checked 2026-10-14) | Missouri Botanical Garden — plan your visit | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| Non-member parking at the Zoo lots is $20 per car from Feb. 27, 2026; the page says prices are subject to change (checked 2026-10-14) | Saint Louis Zoo — parking and maps | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| Parking at the Oakland building (5050 Oakland Avenue) costs $15 (checked 2026-10-14) | Saint Louis Science Center — directions and parking | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| The Central West End is on the eastern edge of Forest Park; amenities include coffee shops, fine-dining restaurants, bookstores and boutiques (checked 2026-10-14) | Explore St. Louis — Central West End | Checked |
| The Grove is described as a cultural, dining, entertainment and nightlife hub (checked 2026-10-14) | Explore St. Louis — The Grove | Checked |
| The Grove is a business district along Manchester Avenue in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood; the page's coordinates, with those of the Gateway Arch, give about 4 miles west in a straight line (checked 2026-10-14) | The Grove, St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Midtown is a St. Louis neighborhood about 3 miles west of the city riverfront and home to the Saint Louis University campus (checked 2026-10-14) | Midtown St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Brewery at 1200 Lynch St, St. Louis; tours listed Sunday-Friday 11am-4pm and Saturday 10am-4pm; closure dates posted on the home page (checked 2026-10-14) | Anheuser-Busch — St. Louis brewery experiences | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| The NPS landmark record states the brewery began in 1852 when Eberhard Anheuser purchased a small brewery on the banks of the Mississippi (checked 2026-10-14) | National Park Service — Anheuser-Busch Brewery, National Historic Landmark record | Checked |
| The university's Columbia page calls the city College Town, USA and describes it as situated midway between St. Louis and Kansas City (checked 2026-10-14) | University of Missouri — Columbia | Checked |
| Columbia is a college town home to the University of Missouri; the page's coordinates, with those of St. Louis and Kansas City, give about 117 miles west of St. Louis and about 121 miles east of Kansas City in a straight line (checked 2026-10-14) | Columbia, Missouri — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Cahokia is the site of a Native American city directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis; the page's coordinates, with those of the Gateway Arch, give about 7 miles east in a straight line (checked 2026-10-14) | Cahokia Mounds — Wikipedia | Checked |
| City Museum describes its 2026 daily tickets as valid any day in 2026 (checked 2026-10-14) | City Museum — tickets and memberships | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| The FAQ says hours vary throughout the year and that guests can exit and re-enter with their wristbands on (checked 2026-10-14) | City Museum — FAQ | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| The open/closed page lists the interpretive center lobby hours and the closed cultural gallery (checked 2026-10-14) | Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site — what is open and closed | Checked monitored · 2026-10-14 |
| Forest Park Forever's Visit page says Forest Park is home to five major cultural institutions: the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Saint Louis Science Center, the Missouri History Museum, The Muny and the Saint Louis Zoo (checked 2026-10-15) | Forest Park Forever — Visit | Checked |
| Wikipedia's St. Louis article says Forest Park is home to five major institutions, including the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis Zoo and the St. Louis Science Center, and describes the Missouri Botanical Garden as spanning 79 acres in the Shaw neighborhood | St. Louis — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Wikipedia's Anheuser-Busch article lists St. Louis, Missouri as the company's headquarters (checked 2026-10-15) | Anheuser-Busch — Wikipedia | Checked |
| Designated an All-American Road by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation; 2,069 miles in AR, IL, IA, KY, LA, MN, MS, MO, TN, WI; FHWA suggests: Allow six days to drive or ten days to enjoy the entire byway. Distance from this stop to the route measured against the published byway centreline on the U.S. Department of Transportation map service (geo.dot.gov), which carries no stated licence and predates the 2021 designations; the measurement is ours, the line is theirs and is not reproduced here. 1.6 miles (checked 2026-10-29) | Federal Highway Administration: Great River Road | Checked |
| Designated an All-American Road by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation; 1,408.6 miles in AZ, IL, NM, OK, CA, MO; FHWA suggests: You can drive the entire byway in four or five days, but to enjoy it, plan for several days per state. Distance from this stop to the route measured against the published byway centreline on the U.S. Department of Transportation map service (geo.dot.gov), which carries no stated licence and predates the 2021 designations; the measurement is ours, the line is theirs and is not reproduced here. 1.2 miles (checked 2026-10-29) | Federal Highway Administration: Historic Route 66 | Checked |
Road Trippin’ with the Harts
The Highway Heads books turn the miles between stops into a game the whole car can play.
See the booksLive Conditions
Wildlife Spotted Nearby
Nearest Airports
Straight-line distance from St. Louis, not drive time.
- St. Louis Lambert International (STL) — 13 miles
- St Louis Regional (ALN) — 20 miles
- Scott AFB/Midamerica (BLV) — 20 miles
On these trips
This guide sits on roads we have written up end to end, with the stops we publish along the way.
Explore the Full Road Trip
Return to the Highway Heads map and discover the next family-ready stop.
Explore the Map