St. Louis is a children's town, with more than enough to keep them amused, much of it absolutely free (though there is generally a charge for parking). The top-rated St. Louis Zoo, Forest Park (tel. 314/781-0900; www.stlzoo.org), with its Big Cat Country, Fragile Forest for the zoo's…
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St. Louis Attractions
Many of St. Louis's top attractions are spread in or around expansive Forest Park, site of the 1904 World's Fair and one of the nation's largest parks (it beats New York City's Central Park by 500 acres).
Historic Homes
The Campbell House Museum, 1508 Locust St. (tel. 314/421-0325; www.campbellhousemuseum.org; open Wed-Sun), is an elegant, 10,000-square-foot 1851 Victorian mansion, with most of its original family furnishings remarkably intact. Tours cost $6. The Romanesque Revival-style 1889 Samuel Cupples House, 3673 W. Pine Blvd. (tel. 314/977-3575; http://cupples.slu.edu; open Tues-Sat), is a gem of the Gilded Age on the campus of Saint Louis University, containing 42 rooms, a glass collection, and other fine and decorative arts. Tours cost $5. The Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion, 3352 DeMenil Place (tel. 314/771-5828; www.demenil.org; open Tues-Sat), built as a 4-room farmhouse in 1848 and later expanded to 14 rooms in the Greek Revival style, contains period furnishings, a collection of 1904 World's Fair memorabilia, and two paintings by Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham. Admission here is $4.
From 1900 to 1903, the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, 2658A Delmar Blvd. (tel. 314/340-5790; www.mostateparks.com/scottjoplin.htm; open Mar-Oct Tues-Sun, Nov-Feb Tues-Sat), was the modest four-family antebellum home of the musician and composer known as the "King of Ragtime." Now a National Historic Landmark, it offers guided tours for $2.50 that include Joplin's second-floor apartment with furnishings representative of the times and a player piano that rags out renditions of Joplin's best-known tunes, including "The Entertainer."
Major League Fun
Watch the St. Louis Cardinals hit some homers at the new downtown Busch Stadium, Broadway and Clark streets (tel. 314/345-9000; www.stlcardinals.com).
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- Winery/Brewery/Distillery
Anheuser-Busch Brewery
Anheuser-Busch, one of the world's largest beer brewers, was established at this site in the 1860s, and many architectural gems from that time period remain. Tours of the brewing process take in the 1885 Clydesdale stable, the historic 1892 Brew House, and the packaging plant, ending… - Religious Site
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis
Built after the turn of the 20th century and something of a curiosity, this cathedral combines a Romanesque exterior with a brilliant Byzantine interior and boasts the largest collection of mosaics in the world -- 42 million pieces of glass used in 83,000 square feet of mosaic art,… - Landmark
Gateway Arch/Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
America's tallest national park monument, this graceful rainbow of shining steel soars 630 feet above downtown and the Mississippi River, commemorating westward expansion in the 1800s. Tram rides to the top (with great views on clear days) can involve lengthy waits in summer and on… - Park/Garden
Missouri Botanical Garden
Opened in 1859, this is the country's oldest and one of the world's top-rated botanical gardens: a 79-acre delight featuring the nation's largest Japanese strolling garden, a Chinese garden, the world's first geodesic-domed greenhouse, a scented garden for the visually impaired, a… - Museum
Missouri History Museum
St. Louis's history is presented through photographs, memorabilia, first-person narratives, portraits, and more, with displays featuring the city's role in westward expansion, the Dred Scott case (which upheld slavery and helped cause the Civil War), famous St. Louisans such as Chuck… - Museum
Museum of Transportation
Founded in 1944 but only now getting the attention it deserves with newly expanded grounds, this unique museum "houses one of the largest and best collections of transportation vehicles in the world" (according to the Smithsonian). Certainly, with more than 70 locomotives, the museum… - Museum
St. Louis Art Museum
Housed in a Beaux Arts-style building constructed for the 1904 World's Fair, this great museum is a buffet of the arts, where visitors can sample as much as they like of the displays from around the globe and from virtually all time periods. It contains works ranging from ancient and…
St. Louis Nightlife
To find out what's on, look for the free weekly Riverfront Times at restaurants, bars, and venues around town; buy the Thursday edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for its entertainment section; or check the constantly updated St. Louis Calendar of Events online at www.explorestlouis.com or the Regional Arts Commission's www.artszipper.com.
The Performing Arts
Grand Center (MetroLink: Grand) is the premier performing arts district, with the 1920s-era Powell Symphony Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd. (tel. 314/534-1700), home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (www.slso.org), founded in 1880 and America's second-oldest symphony orchestra. The Fabulous Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd. (tel. 314/534-1111; www.fabulousfox.com), is a lavish, 1929 Byzantine venue for musicals, dance, and concerts. The Grandel Theater, 3610 Grandel Sq. (tel. 314/534-3810; www.theblackrep.org), is home of the Black Rep, which stages contemporary works by African-American playwrights and is the nation's largest African-American theater company. The Muny, in Forest Park (tel. 314/361-1900; www.muny.org), which opened in 1916 and is the nation's oldest and largest outdoor musical theater, features Broadway musicals in summer.
The Club & Casino Scene
St. Louis's nightlife is concentrated around Laclede's Landing, the Loop, and in Soulard on the south edge of downtown. Good bets for live music virtually every night of the week include BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, near Busch Stadium at 700 S. Broadway (tel. 314/436-5222; www.bbsjazzbluessoups.com), and the Broadway Oyster Bar, 736 S. Broadway (tel. 314/621-8811; www.broadwayoysterbar.com), home to live blues and R&B and Cajun/Creole cuisine. The Big Bang, featuring dueling piano players who lead the audience in high-energy singalongs Tuesdays through Saturdays, is a popular hangout in Laclede's Landing at 807 N. 2nd St. (tel. 314/241-2264; www.thebigbangbar.com), while in Soulard, the 1860 Hard Shell Cafe & Saloon, 1860 S. 9th St. (tel. 314/231-1860; www.soularddining.com), offers blues, R&B, rock, and more nightly. In the Loop, 1,500-seat the Pageant, 6161 Delmar (tel. 314/726-6161; www.thepageant.com), and Blueberry Hill, 6504 Delmar (tel. 314/727-0880; www.blueberryhill.com), bring in the hottest national acts. Among several places to gamble, most convenient are the President Casino, docked at Laclede's Landing (tel. 800/772-3647; www.presidentcasino.com) and Lumiere Place, just north of Laclede's Landing at 999 N. 2nd St. (tel. 877/450-7711; lumiereplace.com).
