Planning a trip to St. Louis and wondering what to do? We’ve got you!

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Of course, this Missouri city is best known for the enormous Gateway Arch, and yes, you absolutely need to see it. But there’s a lot more to St. Louis than its famous skyline! You can eat your way through historic neighborhoods, visit some of the country’s best museums, and even see one of the best free zoos in the country. 

But with so much packed into the city, it can be hard to know where to start, and that’s where we come in. We’ve narrowed it down to eight of our favorite things to do in St. Louis, with all the details you need to plan your visit.

St. Louis at a Glance

St. Louis is a city full of history, unique neighborhoods, and incredible food! There’s plenty to explore, but knowing a few things before you go will help you make the most of your visit.

Important Tip: Rent a car if you want to explore beyond downtown! St. Louis is pretty spread out, and having your own wheels makes visiting different neighborhoods much easier.

Use public transportation: If you’d rather not drive, MetroLink and MetroBus connect many of the city’s main areas. There are also plenty of Park-Ride lots, and parking is generally manageable if you do rent a car!

Explore the different neighborhoods: St. Louis has around 80 neighborhoods, each with its own personality! We especially loved the lively Central West End and The Hill for its amazing Italian food.

Don’t miss the local favorites: Come hungry because St. Louis-style pizza and gooey butter cake are must-tries! And if you love a good mystery, the city’s dark history makes a true crime walking tour well worth adding to your plans.

How We Would Spend 3 Days in St. Louis

Most travelers will spend two or three days in St. Louis, and we think three days is a great amount of time for a first visit. It gives you enough time to see the highlights and enjoy several of the city’s famous neighborhoods without trying to cram too much in. 

Day 1: The Arch, Riverfront & Illusions
Start with a guided tour of the Gateway Arch and downtown St. Louis, then explore Gateway Arch National Park and the Mississippi Riverfront. In the afternoon, head to the Museum of Illusions before finishing the day with dinner downtown.

Day 2: Wildlife, Art & Architecture
Spend the morning exploring Forest Park, starting with the free Saint Louis Zoo. Afterward, visit the Saint Louis Art Museum and wander through more of the park before heading to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis to see its incredible mosaic-covered interior.

Day 3: Food, Neighborhoods & True Crime
Spend your final day getting to know St. Louis’ neighborhoods on this fantastic food tour, where you can try local specialties and learn more about the city along the way. Later, explore a little more of the area before ending your trip with the true crime walking tour through historic Soulard.

If you can, make Friday or Saturday one of your three days. The food tour and true crime tour only operate on certain days, so this will give you the most flexibility when planning your itinerary. Of course, you can shuffle the days around as needed!

Things to do in St. Louis

1. Taste your way through St. Louis

If there’s one thing we love doing in a new city, it’s a food tour, and this St. Louis food and history tour is a fantastic introduction to the city! Over three hours, you’ll explore the Central West End while tasting some of the foods that St. Louis is famous for.

And yes, we’re talking about the good stuff. You’ll get to try local specialties like toasted ravioli, gooey butter cake (our favorite), and Provel cheese, which is the famously divisive ingredient behind St. Louis-style pizza. In fact, the tour includes enough food that you might end up skipping dinner afterward!

But this definitely isn’t just three hours of eating. The route covers around two miles, and food and history are given roughly equal attention. Along the way, you’ll learn about St. Louis’ Gilded Age, its famous 1904 World’s Fair, and some of the more complicated chapters that shaped the city we see today.

You’ll also pass some gorgeous historic architecture, including old mansions and landmarks around the Central West End. We love tours like this because by the end, you haven’t just eaten a ton of good food; you’ll understand the neighborhood a little better, too. And don’t just take our word for it, because the glowing reviews definitely back it up! 

One thing to keep in mind is that this tour only runs Thursday through Saturday. It also tends to be booked around a month in advance, so this is one we recommend reserving early if it sounds up your street.

2. See St. Louis’ biggest landmarks with a local

If it’s your first time in St. Louis, this small-group sightseeing tour is such a good way to get your bearings! It takes you through the heart of downtown with a local guide, covering some of the city’s biggest landmarks before finishing with the one attraction you absolutely can’t miss—the Gateway Arch.

You’ll explore spots like Kiener Plaza and the Old Courthouse, where you’ll hear about the famous Dred Scott case and its huge significance in American history. From there, you’ll continue past the Basilica of Saint Louis, also known as the Old Cathedral, before making your way toward the Mississippi River.

We love that this isn’t just a “look at that building, now onto the next one” kind of tour either. Your guide ties it all together with stories about how St. Louis developed and became known as the Gateway to the West. And of course, there’s the Gateway Arch itself! Seeing St. Louis from its most famous landmark is a pretty epic way to wrap things up.

One thing we definitely recommend is leaving some extra time afterward. Although the tour is advertised as around two hours long, the Arch tram line and ride can push the experience longer, and you may also want time to explore the museum rather than rushing straight off to your next activity.

But all in all, for a first visit to St. Louis, we think this ticks a lot of boxes in a short amount of time. That’s exactly why it’s our top pick in this guide!

3. Walk through St. Louis’ true crime past

St. Louis has a dark past, and this true crime walking tour dives straight into it! Over the course of an hour, we explored the historic Soulard neighborhood, and our jaws hit the floor several times as we learned about all of the armed bank robberies, duels, riots, and Prohibition-era gangs that haunt the streets of this city. 

And these aren’t just random stories told while you wander around. The tour takes you through the actual neighborhood where many of these events unfolded, passing historic homes and finishing near Soulard Farmers Market. We always think true crime stories hit a little differently when you’re standing in the places connected to them!

Our guide, Tim, also brought along photos and historical records to help bring the stories to life, which made the experience even more entertaining. One thing we really appreciated was the way he handled some pretty grim stories respectfully, rather than sensationalizing them, but still kept things interesting and engaging.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Because this is Soulard, there’s actually a fun little twist to lighten the mood. You can bring your own alcoholic drink along and sip it as you walk, Mardi Gras-style!

If you’re into true crime or unusual local history like we are, this is a really fun way to spend an hour in St. Louis! Just keep in mind that tours only run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so make sure it works with your itinerary before you go.

4. Spend a few hours at the Saint Louis Zoo

If we told you that one of the best zoos in the US was completely free to visit, you might think there was a catch. But nope! Saint Louis Zoo has free general admission, and you don’t even need to make a reservation before you go.

And this is a seriously impressive zoo. You can see everything from elephants and big cats to primates, sea lions, reptiles, and birds, with tons of different habitats spread across the grounds. You could easily spend a few hours wandering around here, so this is more of a half-day activity rather than somewhere to quickly pop into.

There are a few extras that you can pay for, including rides and special attractions, but you really don’t need to. There’s already so much included with free admission that you can have a fantastic visit without spending anything once you’re inside.

The zoo is also located right in Forest Park, which is handy because there’s loads more to do nearby. You could easily visit the zoo in the morning, grab some lunch, and then head over to the Saint Louis Art Museum or spend the afternoon exploring the park.

The only thing to budget for is parking. The official zoo lots currently cost $20 USD per car for non-members, so technically your free zoo day might not be completely free if you’re driving!

Still, for the amount there is to see here, we think Saint Louis Zoo is one of the best-value activities in the entire city.

5. Mess with your senses at the Museum of Illusions

If you’re looking for something a little different to do in St. Louis, we had so much fun at the Museum of Illusions! It’s inside City Foundry STL and is packed with more than 50 interactive exhibits designed to completely mess with your perception of what’s real and what’s not.

There are gravity-defying rooms, holograms, optical illusions, and a life-size kaleidoscope, plus exhibits that make you look like you’ve suddenly grown or shrunk. We spent most of our visit trying to work out how everything worked, and then immediately giving up and taking ridiculous photos instead!

And the photos are half the fun here – more than half, actually. Some of the exhibits make it look like you’re floating in mid-air or standing on the ceiling, so your camera roll gets weird very quickly. There are plenty of hands-on exhibits too, so this feels much more interactive than a traditional museum.

We’d allow around an hour to 90 minutes to explore. It’s not a huge museum, but it’s a really fun break from sightseeing outside, especially if the weather isn’t cooperating. As long as you don’t mind looking slightly (read: absolutely) ridiculous in the name of a cool photo, we think you’ll love this place! 

6. Spend a relaxed afternoon exploring Forest Park 

If you want a break from tours and sightseeing, Forest Park is one of the best places in St. Louis to take it easy for a while. There are lakes, landscaped walking paths, huge grassy areas, and plenty of historic features dotted around the park, including the beautiful World’s Fair Pavilion. It’s pretty scenic!

One of our favorite things about Forest Park is that you can also visit the Saint Louis Art Museum while you’re here. General admission is free, and the collection covers everything from paintings and sculpture to ancient artifacts, decorative arts, and works from cultures around the world. Main exhibitions are free on Fridays too, which is definitely worth knowing!

You don’t need to be a massive art person to enjoy it either. Have a wander through a few galleries, then head back outside when you’ve had enough. The Grace Taylor Broughton Sculpture Garden is also free and open daily from 6 am until 10 pm, so you can keep exploring outdoors afterward.

That’s really what we like about Forest Park. You can spend a couple of hours here or most of the afternoon depending on how you feel, and there’s no need to follow a strict plan. Grab a coffee and see where you end up!

7. Experience St. Louis from the streets and the water

If walking around for hours isn’t really your thing, then this small-group driving tour and river cruise is a much easier way to see a lot of St. Louis in one go!

The tour lasts around three hours and takes you past some of the city’s biggest sights, including Busch Stadium, downtown St. Louis, the Basilica of Saint Louis, and the zoo. You’ll also spend some time in Forest Park, while your guide fills you in on the history and stories behind the places you’re seeing.

After that, you’ll head down to the Mississippi River for a 1-hour sightseeing cruise. From the boat, you get great views of the Gateway Arch and the St. Louis skyline, which is a pretty cool way to see the city from a completely different angle. The cruise is seasonal and runs from March through November.

The tour is also limited to just seven people, and downtown hotel pickup and drop-off are included. So if you want to cover a lot of ground without organizing transport or spending hours on your feet, this one makes life very easy!

We think the river cruise is what makes this one stand out. You still get the classic city tour, but finishing out on the Mississippi definitely makes it feel a lot more memorable.

8. Step inside the mosaic-filled Cathedral Basilica

We totally get that sometimes you can get church overload when you travel. They can all start to look the same after a while, but the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis truly is one of a kind! It’s free to enter, so it’s worth at least a quick stop to see the incredible mosaics inside.

In fact, the cathedral has one of the largest mosaic collections in the world, with around 41.5 million individual pieces covering its domes, arches, walls, and ceilings. It’s actually pretty mind-boggling!

And just a quick note – this is not the Old Cathedral by the Gateway Arch. Confusingly, they have similar names, but the Old Cathedral is called the Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, while this Cathedral Basilica is the newer one on Lindell Boulevard. 

You don’t need to spend hours here. We just wandered inside and spent some time admiring the huge domes and golden mosaics before heading down to the Mosaic Museum, which asks for a small $2 USD contribution to enter. You don’t have to visit the museum, but we did find it pretty interesting to learn about how it all came together, and how this huge collection came to be!

The cathedral is open daily from 7 am to 5 pm, but remember that this is still an active place of worship. Mass takes place several times throughout the day, so if you’re not attending the service, wait until it has finished before wandering around.

Even so, this is an easy addition to your St. Louis itinerary. Pair it with the Central West End or Forest Park and allow yourself a little time to stand inside and stare at the ceiling. You’ll see what we mean!

Where to Stay in St. Louis

Now that you know what to do in St. Louis, you just need a great place to stay! We highly recommend staying downtown, especially if it’s your first time here, because it’s a walkable area and it’s well-connected by public transport, too. Below, you’ll find three central and reputable hotels for a range of different budgets! 

St. Louis Union Station Hotel – $$$

If you want somewhere memorable to stay in St. Louis, St. Louis Union Station Hotel is our luxury pick! The hotel is built inside the city’s former Union Railway Station, and the historic Grand Hall still has its huge arches and beautiful stained-glass windows. So yes, we totally think that staying here counts as sightseeing!

The location is great too. It’s right in Downtown St. Louis and less than a mile from the Gateway Arch, with plenty of the city’s biggest sights within easy reach. There’s also an outdoor pool, a gym, and three restaurants on site, so you’ve got everything you need right here! Rooms start from $300 USD per night. Check prices and availability here!

Hyatt Regency Saint Louis 

If location is your top priority, it doesn’t get better than Hyatt Regency Saint Louis at The Arch! It sits right in Downtown St. Louis, just steps from the Gateway Arch, and some rooms even have views straight toward it.

And the property itself is no slouch, with spacious, modern rooms and huge TVs! There’s also a 24-hour fitness center, which is handy if all of that toasted ravioli starts catching up with you!

Food-wise, you’ve got several options on site, including Ruth’s Chris Steak House, a sports bar serving BBQ and local craft beer, plus Starbucks for your morning caffeine fix – perfect! Rooms typically start at around $225 USD per night. Check availability and book your stay here!

Drury Plaza St. Louis – $ 

For a more affordable stay downtown, Drury Plaza St. Louis at the Arch offers a lot of bang for your buck! It’s less than a 5-minute walk from both the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium, so the location is fantastic for sightseeing.

The decor in the rooms is a little dated, but they’re super clean and well-maintained. A hot breakfast is included every morning, and there’s also a great selection of complimentary drinks and snacks for guests. Those extras can save you a decent amount over a few days!

Plus, this place has thousands of glowing reviews. For $160 USD per night, we think it’s a steal! Book your stay at Drury Plaza here! 

For more options, see all of St. Louis’ hotels listed here!

Thanks for reading!

St. Louis really surprised us with just how much there is to see and do! Between the incredible views from the Gateway Arch, all the delicious local food, and the fascinating history around every corner, we had such a fun time exploring this Missouri city. Whether you’re visiting for a weekend or staying a little longer, we hope this list helps you discover the very best of St. Louis!

Before you head off, be sure to check out our other USA travel blogs! We’ve explored some amazing places across the country and love sharing our favorite activities, hidden gems, and travel tips. Here are a few more guides to help inspire your next adventure!

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