One day in St. Louis

Day by day

1. Day 1: Gateway Arch and City Museum

   Gateway Arch, City Museum, Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village and Citygarden, then Delmar Loop in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Gateway Arch

      Book the tram for early morning or late afternoon, and arrive early for the airport-style security screening. Allow 2–3 hours.

   2. Late morning

      City Museum

      Wear closed shoes, kneepads if you have them and clothes you can crawl in, and bring a torch for the caves. Allow 3–4 hours.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Toasted ravioli

      Italian restaurants on The Hill and appetiser menus all over the city.

   4. Afternoon

      Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village

      Even without game tickets, visit the Cardinals Hall of Fame and soak up the pre-game atmosphere at Ballpark Village. Allow 3 hours.

   5. Late afternoon

      Citygarden

      In summer, bring swimwear for children to play in the splash fountains. Allow 30–45 minutes.

   6. Evening

      Delmar Loop

      Walk the Walk of Fame stars, then have dinner and a show at Blueberry Hill or The Pageant.

Before you go

• Gateway Arch: Tram tickets often sell out on summer weekends and holidays; buy timed tickets online in advance.

If it rains

• Swap in Saint Louis Art Museum (Forest Park): Visit the German Expressionist galleries for the Beckmanns, then walk down Art Hill to the Grand Basin.
• Swap in Missouri History Museum (Forest Park): Start with the 1904 World's Fair gallery to understand Forest Park before exploring the rest of the park.
• Swap in Saint Louis Science Center (Forest Park): Head to the bridge over Interstate 64 for the radar guns, then catch a planetarium show.

Where to stay for this itinerary

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 11–14 hours of visiting over one day, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 9.5 hours in December to 14.8 hours in June, so in winter start early and keep museums for the afternoon.

Getting between stops: Tram. MetroLink's Red Line runs from the airport through Forest Park, the Central West End and downtown to Illinois; the Blue Line connects Clayton and Forest Park with downtown.

More or fewer days

• 2 days in St. Louis
• 3 days in St. Louis

Questions travellers ask