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Things to Do in St. Louis
15 items
By
Jordyn Bray
The places I grew up going to — the ones I still think about when I'm home. A mix of old favorites and the beautiful spots I'd send anyone to first.
Map
Sections
4
Eat & Drink
See & Do
Outdoors & Parks
Shop & Wander
Eat & Drink
The frozen custard stop. Get a concrete, always — and the Chippewa location on Route 66 is the one.
Ted Drewes Frozen Custard — Chippewa / Route 66
Root beer made right in front of you, in a 1928 bank building on the Loop. Get a float.
Fitz's American Grill & Bottling Works — Delmar Loop
Old-school Hill Italian, and the toasted ravioli is the real thing. Book ahead — it's a special-occasion room.
Charlie Gitto's On The Hill — The Hill
See & Do
Not a museum, really — a giant climbable playground built out of salvaged things. Wear shoes you can climb in. General admission runs about $20.
City Museum — Downtown
Ride the tram to the top if you can. The museum underneath is free, and the riverfront walk is worth a slow afternoon.
Gateway Arch National Park — Downtown riverfront
Free every day, and the building itself is half the reason to go. The collection is the kind you wander through slowly.
Saint Louis Art Museum — Forest Park
Go just to stand under the mosaics for a while. It's quiet in the best way.
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis — Central West End
A 1929 movie palace, still the prettiest room in the city to see a show in. Check what's playing before you plan around it.
Fabulous Fox Theatre — Grand Center
Outdoors & Parks
The oldest botanical garden in the country, and it still feels like a secret. The Japanese garden is my favorite corner.
Missouri Botanical Garden — Shaw
Free, and genuinely one of the best zoos in the country. A whole morning, easy.
Saint Louis Zoo — Forest Park
Bigger than Central Park, and it's where so much of this list lives — the art museum, the zoo, the boathouse. Go for a long walk.
Forest Park — Forest Park
Seventy-some huge sculptures out in the woods, free to wander. The big Eye is the one everyone photographs.
Laumeier Sculpture Park — Sunset Hills
Free to get in, Clydesdales and the tram through the deer park. Hours change with the season, so check the calendar before you go.
Grant's Farm — South St. Louis County
Shop & Wander
The oldest market west of the Mississippi. Saturday morning is the full thing — go hungry.
Soulard Farmers Market — Soulard
A whole street of antique shops, vintage stores, and little cafes. The kind of wandering where you always leave with something.
Cherokee Street Antique Row — Cherokee Street
