Any suggestions/advice for tourists in St. Louis?

[cmo]

Our family will be visiting St. Louis later this month for a long weekend. I've never been there, so I'm mostly planning an itinerary based on word of mouth and what I have researeched on the internet. We will spend a day at the Arch and its related attractions (riverboat ride, museum, Imax movie, pedal cab), and would also like to visit the City Museum. DCs are 3 1/2, 5 and 7 years old.

Any suggestions on other family-friendly places to visit, and restaurants too, would be most welcome! We are trying to avoid renting a car, and are staying downtown. We're planning on taking the Metro Link from the airport to downtown. Is it easy enough to use to get to other places beyond downtown?

Thanks very much for any advice!

-Chris

[smilequeen]

Metro Link is somewhat limited. If it's a nice day you can get close to forest park which is where the zoo is, the art and science museums, etc. It's a HUGE park (think similar in size to Central Park in NYC). If you don't mind a lot of walking you could get to the zoo from there, which is what I would suggest with young kids. Our zoo in St. Louis is top notch. I've never done the walk and they used to have shuttles, but I am not sure if they do anymore. Right across in the park from the Debaliviere metrolink stop is the history museum. They have a good little cafe for lunch. Right outside of that is a big playground that we love. My boys love the arch and the City Museum is a definite hit. There is also a very cool sculpture garden downtown called Citygarden that might be fun to walk around in. It's new. More fun for kids in the summer though with the water play area.

If you decide to rent a car (which to be totally honest, I would reccommend in STL)...the Magic House Children's Museum is great! It's huge and could totally be most of a day for the kids. Out in the suburbs we also go to the Transportation Museum pretty often (think lots of old trains to climb around in), Grant's Farm, the Butterfly House, and the Wabash and Pacific railroad (which is a sunday only thing) are other things we do quite a bit. There is also an amazing Botanical Garden that has a great kids garden, but I'm not sure when the season for it ends.

Time is short...I will try to give you some restaurant ideas later...

[cmo]

Big Thanks Smilequeen! Any additional suggestions are welcomed. :-)

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

I agree with the pp. Rent a car. Our public transportation well.....sucks. Metrolink will get you around a little but I wouldn't recommend it at night really. You're much better off to get a car.

But the attractions that smilequeen listed are all good. You could also go to the science center or our art or history museums which are all putting on special fall programs for children. If the weathers nice you could also hit one of the local pumpkin patches. Lots to do and you don't necessarily have to purchase a pumpkin.

Keep in mind that (last time I checked) the cards are headed for the playoffs so downtown might be a little hairy if there's a game the weekend you're here. For a diner experience try the courtesy diner on hampton ave. It's an institution in and of itself around here ( they only take cash),

Have you made your hotel reservations yet? If not I highly recommend the drury inn. They're everywhere around here and there's one fairly centrally located at 44&hampton. You could get almost anywhere in town within 10 minutes from there.

The hill is lots of fun (our italian neighborhood). Forest park is a lot of fun like the pp mentioned. If you're into history and indian burial grounds go check out the cahokia mounds.

Enjoy your trip.

[mom2binsd]

I had heard that Grant's Farm was now closed due to the takeover by the European company...which would be sad as it was awesome.

Keep in mind for the riverboat that it could be pretty darn cold in a month...DH took DD on it when she was 4, she had a blast!!!

I know there is a great outlet/indoor mall, St.Louis Mills.

[Seitvonzu]

we just went to grant's farm in august and it was so nice-- i remember going there as a kid. www.grantsfarm.com-- stillopen, despite the "takeover" :)

enjoy st. louis! my grandparent's live across the river and we always spent our summer vacations in the area visiting, going to card's games and doing other touristy things :) loved it! my parents moved to the area so our little lucy is having the same experiences now :)

[smilequeen]

OK....

Good downtown restaurants

You do have typical chain places. Old Spaghetti Factory is the one my boys like down there. There are also things like Houlihans, Hard Rock Cafe, Landrys, etc.

We tend to try other stuff, so some of my suggestions are for more adventurous food. Kind of depends on your preferences :)

-Crepes in the City
-Mosaic (tapas place)
-The Kitchen (buffet in Lumiere Place. You have to deal with it being right next to the big ole Vegas Style casino, but it's very nice anyway)
-Charlie Gittos (Italian)
-Mike Shannons (Steak)
-Sen Thai
-Schlafly's (microbrew)
-Bubba Tea (we love bubble tea in our house)

I have to admit we eat downtown more often without the kids, so that's a very short list compared to what is down there. The entire Washington St. leading to City Museum is a loft district. There are quite a few eclectic restaurants along there that I've never had a chance to try. At lunch everything is pretty kid friendly. You just tend to have to be pickier at dinner.

If you leave downtown to eat Ted Drewes is a total classic St. Louis frozen custard place. It's delicious. The Hill is famous for it's awesome Italian food. Almost any restaurant in that neighborhood is good. With the kids we tend to like Favazzas and Cunetto House of Pasta. In U City, Fitz's is a local rootbeer place that has kid friendly food. Most of the time we'll eat out in the Chinese area (Olive St. in U City). So if you want to venture for dim sum at Won Ton King it is the best.

[cmo]

Y'all are great! Thanks very much for all the info. We will reconsider the car rental, since it sounds like it will be easier to get around with it (but means we need to lug seats for the 2 younger kids on the plane---not my favorite thing to do!). As an alternate, is Metro Link safe for daytime travel to & from the airport and downtown? We could fill in with cab rides for any farther places we can't walk to. We're staying at a Drury Inn near the Arch.

Thanks again! :-)

[Percycat]

I agree with pp that you will probably want to rent a car, for at least part of the trip. The Magic House, Grants Farm, and the St. Louis Zoo seem to ALWAYS rate in top family attractions in national reviews.

The Magic House recently completed an expansion and you can really spend an entire day. They have wonderful exhibits for your little DCs that even your oldest will enjoy. We have been members for years and it is the first place my DCs (4 and 6) want to go when we plan a local adventure. It is in Kirkwood. They opened a cafe as part of the new expansion that has wonderful healthy kid and adult friendly food at reasonable prices. It can get insanely crowded. Sometimes the best time to go is Friday evening when it is open until 9:00 (unless it is the 3rd evening of the month and admission is free). The cafe is not open during evening hours. The parts of the museum your kids will enjoy most is "A Little Bit of Magic", and this section opens earlier than the rest of the museum if you decide to go in the day. If you have a membership to an Association of Childrens Museum membership, you will have reciprocal privileges. http://www.magichouse.org/

The Zoo is in Forest Park. It is outstanding and considered one of the top 10 free zoos in America. You can get to the zoo via metrolink, but it is a long walk from the metro stop. I know at one time, they had a zoo shuttle bus painted like a bug that ran every 15 minutes, but I don't know if they still have it. You might want to call and check. The zoo is huge. You can easily spend a day hear if the weather is nice, although we usually hit our favorite spaces and spend less time. During Columbus Weekend the zoo is hosting an Octoberfest with special activities and on Friday nights in the later part of October, the zoo is open later and having a Halloween fest. If you get a car, know that I-64/US 40 is closed around Forest Park. It will be easiest to get to the zoo from I-44 to Hampton. Or you could also take HWY 170 to Forest Park Parkway. The train, children's museum, carrosel are extra expense. My kids favorites are the tigers, bears, penguins, childrens museum, and train (although the train can be a long wait). Although the zoo is free, it may make sense for you family to buy a Safari Pass for $10 per person ($5.00 if you have a zoo membership at a zoo participating in a reciprocal program) which will give you admission to the children's zoo, train ride and other and other fee attractions. http://www.stlzoo.org/

The science center is also in Forest Park and spans across I-64/US 40. It really is geared to children older than yours, although there are great exhibits for the whole family. We bought our first membership this year. My son loves the Lego Mindstorm exhibit where they build lego robots and compete with other participants. My DD (4) loves the Discovery Room, which is a lot like a smaller Magic House. My DS also likes the Planatarium Show. If you are coming next weekend, they are having a Science Fest with a lot of extra exhibits and demonstrations. One of the Omnimax shows that just started is VanGoh: Brush with Genius (which I want to see), they are also showing Fly Me To the Moon and Wild Ocean. The museum has some pretty good old space exhibits due to the sponsorship of McDonnell Dougles (now Boeing) which was headquartered in St. Louis. If you want to see an Imax film, you may want to buy your tickets in advance, because they sell out on weekends. On the lower level, they frequently perform kid friendly science shows. We just watched one about gravity where they dropped things from the third floor and kids made predictions--FUN. This museum is part of the ASTC reciprocal program. Although admission is free, the tickets for the shows can get expensive and parking is $8.00. http://www.slsc.org/

If you are going to the Zoo and Science Center and really hope to use public transportation, contact the Metrolink to learn about the shuttle options through forest park from the Metrolink Station. http://www.metrostlouis.org/ContactUs/contactus.asp

The Art Museum nice (also in Forest Park). http://www.slam.org/index.aspx?id=2. On Sunday, they have special family programs. Kids can make various art projects from 1-4 and they have a special group tour geared for families at 2:30. It is not that far from the boat house if you are wanting to rent paddle boats and ride on the 'lake'.

A fun place to eat eat "near" forest park is Fritz. It is on Delmar in "the Loop" (named after an old trolley line in St. Louis. This restaurant has an active rootbeer bottling line. http://www.fitzsrootbeer.com/

The City Museum is a great idea, especially if you are staying in the City. It is near/in the old garment district and there is a "zipper" that is in the middle of the street. I haven't been there much, except for private receptions. The last time I went DS was 1.5. At the time, it was too old for him (although he loved the huge/long slides). I think my kids are at a great age now.

Hope you enjoy your visit.
Angela