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), is an elegant 1851 Victorian mansion with most of its original furnishings intact. The Romanesque Revival-style 1889 Samuel Cupples House, 3673 W. Pine Blvd. (tel. 314/977-3025), 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 of the house cost $4. The Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion, 3352 DeMenil Place (tel. 314/771-5828; www.demenil.org), was a four-room farmhouse in 1848, later expanded to 14 rooms in the Greek Revival style. It contains period furnishings, a collection of 1904 World's Fair memorabilia, and two paintings by Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham. Admission to each house costs $4.
Rollin' on the River--Gateway Arch Riverboat Cruises (tel. 877/982-1410 or 314/923-3048; www.gatewayarchriverboats.com), departing throughout the year from the levee below the Arch, offers 1-hour narrated sightseeing trips aboard replica 19th-century paddle-wheelers called the Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. One-hour cruises are $10 adults and $4 children.
From 1900 to 1903, the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, 2658 Delmar Blvd. (tel. 314/340-5790; www.mostateparks.com/scottjoplin.htm), 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 25-minute guided tours 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 Busch Stadium, 7th Street downtown (tel. 314/421-2400; www.stlcardinals.com).
ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS
St. Louis is a children's town, with more than enough to keep them amused, much of it absolutely free. The top-rated St. Louis Zoo, Forest Park (tel. 314/781-0900; www.stlzoo.org), with its Big Cat Country, Jungle of the Apes, River's Edge with elephants and hippos, Penguin and Puffin Coast, the 904 Flight Cage aviary, fascinating Insectarium with everything from giant cockroaches to a butterfly house, and animal-contact area called Children's Zoo, is free (fees charged for Insectarium and Children's Zoo).
Another freebie is the St. Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Ave. (tel. 800/456-7572 or 314/289-4444; www.slsc.org), with full-size, animated dinosaurs and many hands-on exhibits covering DNA and genetics, aviation, the environment, and more, as well as a space exploration exhibition, planetarium, and OMNIMAX Theater (admission charged). And two more free attractions are Grant's Farm, 10501 Gravois (tel. 314/843-1700; www.grantsfarm.com ), once farmed by Ulysses S. Grant and now part of the Busch family estate, open mid-April through October and featuring a tram ride through an exotic game preserve, a small zoo, animal shows, a Clydesdale stable, a carriage collection, and a free glass of Anheuser-Busch beer; and Purina Farms, near Six Flags Over Mid-America at the Gray Summit exit off I-44 (tel. 314/982-3232), open from mid-March to November with a hayloft play area, a petting area, dog shows, a barn full of animals, and educational displays (reservations required).
Children -- and adults -- will also love the whimsical, adventure-filled City Museum, 701 N. 15th St. (tel. 314/231-2489; www.citymuseum.org), housed in a former shoe factory and featuring a huge indoor play area filled with imaginative caves, slides, and crawling tubes; a circus performance; train rides; art workshops; a collection of oddities; an aquarium; and a five-story outdoor climbing contraption called MonstroCity (separate admission charges for different activities; call or check the website for details). At the more educational, hands-on Magic House, 516 S. Kirkwood Rd. (tel. 314/822-8900; www.magichouse.org), children can experiment with magnets, water, and tools; be a news anchor; test their fitness; play in a kid-size village; and climb the Fitness Safari jungle gym. The sections of the children's museum are geared to specific age ranges. In general, kids 12 and under will have a blast here. Admission costs $6.50; free for kids under 2.
The biggest attraction for kids is the huge amusement park, Six Flags St. Louis, 30 miles west of St. Louis on I-44 (tel. 636/938-4800; www.sixflags.com), with thrill rides like the 5,000-foot-long Boss roller coaster, plus Looney Tunes Town, live entertainment, and even a water park with a wave pool, slides, and more. Admission is $40 adults, $25 kids under 48 inches tall; discount tickets are often available on the park's website.
For a complete listing of what to see and do in St. Louis, visit the at Frommers.com.
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