OT: Visiting St. Louis

[mondo3]

Hi. I might be visiting St. Louis in June. Any advice on things to do or areas to walk around?

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[tfriede2]

Hi. I might be visiting St. Louis in June. Any advice on things to do or areas to walk around?

More context might be helpful - will you be with kids/family? How long do you think you’ll be staying?

 

[ScratchCatFever]

Hi. I might be visiting St. Louis in June. Any advice on things to do or areas to walk around?

Check out the City Museum. Basically a playground for adults and kids 5 and above. If you happen to have kids and they are younger than that, the Magic House in Kirkwood might be more appropriate. Also, near the Magic House is Laumeier Sculpture Park. Our zoo is top notch, and, depending on the length of your visit, the state of Missouri has an under the radar wine scene and several really nice wineries not too far outside of the metro area. Very good Italian cuisine on The Hill, I would say as good as good as you'll find anywhere in the country. If you're looking for St. Louis style pizza, I would recommend Uncle Leo's over Imo's as the quality and consistency has gone downhill.

 

[pseudoswede]

Just remember that the East Side's the best side.

 

[Blueston]

Just remember that the East Side's the best side.

That’s not nice.

 

[BlueDream]

Forrest Park will be your best friend. Just go there and you’ll find lots of things to do.

 

[mondo3]

More context might be helpful - will you be with kids/family? How long do you think you’ll be staying?

3 days. family w/kids in low 20's.

 

[542365]

Zoo and Science Center are the easy answers because they’re both free and honestly great. They’ll both be busier in the summer with schools out, but I’ve never seen either so crowded that you can’t have a good time.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Zoo, Science Center as mentioned above are great options mentioned above that are free.

The Chess Hall of Fame (St. Louis is now a hotbed for chess talent and a hub within the chess community) in the Central West End and is worth exploring too. It's also free.

The Delmar Loop is a truly unique spot as well that you can walk around on and go to different restaurants/bars.

Forest Park is even larger than Central Park and designed by the same architect as Central Park, too. It's beautiful and awesome to explore.

I did the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour for the first time last summer. Definitely worth doing, but it costs $ now, so be warned.

If you only want to be in the city limits, you can get by using Metrolink fairly easily, which is St. Louis' own light-rail system. It's not as extensive as Chicago, DC, or NYC, but it gets you around the city corridor/downtown pretty well.

The issue, however, St. Louis city itself is a relatively small city by area and is separate from the county (which is an entirely different issue), thus leading to limited Metrolink service to the county and a bunch of suburbs that aren't apart of the city. If you want to explore more of the suburbs aside from Clayton (which has basically its own downtown and is serviceable by Metrolink), you'll likely need a rental car to go to Kirkwood, Chesterfield, Webster Groves, Ladue, etc.

While there is crime in St. Louis, the #s regarding it are exacerbated as the city population itself is now slightly below 300K and the actual city limits are small. There are definitely parts of the city that I would not feel safe going to at night, but the majority of Downtown/Downtown West I'd feel comfortable walking around at night.

Is there a particular food of interest that you'd like to try as well?

 

[Xanadude]

Second most of what people have said here. There are certainly very bad parts of STL (north, east side) but touristy parts aren't like that.

Forest Park is the place to be IMO. You have the Zoo, arguably one of the best in the country (and FREE!), a couple solid museums, the Science Center, killer architecture. Second the Laumeier/Magic House Kirkwood day plan, it's also in one of the best neighborhoods in STL. Downtown you have the arch, though IMO it's really not worth it (maybe I'm just claustrophobic in those ascension pods) and the City Museum, which is a must-see with the ages you're bringing. That's three solid days for sure, and you could always throw in a shopping excursion to the Loop or Central West End (Botanical Garden is awesome too) and a cards game if you want. Cheap tickets, awesome atmosphere, mediocre baseball...

Food-wise STL has some gems. STL barbeque is amazing and Pappy's in the city and Dalies, it's sister location in the suburbs, are as good as it gets. Grace Meats in the Grove and Southern serve up killer fried chicken in cool neighborhoods. Second The Hill, you can pretty much go anywhere there and it's amazing italian food...and special shout-outs to the best sandwiches I've ever had: the Hot Salami at Gioia's and the Muffaletta at Blues City Deli.

Have fun!

 

[STL fan in MN]

City Museum is the one can’t miss spot for any STL trip for my family. But sounds like the OP’s kids are older. My suggestion: have your kids look at the city museum website and see if they’d be interested in going.

 

[The Note]

The AB brewery tour is cool and, if you have kids in their low 20's and they drink, you get a free beer at the end (I guess you used to, not sure about now). But the tour is worth it regardless, and you'll be by Soulard which is one of the older neighborhoods in the city and has tons of restaurants to pop into. The Hill has been mentioned of couple of times and, as someone who grew up there and is biased, it is a cool part of town. The wings at Milo's are super good and they have big outdoor patio/bocce garden. Adriana's and Eovaldi's are my standbys for sandwiches around there particularly with Gioa's being such a madhouse at seemingly all hours. Charlie Gitto's used to be fairly overrated IMO but I went when I was back in town about a month ago and it was incredible. Right up there with any of the Italian-American dishes I've had in Boston or NYC. Another South City neighborhood to consider is Dogtown (especially Pat Connolly's tavern for the fried chicken, Seamus McDaniels or Stone Turtle) and it would be right by Forest Park if you go there, which you should! Otherwise, yeah, a lot of the same stuff that's been said.

 

[Louie the Blue]

Food-wise STL has some gems. STL barbeque is amazing and Pappy's in the city and Dalies, it's sister location in the suburbs, are as good as it gets. Grace Meats in the Grove and Southern serve up killer fried chicken in cool neighborhoods. Second The Hill, you can pretty much go anywhere there and it's amazing italian food...and special shout-outs to the best sandwiches I've ever had: the Hot Salami at Gioia's and the Muffaletta at Blues City Deli.

Have you had Adam’s Smokehouse? It was started by former Pappy’s employees. It’s so good.

I will go to war for whoever says Sugarfire is overrated. Sides are nice but meat is meh.

Protzel’s is probably my favorite deli, but BCD, Gioia’s, and Mom’s Deli are also good.

Also recommend Lafayette Square (nice architecture) and going to Polite Society for dinner and Bailey’s Chocolate Bar for dessert.

 

[stlbluz]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Grants Farm. Cool animal collection to see while you tram around the park & then a couple of free beers at the garden afterwards.(pre-pay for parking to avoid the wait) Also, as someone else mentioned Botanical is pretty sharp. They have a glass sculpture exhibit until mid October that should be worth a look. I went to a glass museum while in Seattle last year & I was floored at how cool it was.

I'm not a fan of Imos, but I would try to schedule a lunch/snack with some toasted Ravs.

Soulard Market used to be pretty cool but I haven't been down there in years. If you go, do it on a Saturday morning.

 

[Spektre]

Hi. I might be visiting St. Louis in June. Any advice on things to do or areas to walk around?

Lots of places claim to be the best at things, especially restaurants. If you're a fan of steak, the absolute best place in town is Kreis'. Don't confuse this with the chain Ruth's Chris. It's business casual so don't show up in shorts and a ball cap.

There's only 1 Kreis' @
535 South Lindbergh Blvd
St. Louis, MO 63131

You'll compare all other steaks to what you get here especially their prime rib.

If you can get out of the city and have kids, take a trip to Elephant Rock State Park @ 7390, 7406 MO-21, Belleview, MO 63623.

It's about 90 minutes from downtown but a unique park your kids will love. You can easily spend most of a day there but plan on at least several hours to walk around the park. Bring some cold water since you'll be here in June.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Grants Farm. Cool animal collection to see while you tram around the park & then a couple of free beers at the garden afterwards.(pre-pay for parking to avoid the wait) Also, as someone else mentioned Botanical is pretty sharp. They have a glass sculpture exhibit until mid October that should be worth a look. I went to a glass museum while in Seattle last year & I was floored at how cool it was.

I'm not a fan of Imos, but I would try to schedule a lunch/snack with some toasted Ravs.

Soulard Market used to be pretty cool but I haven't been down there in years. If you go, do it on a Saturday morning.

Wow! The memories. We went to Grant’s Farm a ton as a kid. The Whitecliff area is just down the street with that massive quarry.

And of course Affton Sports complex sumpn sumpn across the road. Played baseball and hockey there. A couple Imo girls I grew up with went to Cor Jesu right there.

Damn! We spent a lot of time in that general area. This brought up a flood of memories.

 

[Xerloris]

It is safe overall and Forest Park is relatively safe.

There are parts of the city that I wouldn’t venture to, but I do feel comfortable wandering from BPV to Washington Ave at night by myself walking (and have done that before).

I also feel fine with going to other neighborhoods outside of downtown as well.

The County and St. Charles are pretty boring aside from maybe Clayton, UCity, and maybe Webster Groves/Kirkwood.

I've done the same, will prolly do so again but I would never tell a visitor with kids to do the same.

 

[Louie the Blue]

I've done the same, will prolly do so again but I would never tell a visitor with kids to do the same.

Well, yeah, I wouldn’t recommend that walk because it’s a pain in the ass, especially at night.

But the city, for the most part, and Forest Park are places I feel comfortable with. And Forest Park is an absolute must-see if visiting the area.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I've done the same, will prolly do so again but I would never tell a visitor with kids to do the same.

Zackly!

We know our streets. Visitors don’t.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Well, yeah, I wouldn’t recommend that walk because it’s a pain in the ass, especially at night.

But the city, for the most part, and Forest Park are places I feel comfortable with. And Forest Park is an absolute must-see if visiting the area.

Forest Park is pretty great. Visitors should definitely check it out, but make sure to exit before dark. If you have a few days, @mondo3 , there are several cool things to do in Forest Park, in one large, but concentrated area.

 

[Blueston]

Opinions like this have no value.

Sweeping a clear observation under the rug by globalizing a real phenomena is deeply irresponsible.

Please. Mr I believe every opinion is valid thinks my opinion is not because he doesn’t agree with it. I’m disappointed in you.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

All of the above mentioned are solid options. I’ll add this. If you and your seemingly adult kids are into beer, the AB brewery is great. But there are also some great microbrewery’s such as Urban Chestnut and 4 Hands. Also there is the armory, a cool place with lots to do.

As for the Arch….if you’ve never been it’s cool to do and say you’ve done it, but after that there’s not much reason to go back.

 

[TK 421]

Well I see this is going swimmingly, couldn't help but picture this when I read the OP. This thread has the makings of a varsity athlete.

 

[PJJJP]

Damn some people just have to ruin a very innocent thread with politics. We could've easily just said there are dangerous places and leave it at that

 

[TheDizee]

Zoo for sure. Probably the best thing about STL. We are lucky to have such an amazing zoo and its free.