St. Louis with Kids Travel Guide

The Perfect 3-Day St. Louis Itinerary for Families (Yes, Even If You’re Flying Solo With the Kids)

St. Louis is one of those destinations that doesn’t get enough credit as a family travel spot — and that’s probably part of the delight. You’ve got a wild, one-of-a-kind kids’ museum, “America’s smallest national park,” root beer on tap at a soda factory restaurant, and a historic train station that’s somehow also a full-blown hotel resort. Pack it all into a long weekend and you’ve got a trip that’s easy enough to do solo with the kids, but memorable enough that you’ll be talking about it for years.

Here’s exactly how we tackled our first visit — two nights, three days, and loads of fun.

Where to Stay: Union Station St. Louis

Before we get into the day-by-day, let’s talk about your home base, because it matters here more than usual.

Union Station St. Louis, part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, is a historic train-station-turned-hotel that’s genuinely worth building a trip around. A few things to know before you book:

Yep; you can book with Hilton points if you’re sitting on some.
There is indeed an outdoor pool!
Consider a weekday stay if you plan to take advantage of all the attractions on site— it’s a far less crowded experience than weekends. (More details on this below!)
Grab the “All-Access” pass for the attractions if you plan to do the aquarium and the water park; the savings add up.
There’s also a fire-and-light show on the pond outside, on the hour every evening. Landry’s Seafood House has a patio with front-row views — worth requesting that table. (There’s a great kids menu here, too!)

Day One: Arrive, Eat, Explore, Check In

Lunch: Fitz’s on the Loop Land in town, get settled, and head straight to Fitz’s Root Beer on the Delmar Loop for lunch. It’s a soda factory and restaurant in one — you can actually see the root beer being bottled on site — which makes it an instant hit with kids who think “the drink is made right here” is basically magic.

This part of town is cute and walkable. Grab street parking and stroll around a bit before heading in for your reservation.

Afternoon: City Museum From there, it’s on to the wildest—and truthfully, slightly unhinged—kids’ museum in America: City Museum. This isn’t a look-but-don’t-touch kind of place; it’s a multi-story maze of slides, caves, climbing structures, and a rooftop Ferris wheel, built almost entirely out of repurposed architectural salvage. A few things we’d tell you before you go:

Slides can start on one floor and end on a completely different one — it’s genuinely hard to tell from the top. Write your phone number on your child’s wristband in case they get separated, and practice with them how to find an adult for help.
Wear clothes you don’t mind getting a little dirty. Bright colors help you spot your kids in the crowd (or in an overhead tunnel or slide), too.
Wear pants and even knee pads if you’ve got them for climbing — you can grab pads in the gift shop if you decide you need them once you’re there.
Bring a small flashlight that fits in your kid’s pocket. Trust us on this one.
You can’t carry a bag or purse through most of the slides, so stash your card, ID, phone, and car key in your pocket rather than paying for a locker.
Buy tickets online in advance to skip the line and save a few dollars.
If you’ve got a little one age six or under, there’s a dedicated toddler area on the third floor with adult seating and easy sightlines — a nice reset spot if the bigger kids are off climbing.

Evening: Check In & the Grand Hall Head to Union Station St. Louis to check in, get everyone settled, and make your way down to the Grand Hall in time for the 3D light show. Grab sofa seating if you can find it — after a full day at City Museum, your crew will be ready to lie back and watch the ceiling do its thing.

The Grand Hall’s 3D light show runs daily (unless there’s a private event being held) every hour on the hour from 5–10 pm, using the barrel-vaulted ceiling as the screen. It’s free, it’s stunning, and it’s different every hour, so there’s no wrong time to catch it. (You won’t find kids meals on the menu here, but you can request chicken tenders and fries or mac and cheese; we opted for the tenders!)

If you can snag sofa seating for the light show, do it. Ceiling shows plus tired toddlers means you want somewhere for little ones to lie back and watch. Plus, the show is only five minutes or so, which means you can sneak in a quick stop before bedtime if you grab food elsewhere.

Day Two: Stay On Property (You Won’t Run Out of Things to Do)

This is the day we’d tell you to just… not leave. Union Station is designed so you genuinely never have to get back in the car, and you could easily spend an entire day without covering everything on-site. Depending on your kids’ ages and energy levels, work your way through:

The interactive aquarium
The Ferris wheel and carousel
The roller coaster, pirate ship and swings rides
The ropes course, which has an option scaled for littles, too
The mirror maze (a short but quirky little side activity)

Break up the day with a stop at the outdoor pool if you bought the All-Access pass, and don’t forget: the Grand Hall light show and the pond’s fire-and-light show are both worth catching again tonight, even if you saw them the night before. You can grab a patio table reservation at Landry’s Seafood House for dinner and enjoy prime views!

Day Three: Check Out & Gateway Arch National Park

Before you check out, visit the nation’s smallest national park, right in downtown St. Louis: Gateway Arch National Park.

A few tips to make this run smoothly with kids in tow:

Reservations: Book your tram ride to the top online in advance — timed entries do sell out.
Arrivals: Give yourself at least 30 minutes before your entry time. We parked at the Stadium East Parking Structure, walked a block over, then headed into the visitor center.
Security: You’ll pass through an airport-security-style checkpoint before heading downstairs toward the arch entrances. (No food or drink is allowed on the tram ride.)
Tram Path: You’ll only ride one side of the arch — north or south — going up and coming back down the same side, in a tiny five-seat tram car with a single windowed door looking into the arch’s mechanical interior. (Fun fact for the curious kids: there are 1,000 steps inside in case it ever breaks down.)
Note: Heads up if anyone in your family gets claustrophobic — the tram cars are snug, and so is the observation deck at the top.
Museum: Before your timed entry, walk through the museum — it’s full of fascinating artifacts and does a great job explaining the region and river’s role as the historic gateway to the West. There’s also a cafe and gift shop for a quick bite or souvenir. You’ll have access to all of this once you pass through security and head downstairs.
The ride itself: a four-minute trip up, about 10 minutes at the top, and a three-minute ride back down. At the top, it’s cramped, with small windows looking out over the city and the river — genuinely trippy to be that high up inside a curved structure.
Theater: There’s a documentary about the arch’s construction playing on site that a fellow visitor raved about — we opted for a kid-friendly version on YouTube instead, but we’d recommend watching whichever one you choose before your trip rather than after, so the kids have context going in.

And that’s a wrap — two nights, three days, and a trip that’s just as fun for the grown-ups as it is for the kids.

Everything We Missed (And You Shouldn’t)

Three days barely scratches the surface of what St. Louis has for families. Here’s what’s on our list for next time:

Saint Louis Zoo: One of the best free attractions in the country, and it really is free to get in, with paid extras like the Zooline Railroad, giraffe feeding, and stingray touch tank. It sits inside Forest Park, so easy to pair with a park day.
Cardinals Game at Busch Stadium: There’s a slew of family-friendly activities at the ballpark, including a soft play area in the family zone, arcade, kids meals, and loads more.
Forest Park: At nearly 1,300 acres, it’s bigger than Central Park, and it’s also home to the zoo, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Missouri History Museum — both free.
The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum: A hands-on museum built specifically for kids, with exhibits geared toward different age groups.
Saint Louis Science Center: Free general admission, with an OMNIMAX theater and a planetarium if you want to add on.
Grant’s Farm: A free-admission animal encounter and historic homestead, run by the Anheuser-Busch family, with tram rides through the property and animal shows… yep, Clydesdale horses included.
Crown Candy Kitchen: St. Louis’ oldest soda factory, opened in 1913, where you can grab lunch or dinner, or pick up handmade chocolates.
World Bird Sanctuary: A quieter, nature-focused stop if your family loves birds of prey.
Six Flags St. Louis — For families with older kids chasing bigger thrills.