Cheap Travel USA – St. Louis
September 29th, 2009 Posted in Cheap North America Travel, Destination reports, Travel bargains, Vacation deals
A couple weeks ago I went to a conference attended by a bunch of U.S. and Canadian tourism bureaus. I asked most of them I met with, “What can a weekend visitor do for cheap in your city?” The St. Louis rep didn’t miss a beat. She smiled and handed me a seven-page list titled, “St. Louis’ Free Attractions.”
The city claims to have more free attractions than any other U.S. destination outside of Washington, D.C., so I’m only ticking off a few below. See the St. Louis Tourism website for more.
I’ve been to this city a few times and always enjoyed it. It’s fairly easy to navigate, there’s a good public train system serving a lot of the main downtown areas, and prices are reasonable. It’s also a Southwest Airlines market, which is always a good thing. Here is a rundown on the bargains.
Freebies
Starting with those freebies, they range from the silly to the spectacular. In the latter category is the collection of great attractions in pretty Forst Park: the St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Art Museum, and the Missouri History Museum. Special exhibitions carry a charge, but even then there are designated free days. The zoo has more than 6,000 animals and is considered one of the best in the U.S., while the art museum, housed in a building from the 1904 World’s Fair, has some of the best pre-Colombian and German Expressionist art collections anywhere. The Laumeier Sculpture Park has 70 modern sculptures scattered across 105 acres. If you’re with kids, hit up the St. Louis Science Center, an attraction that in most cities will cost you at least ten bucks.
Like beer? If the answer is “not really,” then you can visit the Budweiser brewery for free and get a sampling. If the answer is “Oh yeah!” then visit the Schlafly Bottleworks Brewery instead. There are also some decent wineries on the outskirts if you have wheels, including Stone Hill. For a bit of kitsch, see the Museum of Western Expansion under the Gateway Arch, complete with historic tales from “life-like animatronic figures.”
Transportation
The airport is pretty far out of town, but you can catch a train from there to the center—nice. Once you’re settled anywhere around downtown you can get around for cheap. The Metrolink train is $2.25 (weekly pass available) and the bus is $2. Taxis are reasonable for getting somewhere further out. For a city smack in the car-happy heartland, it’s surprisingly easy to do without your own wheels, even if you’re going to a pro football or baseball game: the stadiums are in the center.
Good Hotel Prices
A couple years back I scored a suite at a Sheraton for 80 bucks and a friend stayed at a Courtyard for half that. When I pulled up Hotwire for St. Louis and plugged in next weekend, I found a 3.5-star hotel with a pool downtown for $59 a night (plus taxes and fees). The most expensive one available—4.5 stars in the ritzy Clayton area—was $144. There’s actually a Ritz-Carlton in that area and I’ve seen it written up before as having the lowest rates for a Ritz-Carlton anywhere in North America. If you’re traveling alone, $25 will get you a bed at the Huck Finn Youth Hostel.
For much more, see the Explore St. Louis website.
[flickr photo by benspark]
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6 Responses to “Cheap Travel USA – St. Louis”
By Ron Mader on Sep 29, 2009
Great essay and suggestions, Tim!
Two questions – how did the other officials react? Are the tourism bureaus doing a good job of providing tips for the frugalista crowd?
By Kevin Sullivan on Sep 30, 2009
St. Louis is very easy to navigate. Traffic is almost always moving well. Conventional wisdom is we are a “twenty minute” town, with virtually every destination within that driving time. The metro bus and train system works well. The train is a newer effort and serves the airport, Clayton (county seat), downtown, some south suburbs and Illinois.
Along with the AB brewery tour, St.Louis Brewery, home of Schlafly brand beer, offers free tours at two locations and great free events every week. The music scene in St. Louis is very diverse, active and free events are frequent, including street and park parties, bars with live music and no cover charge, even some street musicians in some shopping/walking/dining/entertainment districts. Recently the free Webster Groves Jazz Festival filled the streets of Historic Old Webster with thousands of fans. I have often marveled at how much entertainment, great values and the ease of access there is to so many cultural opportunities in St. Louis. We compete very well with any other destination city in the country and I’m happy to call St. Louis my home.
By tim on Sep 30, 2009
Ron, most tourism bureaus have adapted quickly to the times and are touting their bargains. Some are just set up better for it to start with. U.S. tourism is doing very well in a lot of second-tier markets I have to say. Many of them are actually up for the year from what I’ve been hearing. Hawaii’s loss is Huntsville’s gain, apparently. Lots of road trips this past summer, not so many long hauls.
By Jon on Oct 8, 2009
Great write up!
From what I’ve noticed in your blog, you don’t have a ton of information on cheap travel in the U.S. but for traveling outside of the U.S. I have backpacked across Europe, and I did find that the most expensive thing to do in America is find a cheap place to sleep, unlike other countries who offer hostels. I think you should take a look at some of the bargain travel deals offered in America. For instance, RoomSaver travel guides, offering hotel discounts and free maps throughout the U.S. along with other similar guides.
By Marcus Aurelius on Nov 4, 2009
You hit a pet peeve of mine — beer snobbery.
I’ll admit I don’t drink much Bud in any form if I am going to pay that sort of $ than I usually go for a micro or mid-range sorta beer (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is one of my favorites). That said why steer away from Bud? It is a good light lager beer that a hot thirsty tourist will appreciate much more than a heavy beer.
Anyway, obligatory comments on beer & travel. I can not recall the name of the beer but the Tanzanian national beer was G*D awful, but the Kenyan beer was acceptable.
By tim on Nov 5, 2009
Bud is trying to get better with some offshoot specialty brews, but their little secret is they are making really cheap beer (with lots of rice instead of barley for instance) then marketing it as something you should pay a lot for because of the brand. It’s just thin and watery and has gotten more so over time. If I’m going to drink some “refreshing when I’m thirsty” beer, I’d rather suck down something that at least has some taste to it. Pabst is more flavorful and half the price. I’ll drink boring beer if I have to, and will never turn down a Bud if someone hands it to me. But it gives American beer a bad name. They and ImBev deserve each other.