jayne1973

Considering a little train trip from Dallas to St. Louis next week, staying downtown. No car. Any suggestions for sightseeing and restaurants. Not into sports.

Thanks!

TKT

There is not a lot to do in downtown St. Louis, particularly at night. You should plan on renting a car and going to other parts of town, the Art Museum in the Park is great.

airfare1

Agreed, downtown isn't much. There's the Arch of course, Laclede's Landing, and Union Station. That's about all downtown has.
The Art Museum is great and the Central West End in Midtown is good for a walk around, and has several dining options.

jayne1973

Thanks, we are open to renting a car, but I was hoping we could use public transportaion to get most places. We like to walk, although I know it will be cold!

Our train will arrive about 8 a.m. Friday, so we'll have all day to explore downtown and I assume Laclede's Landing. Any suggestions non-chain restaurants for lunch and dinner in those areas?

We will also have all day Saturday and this is our first time to actually explore St. Louis. It's just hubby and me -- we are pretty adventurous and like everything from the classic sites to the offbeat or funky.

StLgrrl

Skip the Landing (or just go for the Arch), and go to Soulard. The restaurants there are great, and if you enjoy the nightlife, you can usually catch a good jazz or blues band in one of the many bars. But I am biased.

Definitely check out the City Museum. Washington Ave that runs right by it has some terrific restaurants as well, and some pretty good, although pricey, bars.

The Zoo and Art Museum are a good stop too. Forest Park in itself is nice to check out.

There is also the Brewery Tour (free!) and Union Station.

Toby7

Agree with STLgrrl regarding Soulard--that is the area for fun, music and good food. However, a little too far to walk to from Downtown.
To get to Forest Park, where the zoo and Art Museum are, you can take the MetroLink (public light rail) from Downtown and then a shuttle bus over to the museum or zoo. I am sure your Hotel will have that information.
City Museum is a "must see" and will be a long walk from Downtown, but can be done.

jujube

also check out the loop area, very funky. central west end and the loop are close to downtown. If weather is decent during the day, ask directions to the hill area (old italian section with great Italian groceries and eateries. Go to Amighettis (sp?) for great casual lunch. Tratorrio Marcella is great for dinner.

buttercup

I second the loop - lot's of good food and funky shops. Just a fun place to people watch, also.

For lunch downtown, try Charlie Gittos - good Italian.

Ozarksbill

Just back from an overnight in St. Louis. I would recommend the special exhibit at the Art Museum on the Great Treasures from the Royal Tombs at Ur. It closes Jan 15 so that's why we went. This located in Forest Park and you can get there by bus. The excellent Zoo isn't that far away from the Art Museum. Got a very reasonable Quality Inn motel and supper at a favorite Italian restaurant on The Hill, and then home by noon next day.

ozarksbill
Springfield, MO

jayne1973

Thanks to all of you for the great information. This really helps.

Soulard looks interesting. The tomb exhibit sounds right up my alley, ozarksbill. Sounds like there's plenty to keep up busy for a couple of days.

Some questions: Is Laclede's Landing totally touristy? We'll probably stay at the Hyatt. Are the loop and central west end reasonable walking distance? Is safety a special consideration in any of these areas? Also, isn't there a farmers market somewhere? Is it open this time of year? Would we need a car for Soulard, or is there public transportation?


Cheers!

Jayne

flamingomonkey

I can't believe no one has mentioned the Metrolink!! St. Louis has the good fortune to have all of it's major destinations laid out in row, from the airport, to the universities, Forest Park, and then downtown. All are connected by a great light rail system, which also runs into Illinois. Do NOT rent a car. In additon to the Metrolink, bus service is decent, and there are always cabs. I went to St. Louis in the summer and used transit to get around all over the city. Check out

www.metrostlouis.org

for details.

flamingomonkey

As for your specific questions, Lacledes Landing is very touristy, and also very small. The Loop and Central West End are nowhere near downtown, they're on the other end of the city, but you can take metrolink there. All of these areas should be fairly safe, though you might think twice about a long stroll through the Central West End at night. While it's a very affluent neighborhood, it's also small and borders some pretty rough areas. There is a farmers market in Soulard. They do have a website at
www.soulardmarket.com.
There is a bus line that goes right through Soulard. Also consider a visit to the Botanical Gardens, the Victorian style Tower Grove Park, and the Grand South Grand neighborhood. As you might expect, it's centered along south Grand Ave., south of Arsenal. There some great Asian (especially Viatamese) restaurants there.

indytravel

I'm a big walker. In December I walked from the Renaissance hotel next to the convention center, to Union Station for breakfast, northwest to the Scott Joplin house, then west past Grand Ave. to the Moolah to see a 1:00pm movie. Total distance was probably close to 3 miles. Piece of cake in my book.

By the way I love the Hyatt at Union Station. That cool, green lobby in the old main hall of the train station is one of my favorite beautiful places to have a drink.

North from the Central West End rail stop I've walked until midnight with no problems. That's a main road. The restaurants you'd be there to visit are all pretty close to that road: Moxy's, Chez Leon, Eau at the Chase Park Plaza and Balabon. Do keep in mind the rail starts shutting down at 11:30pm. My friend and I have only gotten stuck a couple of times and needed to take a cab.

I've walked south from the Westin Hotel (Busch Stadium rail stop) to the Eugene Field museum and into the Soulard area. It's probably a mile to the north end of Soulard.

The loop is the Delmar stop on the rail. South running for about a mile is the sidewalk with the St Louis walk of fame, Tivoli theater, Pageant for live music and Blueberry Hill restaurant. Lots of kitsch memorabilia at Blueberry Hill.

I've gotten off at the Forest Park stop and walked to the historical society, art museum, the zoo, the science center and into the Central West End for dinner. This is a haul. It's probably 3+ miles. The historical society is right off the rail though.

flamingomonkey

There is bus service that loops through the park, though.

indytravel

I double checked flamingomonkey, 'cause I miss the red ShuttleBugs that ran through the park.

On the St Louis Metro site it shows the Forest Park shuttle running only seasonally in the summer. Otherwise there are a couple of regular bus routes that run through the park 58 & 90. Neither go close to the science center.

www.metrostlouis.org/SystemMap/default.asp#

jayne1973

Wow, this is a lot to take in... I am looking forward to this little adventure. We can pick up a rail map at the train station and go from there.

Indytraveler, do I understand right that we have to take the Forest Park stop for the zoo and art museum? Is the the three-mile walk you mentioned is one-way into the Central West End? That certainly is a haul.

For those of you familiar with the metrolink or other public transportation, could you tell me the stops for some of these places? Any suggestions for itinerary for Friday and Saturday to make the most of our time?

If we can just get a good hotel rate downtown we'll be all set. Not having much luck on Priceline...expected to easily get the Hyatt Union Station for $60 and it hasn't happened. Is there something special going on next weekend?

annesherrod

Nothing going on big that I know of that week.
There is a lovely Inn in Clayton that is on the historic register right in the heart of the business district. I think you can get a room for 89 bucks.
It is in walking distance to great restaurants( some of the best in STL) art galleries, shops...

I definitely recomned the Loop in Un .city for somthing different, The brewery tour is fun and free as mentioned.
There is also a great wine country not far (30 mim) for something else to do. A lot of them have indoor seating with fireplaces, etc...
Do go to the Art Museum!! The zoo is open and free if it is nice out.
Have fun!

annesherrod

The name of that Inn is The Seven Gable Inn on Meramec Ave.

cd

jayne
If you rent a car, that little wine country not far from ST Louis is Hermann and worth a day's adventure. There's a Visitor Center right downtown that was very, very, helpful and friendly when we were there.
Also, if you rent a car, The Hill is a great place for Italian food. We have been there four times and will continue to go back every time we're in St Louis. Every restaurant we've been to was very good. I even picked up olive oil soap at one of the Italian stores and loved it.

xrae

Some girlfriends and I had a wonderful Italian meal in a small neighborhood not too far from downtown but we definitely had to drive. The restaurant was recommended to us by the concierge at the Renaissance, and it was wonderful. I don't remember the name of the restaurant.

We got the Hyatt at Union Station via Priceline for $40/night during a convention, but that was three years ago, in the summer. We were disappointed with the lack of downtown restaurants with late hours.

OK, with a quick google I found this info on The Hill, including a list of restaurants.
http://www.shopthehill.com/businesses.htm

Have a fun trip!