I am travelling to St. Louis (from DC) for the Labor day weekend..arriving late on Thursday and leaving on Monday afternoon. I have tickets to the Bruce Springsteen concert, who will be there that Friday night. We like to walk around cities and plan to spend most of our time in the city itself. For most of the time, we do not plan on having a car. My quesiton is, should we rent a car for one day (maybe Sunday) to go to a nearby place - St. Genevieve? or St. Charles? for the day, or is there enough to do in the city? We plan to check out a couple of the museums, the historic attractions, and some of the more interesting neighborhoods in the city.

By the way, how are those neighborhoods - west and south of the downtown? We really like those older, close-in areas in the older cities - DC, NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, but have been dissappointed in some of them in other areas of the country. In some places, the areas touted as nice and interesting, are ok, but are on the samll side. Does anyone know of any special events going on int he city that weekend?

I would recommend a riverboat ride for one of your days.

HI,
The neighborhoods west of St. Louis would be Lafayette Square which has some beautifel victorian homes, like the "painted ladies" in S.F., it has a nice park in the middle where youcan have a carriage ride. sometimes there are concerts in this park.
The central west end is a must-do. It is a historical district. Great restaurants and shops.
The brewery sits in s. St.L. The area is called Soulard. There is a farmers market and some nice pubs, etc....
Unfortunately, you really need a car to go to any of these areas.
Our downtown is very spread out, not like Chicago for instance.
Even to go to the Museums you will need transportation. The zoo is one of the best in the world.Free and amazing really.
There actually is a wine country outside St. Louis..Augusta has some nice ones as well as Herman. Augusta is about 40 min away, Herman 1hr30min.
I would skip St. Genevieve, hardly any shops, bad restaurants, not much in the way of "french" culture as you may be led to believe.
St. Charles, old town, sits on the river and has cute shops, museums, and restuaurants, etc...only 20 min from downtown.
Check out st.louistoday.com for events in town.There ae great small jazz venues in University City and in Soulard.The "looP" in University city is fun too, good people watching.
Again, youcan walk around downtown for a couple of days but so much is not walking distance and a car is needed.
Have fun!!

Here's another vote for the Central West End. Try and nab a room a the Chase Park Plaza...it's a great area for walking around.

The St. Louis visitors and convention website is the best I have seen. Very comprehensive.

Do yourself a favor and see the film on Lewis and Clark at the ARch. I'm thinking of going back to St. Louis just to see it again.

Drive around Forest Park (very close to downtown, just 2-3 miles west), the older neighborhoods north and west of Forest Park, Clayton and LaDue.
St. Louis is the last "older feeling" city in the US as you travel east to west. It developed early because of the river trade. But other cities west, such as KC, Denver, SLC, the Texas cities, PHX, etc all lack the kind of neghborhoods you're thinking of in Boston, DC, etc.

They have some great Italian restaurants in the Italian section of town known as "The Hill". It is off of Kinghighway. Eat frozen custard at Ted Drews on Chippawa (Old route 66). Union Station is a unique place to visit. It was once the busiest train station in the U.S. It now has shops and a hotel, but the original building has been preserved. Very unique. Famous fountains across the street. The Muny Opera outdoor theatre and the Fox Theatre are worth visiting. The Fox is in kind of a bad neighborhood, but it is well policed during showtimes. There are lots of things to see and do in St. Louis.

Thank you all for the ideas..I will check out the websites you have mentioned. The central west end, soulard, the hill, etc. were the neighborhoods I was thinking of in my original post, but I didn't name them. Those are accessible by public transportation and/or cab. We also have no problem walking a couple of miles from point a to b - such as around Forest Park.

I was thinking of the car ONLY for places OUT of town..St. Charles or St. Genevieve, if we were to visit them.

The botanical garden is quite impressive. A japanese festival was there last labor day so there may be something going on this year. check it out.

You can reach various areas of st. Louis by light rail, Forest Park(a bit of a walk though), central westend,U. city....
Sometimes lafayette Square has a house tour w/ a little festival and antique show ovetr labor Day. I will try and check into and post a message. If you enjoy older neighborhoods you will like this one for sure.
I agree w/ a previous poster about The Chase Hotel....they may have specials...it is walking distance to many areas such as Forest park, central westend and more...They have a threate and great restaurants, etc...
I also would not go to St Gen. it lacks in historical homes, museums, or just anything to do. St. charles is fun for a half day or the wineries like the other poster said are fun. The one in Augusta gives tours, sits up on a bluff and is very scenic. You can buy cheese and crackers, etc.. and have a picnic.
When in the central west end go to the Cathedral. It rivals any in Europe. In fact it has the largest mosaic in the world. It is absolutley gorgeous!