Saint Louis Art Museum

A World's Fair palace, free every day

⏱ 2-3 hours👤 All agesFree

Forest Park hosted the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and the art museum is the fair's most important surviving building — a reminder of the moment Saint Louis showed itself to the world. Today the park is home to a cluster of free cultural institutions supported by a regional tax district, including the art museum, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Missouri History Museum and the Saint Louis Science Center, which makes the park one of the best free family destinations in the country. That tax district, created by voters in 1971, is the reason there is no ticket at the door.

The visit craft: enter through the main building's sculpture hall and head to the Beckmann galleries and the German Expressionists, then the Impressionist rooms, then the Egyptian galleries for the mummy. Cross into the East Building for contemporary art. Free loaner strollers are available at the welcome desks, and coat check sits in Taylor Hall and Sculpture Hall. Friday is the best day to visit, with evening hours and free special exhibitions. Afterward, walk down Art Hill to the Grand Basin, or pack a picnic for the slope with its city views. In winter, Art Hill is the city's favorite sledding hill. Between buildings, the Grace Taylor Broughton Sculpture Garden, open daily from early morning until 10 p.m., makes a calm detour.

Practicals and fit: One Fine Arts Drive in Forest Park, free daily, two to three hours, closed Mondays, with free lots and a paid garage. Pair it with the free Saint Louis Zoo across the park and a stay at the Chase Park Plaza at the park's edge. Without a car, the Skinker MetroLink station is about 0.8 miles away, roughly a fifteen-minute walk; the Forest Park Trolley links the park's attractions between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and MetroBus route 90 serves the museum the rest of the year.