St. Louis by Train

my family took a trip to st louis, this weekend! we had sooo much fun! we stayed at the mellinium hotel...it was fantastic! you could throw a rock and hit the arch, which lends itself beautifully, to pics! the zoo was, hands down, the BEST zoo we've been to! if you like italian foodat all, you've got to go to the old spaghetti factory. it's beautiful, fantastic food, and cheap, too. ($50 for 4, incl. drinks!) i don't know about a rental co., as we drove. i hope someone else has that info for you. have a safe and fun trip.

St. Louis is a very public transportation friendly town. There are actually 2 stations - one in Kirkwood, which is in the burbs and Union Station which is down near the arch. They have an el train called the metrolink, which will take you near or to most places you would want to go (Forest Park area has the zoo, science center, etc). In addition to the metrolink, they have shuttle buses -- these are somehow connected, same system. I'm not sure how much it is now, but it used to be $3 to ride all day. Union Station is right by the arch and other downtown attractions. As far as hotels, check Sidestep.com - they beat the other guys almost everytime. Lots of stuff in St. Louis is free, which is just another added bonus.

My friend and I just went this spring. It was very fun and my daughter was only 6 months old and did great on the train. There is a Sheraton right by the train station and there is also a couple of hotels in Union Station which is in walking distance from where the train dropped us off. We just bought a day pass from the Metro rail and the bus to get every where. It's really easy to use and it will get you to forest park for the zoo. Their public transportation is great. We felt very safe on it as well. Hope it's fun...

I don't know if you already bought your train tickets, but I wanted to be sure you know about the Weekly Specials. On the Amtrak site (amtrak.com) you can click on the Hot Deals menu at the top, and then browse the Weekly Specials. The route from KC to St. Louis is almost always on there, but they don't always have the dates you might want. It's always worth a look. You have to buy the tickets fairly close to the travel dates.

You've had a few great responses already and I'm a little late, but my sister was just there 2 weeks ago and they stayed at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. There is a rental car service right there at the hotel if you wanted to go that route. I know they were able to walk to the arch and around downtown and she said they always felt safe. Good luck and have fun!!!