St. Louis, Missouri is probably one of my favorite cities in the Midwest. St. Louis offers so many experiences, food, and fun. When traveling and exploring money can add up between attractions, food, lodging and more. Forest Park is a huge urban park and everything within the park is free. Planning a trip to St. Louis, Missouri? Plan a trip of free fun at Forest Park.
Forest Park is a giant park filled with streams, lakes, museums, and more. Forest Park is 1,300 acres which is almost double then Central Park located in New York City. Central Park comes in at 842 acres.
Forest Park holds five cultural institutions including the Missouri History Museum, The Muny, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Science Center, and Saint Louis Zoo. Admission into all five of these institutions is free.
Planning to spend the day traveling through Forest Park? The park offers the Forest Park Explorer which you can take from each institution. It cost $2/$1 fare Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday are free! Take a look at the details and plan your trip through Forest Park by using their interactive map.
Our family has had the opportunity to visit the Saint Louis Science Center and the Saint Louis Zoo.
Saint Louis Zoo
The Saint Louis Zoo offers about 17,000 animals and you can easily spend an entire day viewing all of them!
Admission to the zoo is free but you can pay a small fee for additional attractions such as The Sea Lion Show, Children’s Zoo, Conservation Carousel and more. If you are planning to participate in multiple attractions the Adventure Pass is the best value.
BONUS: If you are a member of a reciprocal AZA-accredited zoo (Blank Park Zoo, Des Moines families) you can receive 50% off the Adventure Pass.
Saint Louis Science Center
The Saint Louis Science Center is pretty amazing! I still cannot get over how much they offer and it is all free. They had some great exhibits including a whole area of current and old games, a dinosaur dig, a NASA exhibit, and so much more.
The kids favorite was the bridge that went over the busy highway in St. Louis. This bridge connected the two parts of the science center. On the bridge, they had speed scanners so the children could point and see how fast the cars were driving below.
Forest Park offers many free fun options for the family. Whether you visit one of the five institutions, have a picnic in the park or bike on the trails there is something for everyone. Forest Park is the perfect option to experience St. Louis, Missouri for free.
