The City Museum in St. Louis is… a vibe. I don’t really know how else to describe it, if I’m being honest. After all, how does one describe a place with an aquarium, multi-story slides, circus acts, Ferris wheel, countless tunnels and caves to explore and get lost in, AND… the world’s largest pencil. Seem random? Then you’re not alone. I guess we could generally refer to the City Museum as a children’s museum, but that just doesn’t do it justice. Today we’re going to explore all the weird (and frankly, awesome) things there are to do and see at the City Museum in St. Louis.
City Museum in St Louis
The City Museum honestly feels like a giant warehouse – and I think that’s on purpose. Some of the floors feel more “warehousey” (it’s a word, no need to look it up) than others, and some feel like they were taken right out of a fairytale book. And then one floor has a giant pair of tighty whities. Why they feel the need to include a massive pair of men’s underwear is beyond my comprehension. But that didn’t stop me from posing for a selfie with them just the same.
While there is something for everyone at the City Museum, it does present some challenges when you’re visiting with small children. While the never-ending tunnels and caves to explore are INCREDIBLE, they also make it INSANELY hard to keep an eye on little ones. Literally everywhere you turn there is a tunnel to be explored – and if your kids are at all like mine, they’ll take full advantage of them. For the most part, parents are able to follow kids through the tunnels, but there are some tight spaces. That was pretty much out of the question for me – as I was carrying a backpack AND I have a tendency to lean a little more on the claustrophobic side. Still, Brandon was able to follow around our littlest pretty well.
But despite our efforts to keep track of every kid at all times, we often lost one or more of the kids – which led to use eventually assigning each child a buddy. We designated a meeting place and a time and made sure each older kid had a way to see what time it was. It worked out pretty well, and we’ll be sure to utilize the same method next time we go. All that to say: the more adults you can have with you, the better.
In addition to an insane amount of tunnels (seriously – everywhere you turn there is a different tunnel) there is also a 5-story slide and an 8-story slide. We only managed to hit of the 5-story slide this time around, but you can bet the next time we head that way, we’ll ride the 8-story slide (assuming we can find it… this place is a MAZE).
And while we’re on the topic of “next time,” it seems like a good time to bring up the memberships. We opted to get a year pass (good for the entirety of 2025) because we found that it was only about double what the cost of one day admission would be. We don’t head up to St. Louis often, but we figured it wouldn’t be too difficult to get our money’s worth on these memberships. And besides, we knew from our visit here seven years ago that there was no way to fit EVERYTHING in during one visit. So memberships were the way to go for us.
While there are enough attractions to keep you busy INSIDE the museum, we haven’t even had the chance to explore the OUTSIDE yet. When we visited seven years ago it was winter, so the outside exhibits were off limits. This last time we went, it was pouring rain so, yet again, we didn’t get to experience the outside areas. Still, our *membership passes include the outside areas, so you can be sure we’ll be experiencing it at some point. (*Note that basic day passes do not include rooftop access – there is an extra fee associated with that.)
If you’re in the St. Louis area and you’re looking for something to do, the City Museum is a great (and weird) option. Whether you’re buying a single pass and making a day out of it, or you hope to experience it over and over again with a membership, you won’t be disappointed by this incredible place!
’til next time…
Ash
Things to know about visiting City Museum
Directions & Parking: City Museum is located at 750 North 16th Street in St. Louis. There is parking available on site for a $15 fee ($10 if you have a City Museum membership pass), but there are other paid lots in the area as well.
Cost: The best way to check the prices is to visit the memberships page on the City Museum website. Generally speaking, a daily ticket is about $20 (to add rooftop access, it’s another $8) per person for anyone age 3 and up. Annual memberships (which are just good for the calendar year) start at $34.99 per person for anyone age 3 and up, but again, check the website for specific costs and add-ons.
Hours: The hours are kind of all over the place, but the one consistency is that the City Museum always opens at 10:00am. You can visit the City Museum website to check the hours on any specific day throughout 2025, but the closing time ranges from 5:00pm to 10:00pm depending on the day and season.
Restrooms: There are bathrooms located on each floor of the museum (although they are pretty well hidden within the exhibits). The easiest bathroom to find is on the first floor, right across from the gift shop and ticket desk.
Food & Drink: There are restaurants located on almost every floor of the City Museum. They offer a variety of options (but be prepared to pay a good amount of money). Outside food and drink is not allowed besides plastic water bottles, but you can come and go if needs be AS LONG AS YOUR WRISTBAND IS STILL ON. If you parked at the City Museum paid parking, you may have to pay again to re-enter.
Other things to know:
This is a CASHLESS facility. Please plan accordingly.
Lockers are available for rental for $8-$12. If you don’t want to pay for a locker, you can keep things in your car and come and go as needed, provided you keep your wristband on. You can carry a bag with you, but it makes it challenging for going through the tunnels and some of the exhibits.
