St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri, on the west bank of the Mississippi River, is America's classic Gateway City — the literal and figurative entry point to the American West marked by the Gateway Arch, Eero Saarinen's stainless steel monument of 1965 that rises 192 metres from the riverfront in one of the most elegant and unlikely large-scale sculptures in American history. The Gateway Arch National Park encompasses the Arch itself (a tram ride to the top gives extraordinary views of the Mississippi and the Illinois shore), the Museum of Westward Expansion beneath it (excellent Lewis and Clark and frontier history) and the Old Courthouse where Dred Scott sued for his freedom. The St. Louis Art Museum, in a Beaux-Arts building in Forest Park, is one of the finest in the country and free. The Missouri History Museum in Forest Park is also free and excellent. Forest Park — 1,300 acres of urban park that hosted the 1904 World's Fair — contains several museums, the St. Louis Zoo (free, one of America's finest), a golf course and the Muny outdoor amphitheatre. The Soulard neighbourhood (Creole cottages, the city's best Mardi Gras celebration, excellent farmers market) and the Central West End are the most characterful for food and bars. St. Louis-style pizza (Provel cheese, thin cracker crust cut in squares) is the city's polarising speciality. Ted Drewes Frozen Custard on Route 66 is excellent.