Road Trip with Kids: Destination - St. Louis, Missouri

A 4-Day Family Getaway on a Budget

As I was planning our summer adventures earlier this season, I realized it had been too long since we’ve taken the kids on a legit overnight trip…mostly because I find traveling with my children more exhausting than rewarding. #sorrynotsorry! I love exploring new places and experiencing them alongside my children, but the logistics of travel can be overwhelming: Hotel living. Restaurant dining. A lack of routine and schedule. It’s easier, quite frankly, to stay home.

But not nearly as fun. And you know me… 😉 So over the 4th of July holiday weekend, I packed all of our worldly possessions into my mommy-mobile and navigated a long weekend of family fun for the four of us.

I think all four of us were surprised at exactly how much fun we had on our mini-vacation. Keep reading for the details of where, why, and how to road trip with your kids on a budget without losing your cool.

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Why St. Louis

The thing about road-tripping with kids is the near-constant potty stops and the inevitable “are we there yet?” Recently Sawyer asked me that WHILE WE WERE STILL IN OUR DRIVEWAY — in anticipation of our 12-minute commute to daycare. So that may help you to understand why my threshold for our first-ever road trip was a maximum of 5 hours in the car.

That radius in the Midwest opens up quite a few options but none as family-friendly as St. Louis. There are so many attractions to explore with your kids and I was surprised at how inexpensive the admission to many were when compared to Chicago museum entry prices. Some, like the amazing Saint Louis Zoo and also Grant’s Farm, are free (just pay to park) — and Grant’s Farm even throws in two free beers for every adult.

If St. Louis is a reasonable drive from your home, I highly recommend a long weekend there. You don’t need longer than 4 or 5 days (including drive time), which I find just the right amount of time to travel with kids before everyone starts to get homesick and/or out of sorts.

Where to Stay

I originally planned to stay in downtown St. Louis proper, close to the Arch, and I also looked at hotels in Union Station. Then a friend who grew up in St. Louis set me straight: She told me to look in the Forest Park neighborhood for a family-friendly hotel that would offer convenient access to our planned activities, as well as free on-site parking. (Daily parking at most downtown hotels can add as much as $30 a day to the hotel rate.)

My requirements for a hotel with kids are:

Free WiFi (necessary for kids and parents)
Free hot breakfast (kids and parents can’t live on Nutrigrain bars alone)
Indoor pool (can’t depend on the weather to swim outside)
Fitness center (can’t depend on the neighborhood sight unseen for this mama to run outside)
A “suite” or kitchenette with a minimum of a microwave and fridge (can’t depend on the kids to actually eat the hot breakfast offered by the hotel)

We stayed at the Home2Suites Forest Park St. Louis. Their indoor pool was small but uncrowded, their breakfast spread was filled with options, and their suite setup included a microwave, fridge/freezer, dishwasher, toaster, and dishes. Perfect for my family who travels with a lot of their own food.

My only hesitation about the hotel was that it’s not a true suite in the sense of two rooms; only a curtain separates the beds from the sitting area — meaning that when the kids went to bed at 8:30 PM, #DoneWithFun Daddy and I were stuck in the dark quiet too. Honestly, when traveling with kids and packing so many adventures into such a short time, it wasn’t such a bad thing to go to bed early with the kids.

Other hotel options I considered: Hampton Inn & Suites Forest Park in St. Louis; Homewood Suites by Hilton St. Louis – Galleria; Holiday Inn St. Louis – Forest Park; and Drury Inn & Suites St. Louis Forest Park.

Total hotel cost: $576 ($165/night plus taxes)

What to Do: The Itinerary

When planning our trip, I conceptualized our schedule as a morning activity and an afternoon activity. My kids are early risers, so I knew we’d be up and out early at our first destination. We could spend all morning there, then return to the hotel as home base for lunch and nap. Nap ended up being a pipe dream, but having an afternoon rest worked well so that we could re-energize and go on to our afternoon activity.

If you’re visiting STL in the summer, know that it’s going to be hot and humid, so plan to do your outdoor activities early in the morning, before the hottest hours of the day. Then spend those hours inside eating lunch, napping, swimming in the hotel pool, or exploring one of the indoor destinations. I arranged our afternoon activities based on which places had later evening hours on the weekends (zoo, City Museum, caverns) in case we were having such a good time that we wanted to stay until bedtime.

Remember the attention span of the kids you’re traveling with: No matter how much fun we are having, my boys and I can usually “do” a destination in about three hours tops. This held true for all of our expeditions except the zoo, which we stretched out into nearly 4.5 hours — and then we were so tired afterward, we decided to skip the children’s museum on this trip.

Here’s exactly what we did and how we did it:

Day 1:

Morning: Drive 4.5 hours, McDonald’s breakfast stop and a quick bathroom stop ($50 for gas and breakfast)

The drive went shockingly well. The kids had fun playing Road Trip Bingo, listened to an audio book, colored and played with toys on their lap desks (these were seriously life savers for snacks, toys, coloring, everything!), and then blissfully and quietly watched shows on the iPad for the last hour of the trip. We stopped 2 times, once at McDonald’s for breakfast and once at a rest stop, and I’m happy to report there were zero accidents and/or close calls.

Picnic lunch at Forest Park’s Turtle Playground (Free!)

We arrived in St. Louis and drove directly to Forest Park to visit the Turtle Playground — a natural park with giant turtle sculptures to climb on. I envisioned a picnic lunch and a chance for the boys to stretch their legs before we got back in the car and traveled the final hour to Meramec Caverns. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate and we were only at the park about 10 minutes before it started to rain.

Afternoon at Meramec Caverns – 1 hour drive from St. Louis ($60 admission fees; $30 Culver’s dinner)

Back into the car we went for the last hour drive south to Meramec Caverns. Known as “America’s Cave,” it was touristy but still beautiful, and fully family-friendly. The tour is about an hour and 20 minutes long — right at the limit for my kids’ attention spans but they made it through without whining or shenanigans. The tales of the outlaw Jesse James helped. Plus, it was a lovely 60 degrees inside – a welcome change from the nearly 100 degree temperature outside! The cave was Easton’s favorite part of the trip, and I’m glad we decided to push ourselves for the long first day to include it.

Day 1 – Total cost: $140

Day 2:

Morning at Grant’s Farm ($15 parking; $18 camel ride; $7 kiddie pack with slushie and carousel ride)

The two best things about Grant’s Farm: the tram ride that transports you from the entrance to the actual farm grounds, and the free beer in the Biergarten for adults. The tram ride shows you the best views of the property and takes you up close and personal with the animals; it’s much more entertaining than seeing the other animals in their enclosures once you’re at the farm. Then the Biergarten, where the Budweiser Clydesdale horses reside, offers two free beers for all adults of drinking age. Beer at 10:30 AM when it’s already 95 degrees out? Yes please, and thank you.

There are lots of add-ons at Grant’s Farm, but the $7 kiddie pack is a great deal: Your child gets a snow cone, a ride on the carousel, and the opportunity to bottle feed a goat. I also insisted on riding the camel with my kids. It was actually scarier than I anticipated — we were realllllly high off the ground and I was pretty convinced Sawyer or Easton were going to topple right off the bumpy ride. Would I ride a camel ever again? No. But for $6 per person, it was worth the one-time experience.

Lunch at Fitz’s – planned but not executed

Fitz’s Root Beer is a landmark St. Louis soda factory and restaurant, known for its many flavors of craft soda. I bribed Easton into acquiescing to lunch here by telling him he could have all the flavors of “Fanta” he wanted. Unfortunately, even when we arrived on an off hour (2:30 PM on a Saturday), there was an hour-long wait, so we decided it wasn’t in the cards. Our kids were already hot, tired, and sweaty from their morning at Grant’s Farm. Maybe on our next trip!

Afternoon at City Museum ($64 for admission for 4; $9 for water and snack; $18 McDonald’s dinner afterward)

The City Museum is one of those places so unique that you almost can’t describe it. It’s a multi-level found-objects playground of things to explore for adults and kids of all ages. There’s no maps — you just wander and get lost until you find yourself again. I was honestly terrified that I was going to lose the boys there — permanently! It could happen. There’s a 10-story slide; an outdoor climbing maze with amazing views of the city; a whole series of black-lit tunnels; and all kinds of other fascinations to explore. Don’t miss this destination … I guarantee your mind will be boggled. And you’ll probably be sweating with sore knees by the time you leave.

Total cost – Day 2: $131

Day 3:

Morning at Saint Louis Zoo ($15 parking; $40 Zooline Railroad pass for 5 people)

The Saint Louis Zoo has free admission and boasts elephants among many other exhibits, attractions, and natural beauty. Parking in the dedicated Zoo lot is $15 and worth the expense unless you arrive right when it opens at 8 AM and find street parking. (On a holiday weekend, that was a no-go, and I didn’t want to tack on extra walking.) There’s a ton to see at the zoo, so plan on a long day that will get your 10,000 steps in and then some.

Lunch at St. Louis Zoo (Free – brought our own)

When we were hitting the wall from heat and humidity, we broke out the snacks and hopped on the Zooline Railroad as a way to get out of the sun and see the zoo while sitting down. If I did it again, I’d absolutely skip this part. You don’t see anything particularly interesting on the trip around, and the lines to get on the train can be very long. On the other hand, it is an unlimited ride pass, so if you’re going to do it, buy it at the beginning of your visit and use it to travel from area to area to reduce walking. (Again, just be prepared to wait in line to do so.) Bottom line: Not worth the $8 per person ticket price, but I chalked this one up as live and learn. We all got to cool down at least.

Afternoon at Magic House Children’s Museum ($48 for 4 people)

This was our planned activity, but we were so hot and tired from the zoo, #DoneWithFun Daddy and I made an executive decision to skip the children’s museum. We went back to the hotel, ate lunch there, napped, and swam in the hotel pool. Part of parenting is knowing our limits, and we were reaching it by 2 PM on Day 3 of our vacation. The boys were just as happy to have the hotel pool to themselves as they would have been at the children’s museum — and it saved us $48.

Dessert at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard ($12)

Ted Drewes is a St. Louis institution for frozen custard — their famed “concretes” are so thick, you can allegedly hold the cup upside without it plopping out. (I wasn’t willing to risk mine!) Plan to wait in line at least 10 minutes on a busy weekend evening. Parking in the lot is limited but turnover is high, so we lucked into a spot. There are very few tables, so most people “tailgate” while enjoying their frozen treats.

Total cost – Day 3: $115

Day 4:

Morning at St. Louis Arch (Free – we chose not to go up in the Arch, which would have cost $60 for 4 people)

After sitting inside the Arch’s “egg” car for a photo op, we all agreed we felt a little claustrophobic and didn’t need to make the trip to the top of the Arch. We walked around the outside of the Arch instead, stared up into the sky, and explored the free Gateway Museum instead – a perfect hourlong history lesson with lots of interactivities for the kids.

Lunch and Afternoon: Drive 4.5 hours home (2 bathroom stops) ($37 gas fill-up and snacks)

Total cost: $37

Trip Bottom Line: $999

We did it – a 4-day trip for 4 for under $1,000! A few caveats: Our family was able to save money on food because the kids are such picky eaters, we are used to bringing our own wherever we go. Breakfast was included with our hotel room rate, and we ate all of our lunches with food packed from home.

Dinners were fast-casual and not my favorite, so Tim and I were able to splurge on one grown-up dinner out because I had a cousin in STL who was willing to babysit the kids. I didn’t include this expense in my bottom line because it wouldn’t ordinarily happen on a vacation. But while additional meals out could tack on a couple hundred dollars to the budget, it’s still completely reasonable to set a $1,500 budget for this trip and not feel deprived in any way.

So that’s all the nitty-gritty of making the most of your time in St. Louis with your kids for a grand! In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing my tips and photos for each of the St. Louis attractions, so stay tuned for those Family Field Trip posts.

Do you enjoy travel with kids? What’s your best tip for success? Share in the comments below or on social media with #NeverDoneWithFun! Keep following along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for more ideas and inspiration for finding fun amid the chaos of #momlife.