St. Louis is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Missouri. It is a major Midwestern metropolis with a rich historical background with roots going back to 1764. Set up by French traders it slowly went on to become a part of Spanish expansion in the 18th century.

During the early part of the last century there was large scale immigration by people from Germany, Ireland and various countries from the European continent. This added to the European touch that the city is famous for. The city was also one of the major hubs for the ragtime and jazz musical movements and home to one of the most successful baseball teams the St Louis Cardinals in the Major league.

St. Louis is also known as the gateway to the west primarily because it played a major role in the westward expansion of the country. Tourists to this city have a lot more to see and experience. There are some must see places when such as - Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, The St Louis Cathedral, The Anheuser-Busch Brewery, and The Museum of Adam Mickiewicz, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis Zoo and the Grants Farm.

Some of the highly recommended places to stay while you visit St. Louis are - Sheraton St Louis, Renaissance St. Louis Grand, Crowne Plaza Downtown, and Hilton St Louis Airport. Some of the amenities you can expect include TV, data connection, complimentary breakfast and a shuttle service from the hotel to the airport. Make sure you also look out for the featured packages and deals for large group bookings and advance booking of their rooms.

St. Louis, the spectacular city of Missouri, is a great tourist destination. The city has a unique combination of old and new; old nostalgia and new growth and prosperity have blended here with each other and radiate great vibes for its guests. Versatility is the key tone of St. Louis and this versatile nature is reflected in its countless tourist attractions. A few top attractions are narrated here.

St. Louis top attractions, depending on the popularity, are mentioned with star rating. This rating is not for any classification but to help you to plan your tour.

Gateway arch is one of the best attractions of this city; in fact the Arch gate has become synonymous with this city image. An excellent creation of modern technology and a must see for the tourists; one word only can describe these tourist spots — mesmerizing.

There are other St. Louis tourist attractions which are extremely popular among tourist and locals.

City Museums: This spectacular museum is located in an old shoe factory. The best exhibits include giant aquarium, art activities, museums of oddities, architectural museum etc. City Museum is located at 701 North 15th Street, St. Louis.

City Museum

http://www.citymuseum.org

Grant's Farm: It is located at 10501 Gravois Road, St Louis; it is a beautiful place for popular outing. Children's zoo is one of the best exhibits from this place.

Grant's Farm

http://www.grantsfarm.com

Jefferson National Expansion: It is a world famous natural Park named after former president Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson National Expansion

http://www.nps.gov/jeff/

Missouri Botanical Garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, also known as the Shaw Garden after the businessman and botanist Henry Shaw. There is a gorgeous rose garden, a Japanese garden, a water-lily pool and a herbarium, and Climatron for tropical plants. This spectacular garden is located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard at St. Louis.

Missouri Botanical Garden

http://www.mobot.org

St. Louis Art Museum: It has exquisite collection of arts, starting from pre-historic age to modern days; the range includes Meissen porcelain, Chinese bronzes, American and European sculpture and pictures etc.

St. Louis Art Museum

http://www.slam.org

St. Louis walking tours offers a comprehensive touring guide to different parts of the city. There are some historical and essential points that you cannot afford to miss. With St. Louis Walking Tours you can visit to places like Downtown Renaissance, French Colonial Village, the Great Cyclone of 1896, Civil War St. Louis, and Haunting St. Louis & Tastes of St. Louis. The tours are customized for small private groups, school trips and public sign-up tours.

Saint Louis Walking Tours Guide

http://www.triunecommunications.com/walk/welcome.html

The second Saturday walking tours starts from London Tea Room. The tour covers the area of current Downtown Renaissance. Some of the essential points include: Christ Church Cathedral, The Campbell House Museum, Central Library Building, The St. Louis City Museum, and The Garment District.

Saint Louis Walking Tours

http://www.stlouiswalkingtours.com/

There is another tour starting from Starbucks and ends at Schnucks Culinaria. Some of the important points covered here are The Wainwright Building, Arcade & Paul Brown Buildings, Renaissance Hotel Complex, and Bell/ATT Complex.

The Sculpture Walk starts from Aloe Plaza and ends at City Garden. Some of the essential focal points include City Garden Sculpture Park, Winged Steeds of Soldiers Memorial, Statue of Pierre Laclede, and Civil Courts' Sphynxes.

Tourists have the option of scheduling or joining the tours in two ways. You can express your desire either through email or through phone.

There are personalized touring options available for walking tour of the downtown St. Louis. This will cost around $60 for three friends. For any details you can log into their website. All you need to do is to call up the operator at least a day before the tour.

With advance booking you can easily schedule your tour in the preferred date and time. There will be buses available for whole day sight seeing. There are several step-off tours and all-bus tours to choose from.

Info on Saint Louis walking tours

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2559530-lake_st_louis_tours-i

St. Louis helicopter tour allows you to have a spectacular air view. It is wonderful top view a city from the top of the word from the cloud where things are like tinsel toy town. St. Louis has the arrangement of this air view tour for the adventurous tourists by special helicopter tour.

St. Louis Helicopter tour

http://www.adventurehelicoptertours.com/

The famous Helicopter tour covers the followings:

Arch Tour covers the spectacular air view of Arch gateway.

Anheuser-Busch Tour covers the air view of beautiful Mississippi river in the background of St. Louis skyline and citadel downtown of St. Louis city.

Missouri Botanical Gardens Tour offers the chance to watch and enjoy the world famous Missouri Botanical Garden and then the top view of downtown St. Louis and nearby Busch Stadium and The historical Old Courthouse.

The helicopter tour of all over St. Louis is great and filled with lots of fun, thrill, and experience of new excitement of enjoying air view from a cozy helicopter.

Helicopter Tours in St. Louis

http://www.gatewayarch.com/Arch/info/act.heli.aspx

The arrangement of Helicopter carter is more exciting than a mere watch tour. You can see the spectacular sites as well as you can enjoy your business trip also like real estate survey, wedding party transfer, animal tracking or sensitive customer etc can be arranged beautifully by Helicopter tour.

It is always recommended to use 35mm lens while you will be on your much awaited helicopter tour. This range of lens simulates best the view field of human eye. As the lens become increasingly wide, the picture will be appearing further away.

The helicopter tour of St. Louis maintains 110-140mph with R-44 and 80-90mph speed with R-22 helicopter.

Helicopter tour of St. Louis

http://stlouishelicoptercharters.com/St._Louis_helicopter_charter_helicopter_tour_faq.htm

Gateway Helicopter Tours offers St. Louis air view for 7 days a week from 11am to sunset. The contact address of this air travel agency is 50 N Leonor K Sullivan Blvd. St. Louis.

Gateway Helicopter Tours

http://www.gatewayhelicoptertours.com/gateway_index.php

The best part about the city of St. Louis is that it is abundant with hot and attractive tourist destinations that will make for a good vacation for anyone. If you are in St. Louis then the following should be surely visited by you.

The Zoo in St Louis is a ten year old zoo of the city and it is very popular. The zoo has a variety of animals and birds. The reptiles here are very exotic and large in number. They hold a number of events and programs annually and you can be lucky to be a part of such events.

Attractions in Saint Louis

http://www.explorestlouis.com/visitors/see.asp?c=43&r=0&k=&kt=1&pt=1

Top 10 Attractions in St. Louis

http://www.explorestlouis.com/meetings/top10attractions.asp

The top 10 attractions of Saint Louis are:

1. Gateway Arch

2. Busch Stadium

3. St Louis Zoo

4. St Louis Art Museum

5. Missouri Botanical Garden

6. Grant's Farm

7. Missouri History Museum

8. St Louis Science Center

9. Anheuser Busch Brewery

10. Cathedral Basilica

The Botanical Gardens features a number of programs and events. They also conduct a lot of educational activities in these gardens. The Dino Quest and the Jurassic Dark are two of the very famous events of this place.

St. Louis Travel Guide

http://www.moon.com/destinations/st-louis/discover-st-louis

The Gateway Arch Riverboats is another very beautiful tourist place in the city of St. Louis. For those who enjoy sitting in peace and appreciating the beauty and marvel of nature should surely visit this place and make their trip to St. Louis a memorable one.

Saint Louis Hot and Attractive Places

http://www.stlouisqualityinn.com/St.-Louis-Local-Area-Attractions.shtml

For the lovers of Art there is no reason to be disappointed. The famous art museum here makes for a wonderful tourist attraction which will stay in your heart forever.