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City Museum

Kate W., M1

City Museum is truly a playground for kids and adults alike. Slide down a 10-story spiral slide, explore an indoor cave system built from old St. Louis relics (including a massive concrete whale), climb an outdoor jungle gym to an airplane that has been suspended over the street below by a masterful feat of welding … you really have to see it to believe it!

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Forest Park

Adam K., M1

If you think the WashU experience stops at being one of the best medical schools, think again — we have one of the largest urban parks as our backyard! Literally one block from most student apartments (including mine!), Forest Park has everything you need and more to keep calm and have fun, whether it’s running and biking trails that provide me a scenic tour while exercising or large open fields for sports like football, soccer, and ultimate frisbee with friends! On top of that, you’ll find a host of impressive and FREE cultural institutions within this forest of a park, my favorites being the Saint Louis Zoo, Saint Louis Science Center and McDonnell Planetarium, and The Muny — America’s largest outdoor musical theater!

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Gateway Arch

Sanji B., M1

The Gateway Arch is one of St. Louis’ most recognizable symbols. Though I think it’s important to reflect on the effects (both positive and negative) of westward expansion, which the monument celebrates, the Arch is a really cool place to visit. There are several activities, including a tram to the top, a riverboat cruise, and a movie showing about the making of the Arch and all its challenges, which I found particularly fascinating. It’s a must-see monument in St. Louis and a great place to take family/friends that are visiting.

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Missouri Botanical Garden

Amdiel C., M1

The Missouri Botanical Garden is easily one of my favorite places to visit — so much so that I got a membership to the gardens that paid for itself in my first three months. Open year-round, this expansive garden is relaxing and scenic. It is absolutely a beautiful place to go and destress by yourself, or hang out with friends, or even go on a date. They host a different event almost every month of the year, which brings the community in and showcases some amazing art and culture. If there is one place you have to go while in St. Louis, it is definitely the Botanical Garden. Regular admission price for adults is $14, with varying discounts, and levels of memberships.

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Missouri History Museum

Isabella G., M1

If you’ve just moved to St. Louis, I highly recommend adding the Missouri History Museum to the top of your list! Interesting factoid: It actually opened to the public in 1913 on the site of the entrance to the 1904 World’s Fair! With rotating history exhibits throughout the year, the museum covers events and time periods like the city’s baseball history, its innovations in aviation, life on the Mississippi River, the 1904 World’s Fair, the Civil Rights movement, and more! It also often showcases special, time-limited exhibits, like St. Louis Sound and the women’s suffrage movement, so definitely check out their events calendar to stay updated!

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Saint Louis Art Museum, Forest Park

Annabelle Y., M1

St. Louis has so many fun options if you enjoy art museums (or even museums in general) and, even better, all the art museums here offer ~free~ admission. The Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park has a really cool permanent collection, including paintings of local leaders by Kehinde Wiley (who did Obama’s official portrait!) and several works by Max Beckmann (for those interested in 20th century German expressionism). There’s also a rotating exhibit that changes every few months, so I’m really looking forward to “Painting on Stone: Science and the Sacred” in February.

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is a much smaller, but really charming art museum — it hosts one show in the entire museum at a time, focusing on a specific artist or theme. My friends and I had a great time exploring the art by Hannah Wilke, whose work touches on everything from female sexuality to personal battles with cancer, and the upcoming exhibit focusing on interactive art promises to be really interesting.

Finally, there’s also WashU’s own Kemper Art Museum, located on the Danforth Campus. The museum houses some really interesting portraiture, in mediums ranging from paintings to cut red paper (my personal favorite) and photography. We had the chance to explore some of the collection and consider how different pieces there speak to us as future medical professionals and as people confronting disease, and I’m excited to go back to see more.

As a bonus: the collection of mosaics in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis is breathtaking and is the world’s largest collection outside of Russia!

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Saint Louis Science Center

Isabella G., M1

I mean, I love the Saint Louis Science Center so much that I spent my birthday there! Not only is it free walk-in general admission and just a hop-skip-and-jump from campus in Forest Park, but it has over 700+ interactive exhibits and live star shows, covering everything from atoms and oceans to dinosaurs and dark matter! If you get a chance, I would highly recommend the McDonnell Planetarium, connected via the Skybridge — it’s an extra fee, but it is absolutely breathtaking! Fun fact: it’s the largest artificial sky in the Western Hemisphere! (Also, if you enjoy beer, the St. Louis Science Center also hosts the BeerFest, featuring over 40 breweries, 120 beers and access throughout the museum, usually in October!)

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Saint Louis Zoo

Savannah S., M1

The Saint Louis Zoo is my absolute favorite place in the city, and it’s absolutely free! It’s a great place for hanging with friends, power walking on your own, or even scenic studying (noise dampening headphones recommended). My top three animal sightings are a cheetah climbing a tree, a baby kangaroo still in the pouch, and an orangutan doing somersaults.

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St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station

Kate W., M1

The St. Louis Aquarium is one of the city’s newest attractions and is part of the overhaul of Union Station downtown (which also features several restaurants, a nifty hotel, a ferris wheel, and a ropes course). It’s not the largest aquarium, but since it’s brand new, it’s very well appointed! The aquarium is also home to Lord Stanley: a bright blue lobster who was caught as seafood in Massachusetts, but was gifted to St. Louis when the Blues beat the Bruins in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals in 2019! $25 for adult tickets, or varying membership packages!

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St. Louis Blues Hockey

Jon I., M1

The Blues are fun! Watching guys with knife shoes chase after vulcanized rubber is already a fun time, but the fan traditions in the Enterprise Center make it a blast! Start by ending the national anthem with “the home of the BLUES,” get way into the power-play dance, and sing Country Roads with nearly 20,000 people to end the night. Whether you’re already a hockey fan or about to become a Blues fan, Student Rush tickets will get you into the Enterprise Center for as low as $25. Play Gloria!

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St. Louis Cardinals Baseball

Jon I., M1

Your 11-time World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals are only a 15-minute MetroLink ride away and a classic way to spend a St. Louis evening. They’ve had a winning record 14 years in a row and don’t look like they’re slowing down any time soon. It’s almost impossible to go anywhere in St. Louis without seeing someone wearing Cardinals gear — the people here really love their baseball. So, grab your favorite ballpark snack and head down to a packed Busch Stadium to watch the Cardinals march back into the postseason!

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Steinberg Skating Rink

Kate W., M1

Steinberg Skating Rink is conveniently located in Forest Park, right across the street from the Medical Campus! It’s a sizable ice rink with skate rentals, snacks, and refreshments available. Lights are strung up across the rink and they have fire pits going, so I especially love skating there at night! They are in the process of making the rink a year-round amenity as well, and are looking into things like roller-blading for the warmer months! Tickets are $10 for entry and you can rent skates for $5.

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The Muny

Priscilla C., M1

The Muny is a beautiful amphitheater located in Forest Park. Their productions are phenomenal, and there are few better ways to spend a summer evening in St. Louis than watching one of their shows. While the paid seats give you a great experience, the venue also has 1,500 free seats in the back that make it really easy to head over any time to see a random show with friends! It was a great bonding experience for many of our classmates to see shows together at the beginning of our first year.

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Tower Grove Farmers’ Market

Alexis M., M1

The Tower Grove Farmers’ Market is about a 10-minute drive from the Medical Campus and is held Saturday mornings and Tuesday evenings in April-October. There are always plenty of vendors with fresh produce, plants, prepared foods, drinks, and craft items to buy. There are even yoga sessions on Saturday mornings. It is a great way to get outside, buy fresh food, and support local farmers and businesses!