Where Can You Go For Free?

(25 free things to do in St Louis, Missouri)

In most cities, not far. But St. Louis is not most cities. Here you'll find more than 60 interesting things for nothing. We kid you not. You can have fun for days here and spend nothing—nada, zip, zero.

And most of the places you can visit without spending a cent aren't lightweight freebies. They are some of the best attractions in town. Here's a sampling of what you can do for free in St. Louis:

• Visit the world. The world-famous Saint Louis Zoo (www.stlzoo.org) has more than 6,000 exotic animals, many of them rare and endangered, from the major continents and habitats of the world. Wander through the Jungle of the Apes and the River’s Edge – the zoo’s 10-acre exhibit – for its elephants, cheetahs, mongooses and hyenas. The area includes a waterfall, streams and hills. The coolest place in town is the new Penguin & Puffin Coast habitat and The Fragile Forest home of the great apes. In the Zoo’s Living World center, hands-on, interactive exhibits teach lessons on man’s relationship to the animal world and creepy, crawly critters and beautiful butterflies are awesome inhabitants of the Monsanto Insectarium.

• Feed your soul. The Saint Louis Art Museum (www.slam.org), the first public-funded art museum in the country, has an extensive collection of 30,000 objects from ancient to contemporary – the museum's pre-Columbian and German Expressionist collections are considered among the best in the world – and you can see it all for free. Then visit Laumeier Sculpture Park (www.laumeier.com) for a free taste of art of another kind. A free 96-acre sculpture park with an outdoor sculpture garden, a museum of art and hiking trails, Laumeier features a fascinating, sometimes whimsical, collection of permanent and visiting modern sculptures. There are free museums located within the Grand Center arts and entertainment district at the following venues: The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts (www.pulitzerarts.org), open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays, highlights contemporary art and architecture; the adjacent Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (www.contemporarystl.org) is free to visitors each Thursday and neighboring Saint Louis University Museum of Art (http://sluma.slu.edu) has complimentary admission.

• Experience the rivers. Plan time to relax and watch the barges as they make their way up and down the Mississippi, the country's longest river. Pretend you're Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn and try skipping pebbles across the water as you meander the cobblestone shoreline of the St. Louis Riverfront. Then learn all about the Mighty Mississippi at the brand new, National Great Rivers Museum (www.mvs.usace.army.mil/rivers/ngrm.html) located at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam in nearby Alton, Il. View the breathtaking coming together of America’s two great rivers – the Mississippi and Missouri – at Confluence State Park.

• Touch history. St. Louis is full of history – and much of it is free. For starters, visit the Old Courthouse (www.nps.gov/jeff/och.htm) downtown where the Dred Scott slavery trial was held. If your timing is right, you might be able to participate in a courtroom trial reenactment there. Then spend a day at the Missouri History Museum (www.mohistory.org) in Forest Park where a brand new exhibit gives visitors a glimpse at the storied 1904 World's Fair. And, explore the many sites where legendary travelers Lewis & Clark began their historic journey of discovery.

• Tackle a mystery for free. One of the biggest mysteries of all time is detailed at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (www.cahokiamounds.com) just minutes from downtown St. Louis. Here the remnants of a prehistoric group of people living and working in the complex community known as the Land of the Sun can be viewed as the story of this Indian civilization which vanished after 1300 AD is told. Then climb the 100-foot tall Monks Mound, largest prehistoric earthen structure in the New World, for some great views of the St. Louis skyline.

• Something exciting is always going on at the Saint Louis Science Center (www.slsc.org). In hands-on exhibits, visitors can explore the gene scene and cast their vote on the ethical issues of genetic engineering; build a replica of the Gateway Arch; see what it’s like to live, work and play on the International Boeing Space Station; clock the speed of cars zooming beneath their feet from the enclosed bridge spanning I-64 with a radar gun and lots more.

• Spend a free day in the "country." Grant's Farm (www.grantsfarm.com), the former homestead of President Ulysses S. Grant, is now a 281-acre wildlife preserve with more than a 1,000 animals from six continents. It is also home to one of the Budweiser Clydesdale breeding and training facilities. Visitors can have an up-close view of Grant's cabin "Hardscrabble," and take a tram ride through the Deer Park. There's also a petting zoo and an area where you can feed the goats. Grant's Farm is the ancestral home of the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch brewery fame. Across the road, the free Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site (www.nps.gov/ulsg) is another of Grant's St. Louis homes – historic White Haven.

• Walk on the retro side. Even if you're not old enough to remember the legendary Route 66 or its famous T.V. show, you'll love St. Louis's newest state park—Route 66 State Park (www.mostateparks.com/route66.htm). There are miles of trails for walking and biking and a free museum with memorabilia from the days when Route 66 was America's Main Street. Then experience the historic Old Chain of Rocks Bridge (www.trailnet.org). Once Route 66's link between Illinois and Missouri, the bridge is now America's longest pedestrian bridge. It's open daily to hikers and bikers.

• See how they brew it! St. Louis has long been famous for its beer, and you can see how it's made with a free tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery (www.budweisertours.com). The tour includes the historic Brewhouse, the Budweiser Clydesdale stables, the lager cellar and the packaging plant. Also included is a stop at the Hospitality Room for a free sample. Complimentary tours on a smaller but no-less-interesting scale are served up at the new Schlafly Bottleworks (www.schlafly.com), a microbrewery tour that features a fascinating video about St. Louis' beer-brewing history and beer manufacturing and advertising memorabilia.

• Make like a Victorian. Travel through Tower Grove Park and enjoy the gazebos statues and fountains of this Victorian walking park created in 1868 by Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw.

• Free Time. While there’s no general admission charged at Saint Louis’ Zoo, Art Museum, Science Center and Missouri History museum, there are days or times when fees to special exhibits at these institutions are waived. Daily from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. at the Saint Louis Zoo, visitors can enter the special Children’s Zoo for free. Fees for special exhibits at the Missouri History Museum are waived every Tuesday when museum hours expand to 8:00 p.m. Each Friday the Saint Louis Art Museum hours are extended to 9:00 p.m. when special exhibits are open at no cost courtesy of a grant by the Ford Motor Company. Free, one-hour docent led tours of the collection are offered Tuesday through Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum, waives its admission charge on the third Friday evening of each month from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. thanks to Target stores. A grant from to The Magic House from the Anheuser-Busch Companies provides free Summertime Tuesday Nights, also from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. from June through October (excluding July 4). Free admission is for families (two adults and four of their own children).

• Free Theatre. Late spring brings free theatre to Forest Park during the annual Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis and 1500 free seats are available on a first come, first serve basis to each performance at The Muny during its mid-June through mid-August season of Broadway revival musical entertainment.