Forest Park & the Central West End

On our St. Louis New Year's Eve route it is stop 2 of 2 in a 3-day trip. Split evenly, that is about 2 days here, an estimate rather than a rule. The listed visit times for our 6 places add up to roughly 8 hours, before travel between them, so you will need to choose.

A slow Jan 1 of park walks, cathedral mosaics and burgers on the Delmar Loop. Standouts on our list: Saint Louis Art Museum (Free museum in the 1904 World's Fair Palace of Fine Art at the top of Art Hill); Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis (Early 1900s cathedral whose domes and chapels are covered in one of the world's largest mosaic collections); Central West End (Neighborhood of brick mansions and private streets, with cafes and bars along Euclid Avenue).

Our St. Louis New Year's Eve route is best Dec 30 – Jan 1. NASA POWER 2001–2025 averages for nearby Downtown St. Louis & the Arch put the warmest highs in July (31°C / 88°F), the coolest in January (4°C / 39°F) and the most rain in May (about 130 mm).

Start with Forest Park, Saint Louis Art Museum, Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis and Central West End. Our guide lists 6 places in all, from 3 sights, 1 outdoor spot and 2 places to eat.

Our picks: Blueberry Hill (Delmar Loop); Pappy's Smokehouse (Midtown). Check holiday hours and look at the jukebox and memorabilia cases (Blueberry Hill).

The closest destinations in our guides are Downtown St. Louis & the Arch (about 8 km / 5 mi), Springfield (about 308 km / 191 mi) and Branson (about 340 km / 212 mi). Distances are straight-line estimates, not road distances.