Start with the best sentence in family travel: the Saint Louis Zoo is free. In leafy Forest Park, 90 acres hold more than 16,000 animals of some 600 species — and a zoo born in spectacle, when the city bought the Smithsonian’s giant Flight Cage from the 1904 World’s Fair and built a world-class zoo around it.
Plan the greatest hits by little legs: Penguin & Puffin Coast, where birds porpoise past you at eye level; Sea Lion Sound’s underwater tunnel; the River’s Edge journey through Africa, Asia and South America; grizzlies at Centene Grizzly Ridge; and a spin on the Conservation Carousel between habitats. The Emerson Zooline Railroad loops the whole park when feet get tired — and keeper chats and sea lion shows run through the day.
Go early, pack snacks, and let the kids lead. It costs nothing but the day.
The Saint Louis Zoo is in Forest Park at 1 Government Drive. Hours and animal programs at stlzoo.org.
