Poorly marked entrances made locating the way to get into this attraction difficult. First we walked to one end of the arch. No, that was just an exit. Then we trudged to the other end of the arch. No, that was also an exit. We made a long walk to the entrance hidden in between the arches, at a good distance from there.
We were asked briefly if we were claustrophobic before buying our tickets to the ride to the top of the arch. Who knew we would be cramped in a tiny car seating 5 on top of several strangers? The windows at the top are small slits, not the large windows I had hoped for. Coming down it was 3 minutes instead of 4 on top of strangers. Didn't have time to view the interesting exhibits.
Went on a Sunday night when there was no lines. The museum is fantastic and the ride to the top is smoother than I remember with a bigger window to see the ride. Still small at the top but it was cool seeing St Louis at night. It’s one of those iconic things you just stand at look at, and there aren’t that many man-made items like that in my book.
This is a must-see while in St Louis. Buy tickets for early in the day to avoid crowds and long lines, and allow plenty of time to find your way in and get through security. I highly recommend watching the 30 minute movie on how the arch was built, just incredible and really makes you appreciate the ride to the top even more.
There is a full museum inside so you can wander around until time for your ride to the top. Also a small snack bar, which is convenient since there are no restaurants right next door.
The cable car ride takes 4 minutes to the top. They are small cars that cram five adults into a space for two lol. I would not recommend this if you are claustrophobic. There is a sample car in the museum that you can check out first if you want.
The view from the top was great! You can stay up there as long as you want and then catch any cable car going back down.
The cable cars are not for anyone with physical disabilities. There are lots of stairs in and out, and we had to stand for 20 minutes or so waiting our turns.
Enjoy!
We did one of the earliest tours and had plenty of time to go through the museum after we went up in the arch. It’s really an experience that everyone should do! The view is great.
We were lucky to have a sunny and clear day while visiting the Arch. Before entering the area where you line up to board the trams they have built a new very informative museum about the history of the state, the city and the arch. Lot of technical features and even some historic artifacts like a coach and an cabin on display. Preparing for the tram you are entertained by the guide and a digital movie on the wall. There are 8 carts with 5 seats. We boarded one cart by ourselves and did not want to think about having to share it with another 3 persons as it is cramped inside. We took the South tram up. After having enjoyed the views we were ready to go down but by that time the South tram did not work anymore and could not come back up. Now they had to start up the North tram which was not working because it was a quiet day. All in all with a small group of tourists we had to wait for over an hour in a drafty environment, without facilities before we could go down by North tram. Apart from apologies for the delay we did not get even a coffee voucher for the inconvenience. We found that a bit strange. Nevertheless go up there because the views are stunning.
