Within the riverside park known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Gateway Arch is a soaring landmark above the city's skyline -the thin stainless steel arc reaches to twice the height of the Statue of Liberty at 630ft (192m). It symbolises the role of St Louis as the 'Gateway to the West' for the pioneers who journeyed along the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails towards the western frontier. It is also dedicated to the US president who was responsible for opening up the West. An observation deck that is reached by a tram system provides magnificent views over the city, the Mississippi and the spreading plains. Also on the site with the Arch is the Old Courthouse Museum that was the venue for the hearing of several momentous cases during the 19th century. At the base of the monument is the excellent Museum of Westward Expansion with exhibits covering exploration of the west and its honoured pioneers, including Lewis and Clark, the Plains Indians and buffalo soldiers. The Odyssey IMAX Theatre shows big-screen films about the region and its history.

The beautifully landscaped Forest Park is larger than New York's Central Park and its leafy grounds are filled with attractions. The acclaimed St Louis Art Museum has a magnificent international collection of art, covering works from prehistoric times to contemporary, and houses one of the most extensive collections of German Expressionism worldwide. The St Louis Science Center features life-size dinosaurs along with displays and interactive exhibits on the environment, aviation, technology and more. There is also an OMNIMAX Theatre and Planetarium. Thousands of animals roam the beautiful grounds of the St Louis Zoo, with indoor and outdoor cageless displays, and a Living World Exhibition features an animated robotic figure of Charles Darwin who summarises his theories on evolution. The Missouri History Museum documents life in St Louis with old photographs and displays on river life, black music and western expansion.

In the 1920s the neighbourhood of 18th and Vine was the heart of the jazz scene and today the museum complex houses the celebrated American Jazz Museum, the Blue Room Jazz Club and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The Jazz Museum honours jazz greats like Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker and visitors can experience the rich culture and history through dozens of exhibits and an interactive studio. The fascinating history of the Negro Leagues is documented in the Baseball Museum and exhibits, video presentations and memorabilia reveal stories about baseball stars like Buck and Paige.

The mission statement of Laumeier Sculpture Park - an open-air museum, covering 105 acres and containing over 70 outdoor sculptures dotted along a 1.4 mile (about 2.3km) walking trail - is to "expand the context of contemporary sculpture beyond the traditional confines of a museum; [and to] initiate a lifelong process of cultural awareness, to enrich lives and inspire creative thinking, by engaging people in experiences of sculpture and nature simultaneously." Visitors to the Laumeier Sculpture Park - which also boasts outdoor movies and an indoor gallery housed in an 1816 stone Tudor mansion - are unanimous in their approval of this goal, with more than 300,000 people visiting the park every year. Over and above being a wonderful picnic site, Laumeier Sculpture Park offers visitors a fresh and exciting way to engage with the plastic arts, and should not be missed.

The National World War I Museum in Kansas City is America's official museum dedicated to the Great War. Housed within the Liberty Memorial, its state-of-the-art facilities provide visitors with the chance to explore the nation's most extensive assembly of WWI artefacts, photography, art and narratives ever brought together in a single collection. The museum's mission is to inspire thought, dialogue and learning, in order to make the experiences of the World War I era meaningful and relevant to present and future generations. Visitors enter the museum across a glass bridge above a field of 9,000 poppies (each one representing 1,000 war combatant deaths), and inside, the museum boasts two theatres, exhibitions with period artefacts (including a tank, uniforms, guns, maps, and photographs of major forces) in cutting edge interactive displays, an enormous research centre and a library. In the face of a barrage of fascinating audio-visual stimulation, visitors to the National World War I Museum are sure to leave having had an unforgettable experience.