City Museum is hands down our favorite attraction in St. Louis because it combines art, engineering, imagination, and pure fun in a way we haven’t found anywhere else. Nearly every corner feels like someone asked, “What if we turned this into something you could climb through?” – and then actually built it. We love wandering past the giant whale sculpture, crawling through the twisting Enchanted Caves (especially when the organ is playing during Halloween), exploring the driftwood-like Treehouse, and climbing through the suspended airplanes, firetruck, and castle towers of MonstroCity. Built from salvaged materials and overflowing with creativity, City Museum isn’t just a place to look at art – it’s a place to climb, crawl, slide, and play right through it.

📚 Backstory: From Shoe Warehouse to Wonderland

• 🏭 In 1993, artists Bob Cassilly and Gail Soliwoda Cassilly purchased two buildings from the former International Shoe Company, including a massive 760,000-square-foot warehouse
• 🎨 Bob was known for outsized animal sculptures, while Gail was an accomplished sculptor and artist – together they saw the empty warehouse as a “million square feet of possibility”
• ♻️ Salvaged materials became the building blocks of City Museum, from marble walls and schoolroom doors to industrial scraps
• 🔩 Those finds were transformed in wonderfully unexpected ways – steam table pans became walls, tie rods became fences, and architectural fragments were mixed with machine-shop discards
• 👷 A talented group of welders, painters, stonemasons, mosaicists, and builders known as “The Crew” helped bring Bob’s ideas to life, and City Museum officially opened in 1997
• 🕯️ After Bob Cassilly’s passing in 2011, City Museum’s artists continued building on his vision, keeping the museum an ever-evolving work of art with new and reimagined experiences like the Artquarium and restored 1920s children’s carousel
• 🏙️ What began as an abandoned industrial space became one of St. Louis’ most unusual attractions – where the building itself is as much a work of art as anything inside it

📍 Location: Right in the Heart of Downtown

Located just west of Downtown St. Louis, City Museum is only minutes from Busch Stadium, Union Station, and The Gateway Arch, making it easy to combine with other downtown attractions. While most of the fun is indoors, don’t forget to save time for the rooftop and outdoor MonstroCity.

✨ Highlights: Get Lost in the Fun

• 🛝 Ride the famous 10-Story Spiral Slide
• 🕳️ Explore the twisting Enchanted Caves and hidden tunnels
• ✈️ Climb through MonstroCity, including real suspended airplanes
• 🎡 Ride the rooftop Ferris wheel
• 🚌 Snap a photo with the rooftop school bus hanging over the building
• 🐋 Discover the giant whale sculpture and countless hidden passageways
• 🐠 Explore the Artquarium, where live animals mingle with aquatic art
• 🎪 Watch Circus Harmony performances (select days)
• 🌀 Get lost in the Labyrinth, one of City Museum’s newest experiences

🎟️ Entry: Your Ticket to Climb Around

• Daily admission starts at $20 when purchased online (children 2 and under are free).
• If the Rooftop is open, it’s an additional $8 per person and includes the Ferris wheel, school bus, and skyline views.  
• If you think you’ll visit more than once, a Member Pass starts at $59.99 and pays for itself after 3 visits. Annual and Gold Members receive perks like discounts on parking, food, drinks, retail, and events, while Gold Members receive complimentary rooftop access whenever it’s open.  
• ⁠See current pricing: City Museum Tickets & Memberships

💡 Tips: Make the Most of Your Visit

• 👟 Wear comfortable clothes and closed-toe shoes you can easily climb in
• 🎒 Pack light – backpacks can get awkward in tight tunnels
• 🔦 Don’t skip the hidden tunnels – some of the best surprises are off the main paths
• 🩹 Consider knee pads if you plan on doing lots of crawling – City Museum even offers them for advance reservation
• 👻 Visit during Halloween season to hear the haunting organ music echo through the Enchanted Caves and amazing themed decor
• 🎡 Purchase the rooftop add-on if it’s open – the Ferris wheel and school bus are iconic experiences
• 🌦️ MonstroCity and the Rooftop are weather-dependent, so check what’s open before your visit, especially during rain, high winds, or winter weather.
• ⏰ Arrive early on weekends and school breaks to beat the crowds

🔄 Visits: Get Lost in the Best Way

Every trip to City Museum feels like a brand-new adventure. We always end up crawling through a tunnel we somehow missed before, discovering another hidden passage, or wondering who thought hanging a school bus off a rooftop was a great idea. It’s one of the few places where getting completely lost is exactly the point.

🐋 Dive Into the First Floor: Whales, Caves & More

City Museum is one giant game of “Where does this go?” Start on the first floor with the massive whale sculpture and aquariums, wander through the twisting wooden structures of the Treehouse, then disappear into the Enchanted Caves and slides. Along the way, expect tunnels, hidden passageways, unexpected staircases, and plenty of moments where you pop out somewhere completely different than planned.

🎥 YouTube: Whales, Caves & Slides at City Museum St. Louis: Will Scott Fit?, TikTok, Reel

🐋 Whale, Would You Look at That

One of City Museum’s most recognizable landmarks is the giant whale sculpture stretching across the first floor, and it’s always a favorite stop for Scott since whales are his favorite animal. The surrounding area is packed with tunnels, bridges, and hidden crawl spaces, including some of the tightest passages in the museum. We read in a Reddit post that this is one of the areas where people are most likely to get stuck, so there were definitely a few openings we looked at and decided Scott was better off admiring from the outside.

🕳️ Enchanted Caves: Rock Your World

The Enchanted Caves are one of City Museum’s most memorable spaces, filled with twisting tunnels, hand-sculpted caverns, and secret passageways. One of the coolest spots feels like crawling straight through the mouth of a giant dinosaur skull, complete with teeth surrounding the opening.

🪾 Treehouse: Branch Out

The Treehouse + Tunnels is much bigger than it first appears, with massive tree trunks intertwined with twisting metal cages, slides, stairways, and hidden passages. What started on the first floor has grown upward through multiple levels of City Museum and even burrows into tunnels below. We especially love the contrast between the gnarled, driftwood-like wood and all that winding industrial metal – it feels like climbing through a giant piece of living artwork. 

🛝 Multi-Story Slides: A Bumpy Ride Through History

Connected to the Enchanted Caves, City Museum’s spiral slides were built from the former International Shoe Company chutes that once moved shoes through the warehouse. The legendary 10-story slide has long been one of the museum’s most famous rides, although on our most recent visit the slide we rode seemed much shorter and City Museum now also references a 5-story spiral slide, so the full 10-story version may not always be available. Either way, these slides are definitely more historic than comfortable – fast, bumpy, and honestly a little painful – so brace yourself, keep your arms tucked in, and don’t expect a silky-smooth ride.

🛩️ MonstroCity: Climb Into the Sky

Weather permitting, step outside and the adventure gets even bigger in MonstroCity, a massive outdoor maze of bridges, tunnels, castle-like towers, a firetruck, and suspended airplanes you can actually climb through. Getting to the planes is half the fun, but some of the elevated metal cages and walkways can feel a little shaky underfoot, so this definitely isn’t the area for anyone who’s afraid of heights or easily rattled. It feels equal parts playground, sculpture, and obstacle course – and it’s easily one of our favorite parts of City Museum.

🎥 YouTube: Airplanes, Castles & a Fire Truck at MonstroCity, TikTok, Reel

🎪 Upper Floor Oddities: Imagination Runs Wild

The upper floors show off a different side of City Museum, trading some of the nonstop climbing for an even stranger mix of art, animals, performance, play, history, and pure oddity. You’ll find the sweeping ramps of Skateless Park, Toddler Town, Circus Harmony, the Artquarium, the massive Vault Room, and the wonderfully bizarre Beatnik Bob’s, along with several distinctive event spaces tucked throughout the building. Each floor feels completely different, which is part of the fun – you can go from watching acrobats to exploring an aquarium, admiring giant undies, or standing beside a massive bank vault without ever leaving the museum.

🎥 YouTube: 🤪 Weird & Wonderful Upper Floors at City Museum St. Louis

✏️ Skateless Park: All Ramp, No Board

It looks like a skate park, but no board is required. Skateless Park mixes ramps, bowls, climbable obstacles, and one of the area’s quirkiest features – a giant pencil that fits perfectly with City Museum’s anything-goes style. You’ll also find spinning, gyro chairs that look fun but can get surprisingly wild. One actually tipped over on me and landed hard enough to make me bleed and leave a massive bruise on my elbow, so this is one spot where I’d definitely use a little extra caution.

🚂 Toddler Town: Little Climbers Welcome

Even the youngest adventurers have a place to explore in Toddler Town, with kid-sized climbing structures, tunnels, and play areas designed for smaller explorers. Highlights include the whimsical Toddler Town Castle, a carousel, and a fun dinosaur-themed area that gives little ones plenty to discover without tackling the museum’s bigger, more intense climbing challenges.

🎭 Beatnik Bob’s: Keep St. Louis Weird

If you’re looking for something a little more unique, don’t miss Beatnik Bob’s on the third floor, where City Museum’s wonderfully weird personality is on full display. This quirky space mixes retro memorabilia, pinball machines, unusual artwork, and plenty of oddities worth stopping to explore. And be sure to check out the wall featuring the famously giant pair of undies – because at City Museum, even the underwear has to be oversized. 😂

🎪 Circus & Oddities: Expect the Unexpected

Depending on when you visit, City Museum’s performance spaces can feature everything from Circus Harmony acrobatics and circus acts to much stranger variety shows. When we went during the fall, we caught Doc Terminus’ Odditorium, which leaned heavily into fire acts, sword swallowing, and other wonderfully random stunts. It felt perfectly at home in City Museum – a little weird, a little wild, and definitely memorable.

🐠 Artquarium: Where Art Meets the Aquarium

The Artquarium puts a very City Museum spin on an aquarium, mixing live animals with colorful art and interactive exhibits. Meet creatures like axolotls and chameleons, dip your hands into the Doctor Fish exhibit, and explore whimsical aquatic sculptures – including another life-sized whale you can actually slide through. It’s a fun change of pace from all the climbing and crawling while still keeping things wonderfully weird.

🔐 Vault Room: Crack Into the Past

The Vault Room brings another piece of St. Louis history into City Museum with enormous salvaged bank vault doors and walls lined with around 1,000 original safety-deposit boxes from the former First National Bank downtown. You can walk right through the massive vault and continue into the wonderfully disorienting Hall of Mirrors nearby. The large room is frequently closed for private events.

🚌 Rooftop: Creativity Reaches New Heights

If weather permits and the rooftop is open, it’s absolutely worth the extra admission. High above St. Louis, you’ll find some of City Museum’s most iconic creations, including the school bus hanging over the edge and rooftop Ferris wheel, all surrounded by fantastic downtown views.

🎡 Ferris Wheel: Wheel-y Great Views

A Ferris wheel on top of a building? Only at City Museum. Take a spin high above downtown for sweeping skyline views, a fun look at the rooftop’s giant praying mantis, and a welcome chance to rest your legs before diving back into the climbing.

🚌 School Bus: The Coolest Bus Stop in Town

Perched over the edge of the roof, the famous school bus looks like it’s about to drive straight into the sky. It’s easily one of City Museum’s best photo spots.

🍕 Food: Refuel for Round Two

City Museum has food and drinks scattered throughout the building, so you’re never too far from a snack break. Lizard Lounge on the mezzanine serves pizza, sandwiches, salads, desserts, and Dippin’ Dots for a quick family meal. The Vault & Tenders within the Vault Room serves standard American food and frozen treats, while Baby Elephant Café on the third floor offers classic circus snacks like popcorn, cotton candy, and soft serve. Need a caffeine boost? The Overflow on the fourth floor has coffee, snacks, and adult beverages, and the Rooftop Café serves hot dogs, pretzels, and local 4 Hands beer. The Boone’s Cabin Inn is set in a 19th-century cabin on the first level and has a full bar; Beatnik Bob’s on the third floor also serves adult beverages along with Mexican food like quesadillas, tacos, and nachos. The concessions are a little pricey so plan accordingly.

🛍️ Gift Shop: Take the Fun Home

Don’t rush out without browsing the City Museum gift shop near the exit. It’s packed with City Museum apparel, quirky souvenirs, toys, and locally inspired gifts that make fun keepsakes. There’s also an ARTiFacts Gift Shop on the 3rd floor that you can browse for a break between activities.

🎃 Halloween: Creep, Crawl & Explore

City Museum feels like it was practically built for Halloween, when its already wonderfully strange spaces get an extra layer of spooky fun. Giant spiders and webs, glowing pumpkins, skeletons, and creepy decorations pop up throughout the museum. Our favorite seasonal touch is Organist’s Awakening (Short), where a Dracula-dressed organist plays inside the Enchanted Caves. Hearing the eerie music echo through the dark tunnels as you crawl and climb makes an already surreal space feel even more haunting.