Gateway Arch, Saint Louis

Gateway Arch

The Gateway Arch, the city's signature icon, is the first thing that comes to mind about St. Louis. Rising the equivalent of 42 stories above ground, the Arch is an architectural marvel surrounded by a riverfront park and on top of an underground museum. The ride to the top requires piling into a compact pod that I believe has five seats. Each pod elevator travels in a stairstep motion within the curve of the hollow structure. At the top, the view is spectacular. To the west the skyline of downtown St. Louis rises from the urban landscape below. To the east, the Mississippi River fronts your view of the rural landscape of western Illinois.

The group getting their photo taken give an idea of how big the structure is.
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You can ride up the arch and look out over the city. Advance reservations can be made at http://www.stlouisarch.com%L

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A must do if visiting St. Louis. Yes, you can travel by elevator (more like a pod) to the top of the Arch. Excellent views of the Mississippi and the entire St. Louis area. If you visit there in the summer months, make sure you have reservations. People can be turned down or have a long wait if you don't have them.

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•One-hour sightseeing cruises: $13 for adults and youth; $7 for children
•Skyline Dinner cruises: $40 for adults and youth for standard options; $50 for adults and youth for upgraded option, $20 for children's option.
•Lock-N-Dam cruises: $44 for adults, youth, and children
•Oktoberfest cruises: $35 for adults and youth; $15 for children
•Kimmswick cruises: $60.00 for adults, youth and children

(the informacion above is from the web, cuase its the most up to date)

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It’s Saint Louis landmark, visible from almost everywhere. Alerted by some tips I didn’t spend the fortune that costs going up, and to be honest, didn’t see anyone looking for the way up (what a contrast with Eifell tower, for instance).

The park is pleasant and the look of town from there very photogenic.

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The arch can be rode to the top and the view of the city is the best. A museum at the bottom of the arch grounds is also a thing that you should go into. They have the history of how the arch was built and a film on the construction process that lasts 30 minutes for $5. Very good show; It is interesting showing the building of the arch.
The arch was completed in 1965 and the trams take over 1 million visitors to the top annually. The view up there at 630 feet allows you to see nearly all of the city for 10 miles panorama. The base at bottom is 54 feet. The trams are old but still functioning. The weight is 17,246 pounds, and the measly cost of $13 million has drawn in much more in tourism dollars, which was the point. IN 1935, the idea was formed. Delays to construct the arch led to finally choosing a design done by Eero Saarinen in 1947, but then it took until 1963 to start construction that lasted 2 year to complete. The design was sleek, but a real problem to build and hold steady form collapsing. The outer facing is stainless steel, and the interior is anchored with concrete throughout.

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We just drove through St. Louis, so the only thing we did was to go to the top of the arch. It was an interesting adventure to get into a tiny egg-shaped elevator with four other sweaty people. The ride is slow as it moves horizontally and then up toward the observatory at the top.

The top looks like someplace out of a James Bond movie and the view's pretty good.

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There is a separate VT space for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site which includes the Gateway Arch and the Museum of Westward Expansion. I was just going to write my tips there, but I was afraid they would get overlooked, so I'm writing them for St. Louis too.

This is a Historical site where I could get my National Park passport stamped. After we drove around the whole park, we parked in the garage and walked to the arch. Unfortunately, while I had my cane, I left my Golden Age card and the NPS passport in the car. So I had to get a stamp on a piece of paper, and we also had to pay full price for going up in the arch. The arch is NOT handicapped accessible as there are steps to get down to the visitor's center, and also up to the cars. (photo 4)

The views from the top (photo 2) were amazing, and while we were there some workmen came and opened up the floor and consulted the blueprints (photo 3). We went down in the 12:46 car (takes 3 minutes going down),