The Gateway Arch Reviews

It was 2019 St. Louis Fair it was HOTT!!!!! But very fun to again

Museum is very nice. Security is no joke. SAFE ENVIRONMENT, gift shop had tons of suvnerears. The cafe was over priced. Tickets to the Theatre & Elevator reasonably priced. Park rangers really sparkled with there knowlage and friendliness. Went on one of the busiest days of the year, and didnt feel overly crowded. Large clean public environment down to the restrooms & cafe dining area.

A definite must see!! Did the tour, went to the top. Great views!!

Really neat experience but not for those that are claustrophobic.

Don't miss it. Don't go up if you are claustrophobic. I was not expecting to get in a tiny tram with 4 other people. Luckily there is a little window, you can see the inner workings of the Arch. The views at the top are 100% worth it.

OF COURSE YOU NEED TO RIDE THE ARCH! First of all, buy your tickets online, so that you can pick the time you want and you are guaranteed a spot. Keep that email with your ticket info. Very clean, very organized, very interesting. Great history on the Arch and the area. Listen...if you are claustrophobic or afraid of heights, YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS. If you aren't sure if you are claustrophobic or afraid of heights, this will confirm it for you. The pod that takes you up the Arch is very, very, very small. There is a window, but all it does is look down inside the Arch, letting you know how high you are, and it's a little freaky. Up at the top is okay. Smaller, narrow windows are on both sides. You have to bend down to see the view. Most windows have finger and face prints on them (gross!). You only need 10 minutes up there. That's plenty of time to check out the views and the pods go down every 10 minutes. The ride up is 4 minutes, the ride down is 3 minutes. Pictures are $29. That's outrageous and more than the average. Also, the food and gift shop souvenirs are more than the pricey, souvenir average. So you'll need extra money. But all the staff is nice, and it was an experience I will never forget!

the Arch was amazing, yet one of the rangers, an older women, was misinformed and rude, We came from Wisconsin to view the Arch with my nephew and his girlfriend from Taiwan. I had been there 25 years prior and commented on all the changes. We asked her, as she was manning an interactive exhibit about all the changes that had been made. This ranger stated the Museum has always been there with no changes, when we re asked about the changes to entry structure and the exhibits she again stated no changes. WOW . I am a Civil Engineer. When we tried to ask additional questions she was unpleasant towards us. Was it that we had a foreigner with us ? or does she just treat everyone like that? To some up the point I have attached pictures with info regarding the changes and renovations. 4 stars it lost one star due to staff otherwise the exhibit was outstanding, wonderful museum!!

A wonderful experience. I highly recommend you visiting. The price of the tickets were also reasonable

Great views of the city. I recommend to spend time to do the museum part. It was informative.

Could go on the trains due to COVID but the museum was amazing

Must visit iconic place when you are in St Louis. Just go up and you can see the whole city.

What an amazing structure dedicated to the exploring spirit. Only down side... you couldn't go up it due to renovation... it had been 17 years since we had been here, so it was disappointing. Hopefully it we will get back here when all the building and renovating is complete.

Visiting the arch was a fun and educational experience! I took my group of 4th grade Girl Scouts and we spent the day exploring the arch museum, Old Courthouse, going in the arch, and exploring the Arch's Mall of parks. The museum has up to date exhibits that are interactive and fun for the whole family. The National Park service even did a free hour long presentation with my girls so they could earn a badge about women in the past. The ride to the top of the arch was exciting and we picked the perfect time of day. We went up just before sunset and were able to see the city during the day, during sunset, and when all the lights of the city were shining bright. Also available was a riverboat cruise that we were scheduled to take, but the Mississippi River was so flooded they had to cancel it. The parks to the west of The Old Courthouse had a playground, sculpture garden, spray park, and water feature that actually had a lifeguard so you could swim! The Old Spaghetti Factory is just North of the arch grounds and was an excellent stop for dinner!

Our family had a good time running around the grounds outside. We travelled in the little pods up to the top of the arch and peered at the city and Mississippi River through the viewing windows. It was a fun experience! Definitely not for those who are afraid of heights or claustrophobic!

60th national park of the US. Awesome new(er) exhibit/ museum. 35 minute movie is very informative and worth the cost. Buy the combo pass to enjoy the movie and the ride to the rop of the arch. Tickets and times can be purchased in advance online. Parking is downtown public parking nearby. Clean, well lit and family friendly.

TERRIBLE signage. VERY difficult to get anywhere close, and no parking with a trailer. Finally parked at the River Walk parking area. NO access from there. River walk was closed due to high water in the river, that I understand. I couldn't even find out how to get to where the buses unload. (no gps device). 16 years ago, at 2am, I drove a semi right down next to the water, parked, and walked up the embankment to view the arch. Took photos, no one bothered me, very good signage, very good access. WHAT HAPPENED ST LOUIS???

The Arch is a great place to visit. The movie is educational, museum is awesome.

Always a great time and experience. Never gets old learning the history behind such a monument.

Visited the museum. A great place to take your kids and learn history while part taking in the park ranger hunt to earn a pin at the end.

The new museum is magnificent and fantastic, while also describing much of American history with a focus on westward expansion. The Old Courthouse is also another exceptional place to visit, with it's exhibits again focusing on elements of American history. Finally, the Arch itself provides a view that I cannot even begin to describe. Truly incredible.

The renovations done to the museum are superb I spent nearly five hours absorbing all the new information with interactive screens and better more updated reviews on history

The museum was very nice! The views from up in the arch were very nice as well.

Love the new layout of the park and the new entrance. The museum is so interesting. The only downside was the teams running behind and only getting to spend 5 minutes at the top before being told they were closing. Put a damper on my marriage proposal.

One of our favorite road trip getaways. After 2 failed attempts to go (because of construction) we finally got to take my 7yo daughter to the top. The pods to the top scared her, but she loved the views once we were up there. Even in the pouring down rain we had a great time!

Great views and some American history. Fun for the evening with tour family.

Everything was perfect... Except 1 guy at the security gate. Very rude acting and acted as if you were bothering him while he moved the totes. Which may not have been his job???

Awesome, all I can say. Expect long lines and popped ears though.

What an adventure! The Archway is a beautiful monument with the added bonus of being able to take a tram to the top and see both the city side as well as the Mississippi River side. Id be remiss if I didn't mention that the pods were quite tight. They openings to enter are quite small, and there is no circulating air. It was hot and tight, but well worth the 4 minute ride to the top, 3 minutes on the way down. The day we visited it was quite windy, so the arch was swaying at the top. We only stayed about 5 minutes, but the view was breathtaking!

The new museum under the arch makes the experience is awesome and makes it a completely different experience! I recommend going up in the arch at night it's a cool view of the city. And if you go up on the night of a Cardinals game you can see the game from up there! I attached pictures of the game and view at night!

It's always cool to see. We wanted to go up it but the wait was too long. 1hour and 45 mins. We wanted to got home so we didn't get to.

The interior / museum has been completely remodeled. Well worth the trip. I skipped the whole tour / extra cost and just walked the museum myself. Which also gets you a ride to the top of the Arch. Great experience and amazing feat of architecture.

Amazing piece of history and architecture. The remodel and museum are phenomenal and engaging. Westward expansion is shown from multiple points of view. No longer is this just a trip up the arch (in itself stunningly beautiful) but an entire experience.

By the time we parked and walked over half a mile to the arch, we were almost late for our ride. If there is a map somewhere that shows the best place to park to go into the right entrance for the tram ride we could not find it. We followed GPS to a parking spot and then walked forever to one of the legs of the arch just to discover that we could not go in at that entrance.

Once we got inside it was even worse. We had one of the last appointments of the day so I am hoping that contributed to the lack of guidance. There were no other people anywhere - which wasn't bad - but we had no idea where to go. Once we made it through to the correct area we had to go through airport security: belts off, pockets empty, xray bags, metal detector. Then we re-dressed and once again we were in no-mans land - literally no one around to tell us where to go. If not for the one man standing at the end of the ramp waving us down we would not have found the ride in time. So, we make it to the ride. We get our own little pod and do not have to share it with anyone else - covid issues - so that part is excellent!

We get to the top and again, they only allow so many at a time and we had less than 10 at the top with us. That was also excellent! However, they assign each group a window on each side. We were assigned number 1 - it is a window and a half on each side instead of 2 windows and it is completely on the down slope. We did not get to stand at the top, we had to stand on the side. Still a great view!! But the windows are so small that it is almost impossible to look straight down. The windows that you see in the background of one of my photos are the viewing windows. I cropped out someone's head but I was trying to show the windows. See pictures.

So to recap: arrive at least an hour early to allow for parking, walking, security and locating correct entrance.

Employees were very helpful and very friendly - even to a very frazzled patron who was frustrated by the time she got to them. Kudos to them.

What visit to St. Louis is complete without a visit to the Arch? Terrific people, fabulous views. Make sure you ask for the Veteran Discount if you qualify!

The Arch is huge but getting an on sight parking is quite tough. If you park on the paid parking area you have to walk a lot and we weren t in a good state of taking this load. Circled around the parking area 3 times and luckily got one. Overall experience was good.

It's in the great STL. Of course it's worth seeing. See lots of history in the bottom of the arch. Big souvenir store with lots of options!

Worth the time, 630 feet to top. Great views from the top

Must see attraction of your in the area. Fantastic structure. Excellent history.

A landmark of the city with beautiful park. A perfect place for family outdoor outings.

It's such a neat monument to see. The park surrounding it is also so very pretty with little pocket parks to have a little picnic, if you so desire. The museum closed too early on a weekend day and they were sold out of trips to the top long before they were closed. That is the only bummer I can think of. So, I guess go early to purchase tickets if you want to see the top.
Also, go early to visit the museum.

Really enjoyed going up in this inclinator. Very interesting to see the design and how much problem it was to put together. What's interesting to see the views from the top even though it was very crowded but that was very well done for what they had to do what they had to work with. Went by this when I was a child with didn't have the time to stop but I can tell you if you don't go and in the area and you don't go you are missing out on a wonder of the world.

Didn t go up in the arch, but spent some time in the museum. Will need to come back to fully enjoy.

Sooo cool. I was afraid we wouldn't be able to see much because it was cloudy but we had some pretty good views! Also I'm afraid of heights but I wasn't at all scared at the top. Great visit.

Wow. More then expected. Great resturant inside. Ribs and sandwiches awesome. Place is beautifuly done a must see. Great security as well.

Awesome ride up, they give you a rundown by video and tour guide of facts about the arch prior to going up...the view is amazing, price was 24$ for me and my boyfriend to ride went on a Tuesday 12each. Tram cars sit 5. Not bad on comfort.

Beautiful monument, fascinating museum underneath. Lots of fun.

The arch is much larger than you'd expect, it's definitely a spectacle.

The view from the top is absolutely phenomenal! The only thing I would warn people about is, to get up to the top of the arch, they squeeze 6 people into a very tiny pod-like elevator where you sit shoulder to shoulder. If anyone has claustrophobia, I would just make sure that you can keep your cool in that environment for four minutes traveling up and 3 minutes going back down.

Worth a visit! The museum underneath the arch is well designed, providing not only very interesting information on the Gateway Arch but also on the history of settling on the American continent.
And of course the way up to the arch is a unique, one-in-the-world experience and a great lookout

Although it was rainy, the park had finished it's consturction from the last time we had been in St. Louis and it looked great. I am happy me and my wife went back to take my stepdaughter and mother in law because it is an interesting work of architecture and it was fun to relearn the history of its construction.

Very cool. The size of this is just is immense. What a feat of engineering. The tiny train ride to the top is cool and the views from the the top are equally cool. I also like how organized the staff is. They push the people thru as efficient as possible.

The website said u could go to the top and you couldn't

The monument is awesome. The grounds are beautiful. The movie was interesting and informative. People are given appointed times to queue, they left us standing in queue, moving at a snail's pace, for 45 minutes.

Pat is a great guide and he has a great voice that projects very well. There was no detail or fact he didn't know!

Drove past the archway many times over the years as I dove on Interstate 70. Very impressive looking structure. Really would love to be able to pull off the interstate and visit it one of these days pretty soon.

Its amazing. Hate the tram ride to the top is temporarily closed. Really nice places to eat close by here. The backdrop on the river is nice. Must see when visiting.

Everyone visiting the Arch will be amazed at how beautiful the entire area is including the Green Space. You can take the tram all the way up to the top of it which takes 4 minutes up and 3 minutes to come down it is over 600 ft tall. At the top of the arch there is a viewing room where you can see 360 degrees and see 30 miles in all directions. There is a movie detailing how the arch was conceived, built & maintained. There is a very nice cafe, museum & gift shop

Had an amazing experience seeing the tallest arch and getting to know more about building such a monument. Also, Enjoyed the tram ride and the view from the top.

Only my second time in the Arch. Great fun. Not expensive. One of America's great National Parks! A must see.

Museum was very well done. Exhibits were very cool and informative. A unique view of St. Louis from the top.

Awesome museum on the lower level. Amazing view at the top of the arch. The documentary was also pretty good. No safety harnesses!

Obviously STL's biggest and most well known landmark. I hadn't been here since they completed all the renovations in the last couple years and the grounds are as nice as ever. Tons of space to spread out and just hang. Don't forget to hit up the free museum under the Arch and you can take a ride to the top for like 14 bucks.

Parking is a bit of a hassle if you are trying to find something cheap/free. Very likely to end up blocks away.

Really cool piece of history but the ride up is spooky they pack 4 people in what I can best describe as a chicken egg and the longest 4 minutes of your life. If you are claustrophobic I dont not recommend!

Great place to see. Awesome arch. Movie and ride to the top are very interesting.

Love the Arch and visitors center. Great improvements since last time we went. A must see in St Louis.

A nice outing. Pleaaant staff, beautiful views. Can't be claustrophobic though. Tight spaces.

No complaints, but we went during covid, so we only got to see the museum.

Main entrance is currently under construction but that didn't stop visitors from flocking to one of America's jewel landmarks. Adult tickets to ride the tram to the top are $13/person. It's does take about an hour since space on the ride is limited to just a handful at a time. But the view is worth the wait. Or enjoy the grounds with beautiful landscaping.

A good day trip, particularly with kids. Get the tram ride to the top.

Along with the historic importance as the monument commemorating the westward expansion of the United States, the gateway arch is also an engineering marvel. This structure - the largest of its kind - arch, is a thoroughly enjoyable place. There are three main activities which you can do around the arch.
1. Tram tour to the top of the arch - You wouldn t forget the view of the old court house and the entire St. Louis from 640 ft above the ground. The claustrophobic ones may stay away from the tiny capsule like trams which takes you to the top.
2. Mississippi Cruise - This guided cruise in Mississippi takes you along the shore and explains the history while letting you capture memorable snaps of SL.
3. The helicopter tour - I personally haven t tried this, but I am sure that the view of the giant arch from air would be an unforgettable experience.

Better than expected. I bought my tickets in advance and was able to pick them up right after they opened. Be conscious of Cardinals home schedule since they will mess up downtown traffic...especially day games.

This was my first time visiting the Arch after the renovations. It looks so nice and I can t wait to go inside. My family and I did the walking trail around the arch grounds. Beautiful place.

They have done a great job renewing the park. You could spend all day in the museum

Amazing piece of art, the engineering behind this marvel is far beyond its years, i really enjoyed the trip to the top the view is subpar to none!

Great family friendly experience. The museum is a stand out.

Loved the Arch. Great attraction. Loved the museum. Very interesting. Lot of history. I hope to return and REALLY soak in the museum.

Fantastic visit to a feat of architectural amazement! Kids loved it. The museum (which is free to enter, you just have to go through security) was very interesting. My kids loved it. Going to the top of the arch was great. The pod for the tram ride up is very small but felt open with the glass door. I recommend seeing the movie before hand to see what it took to build this. The best package is the tram to the top with the movie. We also did the river boat ride but it's not very scenic per se. Highly recommend a visit here with the family!

Tour guide was a but difficult to understand. Beautiful structure! The view was amazing - I could have stayed up there all day and night.

I came here years ago with my family for the movie and tram tour and everything was well priced and we learned a lot and had fun as a family. We recently visited again and were a little disappointed to realize how much of the parking/tours/services had been contracted out to private companies. There was no free parking and the private ($8) parking was about a mile away from the Arch itself. The tour was a little too pricy and the whole experience was just a little bit disappointing compared to the first time we came. Still a fun, educational experience-just be ready to walk!

Great experience. Leave plenty of time to check out the museum too.

Very enlightening!! Learn the history of the true America and the opening to the west.

Great place to visit in town, love historical places.

Breathtaking height, great portion of adrenalin while being on the top during windy weather!!!