Start from 28 curated places around St. Charles, MO, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Jalea
The first Peruvian bistro in the St. Louis metro, a small and intimate room on the north end of Main Street where ceviches, hand-breaded jalea seafood platters, and Peruvian cocktails bring something entirely new to the street. Locals drive in from across the region for it. Best for a dinner when you want a serious change of pace from the Main Street mainstream.
Salt + Smoke
A St. Louis barbecue institution with an outpost in a brick building on the south end of Main Street, doing proper brisket, ribs, and St. Louis-style smoked meats alongside their beloved popovers on a patio that faces the cobblestones. It is polished for a barbecue joint without losing the substance. Best for a serious barbecue lunch in a setting that makes the most of the historic surroundings.
Trails & outdoors
Katy Trail St. Charles to Machens
The final 12.6 miles of the longest rail-trail in the United States, running east from the Frontier Park trailhead in the heart of St. Charles through flat bottomland along the Missouri River to the eastern terminus at Machens. The crushed-limestone surface is wide, shaded, and essentially flat. Best for a casual morning ride on a rented e-bike that starts one block from Main Street.
Bangert Island Loop Trail
A 2.6-mile loop on a wooded island in the Missouri River south of downtown, with constant river views, sandy banks, cottonwood bottomland forest, and tight singletrack that is equally popular with mountain bikers and casual hikers. It has a genuine wild feel for being minutes from town. Best for a short, satisfying ramble with real river atmosphere.
Things to do
J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts
A 1,200-seat Broadway-style theater and a 180-seat black box theater on the Lindenwood University campus, presenting professional touring shows, Broadway musicals, comedians, and university productions year-round. It is the region's premier performing arts venue outside of St. Louis. Best for an evening of theater, music, or a touring comedy or musical act.
Two Plumbers Brewery + Arcade
A small-batch craft taproom at the north end of St. Charles County that doubles as a full retro arcade, with pop-culture pinball machines, classic video games, and rotating taps of house-brewed ales alongside food from an on-site street-food outpost. It is a genuinely fun evening for adults who grew up on arcades. Best for a low-key night with craft beer and games away from the Main Street crowds.
Landmarks & sights
First Missouri State Capitol State Historic Site
Four interconnected brick buildings on cobblestone Main Street that served as Missouri's first state capitol from 1821 to 1826 while the permanent structure in Jefferson City was being built. Eleven restored rooms furnish the legislative chambers, tavern, and family quarters exactly as they stood in the 1820s. Best for history lovers who want an unhurried guided tour of a genuinely rare piece of American government history.
Lewis & Clark Boat House and Museum
A riverfront museum on the Missouri River housing full-size replicas of the keelboat and two pirogues Lewis and Clark departed from St. Charles in 1804, plus a massive indoor mural called Missouri River Walk that is the largest of its kind in the state. The staff are retired teachers who run the place with obvious enthusiasm. Best for families and history buffs who want to feel the scale of the expedition.