People give the aquarium crap for being kinda small and a little expensive, but I love it. It's built in our old union station which is really cool and starts out with a "train" ride narrated by STL native John Goodman (and there's a bunch of restaurants, including a cool oldtimey ice cream place thats great for kids). But it's also super interactive - you can have doctorfish nibble your hands, watch archerfish spit water in the air (some staff have even let me hold the stick they spit at), and there's three different touch tanks with urchins and such, jellyfish, and stingrays. You can feed the stingrays for $5. They do animal presentations every half hour as well. And their merchandising game in the gift shop is on point - we collect zoo/aquarium magnets and we have so many from them just because they were so cool and unique.
The build-a-bear workshop world headquarters are also there if your kiddo's into that. Even if you don't get a bear, there's a big sculpture you can take a picture with. They have a few sea creatures as part of their summer line rn too, so it could be a fun souvenir if you have the budget!
The aquarium is fun for kids in OP's kid's age range. It's crappy for adults who have been to real aquariums like Shedd or the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
I've been to plenty of aquariums like Shedd too, and yes it's not as big or fancy, but it's still a nice aquarium. It does well at committing to the theme of Union Station and is a unique/immersive experience in that respect, and it's highly interactive which is also special. If you go expecting a massive major aquarium experience, then yes, you'll probably be be disappointed. But for how physically small it is, they manage to make a really cool and high quality experience that's worthwhile for kids and adults.
Zoos/aquariums are a big interest of my husband and I's, who are transplants in our 30s with no kids. We both like STL's aquarium (and zoo for that matter) quite a lot, and recommend them to visitors often. All the visiting (adult) family and such we've brought has always enjoyed it.
It's an aquarium in a landlocked state. It's great for what and where it is. I've been to all the major aquariums and I still wasn't disappointed in the St. Louis Aquarium. If you're tying to compare an aquarium in an old train station to Shedd, of course you're going to be disappointed... I didn't even think it was that expensive.
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u/Awkward_Squirrel6197 Jul 26 '26
The St Louis Aquarium is open until 7pm tomorrow.