7 Delightful Towns To Visit In Missouri
Despite being a small state, Missouri contains some of the largest attractions in the entire US. In Kansas City, you will feel like a mouse when gazing up at the immense Community Bookshelf, which only giants can read. In Tipton, there stands the Giant Eight Ball Tower, measuring an impressive 160 feet. Lastly, you can go to St. Louis to see the World’s Largest Pair of underwear and pencil in the City Museum.
However, beyond the Gateway Arch at St. Louis lies the biggest attractions of all—the seven delightful towns to visit in Missouri. As small as these towns are, they each have amenities and wonders that are sure to leave a big impression on your memories. Follow the directions to Arrow Rock, down a pint of lager at Weston, and feel the magic of Marceline as you explore the delightful towns of Missouri. In a small state with many big attractions, you will feel amazed by the many great towns to visit in Missouri.
Arrow Rock
Follow the arrows 20 miles from Boonville and towards the delightful town of Arrow Rock. Labeled a National Historic Landmark due to its influence in Westward Expansion, Arrow Rock was first marked in a 1732 French map called “pierre a fleche,” which means “rock of arrows” in English as an allusion to the flint-bearing limestone bluffs, which indigenous cultures have mined for 12,000 years to craft flint tools and arrowheads.
The Emancipation in the Black History Museum provides a different showcase of history, specifically the history of the African Americans in the area. History enthusiasts might be interested in exploring the Dr. John Sappington Museum, which illustrates how Dr. Sappington’s quinine pills treated malarial fevers nationwide. There is also the George Caleb Bingham House, the previous 19th-century abode of George Bingham, a contributor to American Luminism Art.
As a town surrounded by natural features, you can always traverse the Lewis & Clark Trail of Discovery, which the famous duo took on their journey. Or you can catch fish and game at the Big Muddy US Fish and Wildlife Refuge along the Missouri River. If you ever need a place to recharge and refresh, the Arrow Rock Station Bed & Breakfast, Latch House, and Borgman's Bed & Breakfast have all the amenities you need.
Weston
A well-preserved collection of pre-American Civil War edifices can be found in the town of Weston. This includes O'Malley's 1842 Pub, where you can get a rowdy taste of Irish-American, antebellum life by sampling some of the fiercest beverages in the state of Missouri. You can also taste even more exquisite lager from the Weston Brewing Company, one of the first lager beer breweries in the U.S since 1842.
As a town replete with history, Weston houses the Weston Historical Museum, which highlights the many defining epochs and periods that Weston experienced along the Missouri River. Furthermore, there is the National Silk Art Museum, where you can admire the largest collection of rare silk art tapestries from the 18th and 19th centuries and from France and England. If fun and games are your forte, then go skiing and sledding at Snow Creek or gallivanting across Weston Bend State Park. Only a stone’s throw away from the border of Kansas, you can find sanctuary and safety at the Benner House B&B, The St. George Hotel, or The Inn at Weston Landing B&B.
Hermann
Only 60 miles east of St. Louis, Hermann has been designated by National Geographic as one of America’s best Adventure Towns. As proof of this claim, you can attend the 30-year-old celebration of Wurst Fest every March, where many of Missouri’s best sausage vendors promote their meaty produce. Then, in October, attend the town’s own version of Oktoberfest, which is closely related to the original Oktoberfest in Germany.
Learn all about Hermann’s ancestral ties to the Old World at the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia, which showcases the daily life and attitudes of the original settlers since 1837. You can also learn more from the Deutschheim State Historic Site or from Hermann's History & Haunts, which include several haunted buildings in town. Once you are sated with the best of the worst, let your stomach digest its fill while resting at 1000 Parkview, 1910 Guesthaus, or 2nd Street Lodging B&B.
Marceline
Midway between Hannibal and St. Joseph is Marceline, the town that raised and inspired Walt Disney. One can learn all about how Marceline contributed to Disney’s childhood inspirations and creations at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum. More insights and knowledge can be gleaned when traveling down Main Street, which used to be called Kansas Avenue in Disney’s time and whose likeness inspired Disneyland’s Main Street USA. Hop aboard a train on the Santa Fe Railway and go sightseeing at the Marceline Railroad Story, a historic train depot that explains Marceline’s contributions to railroading and coal mining.
For more train-themed attractions, visitors can gallivant through the EP Ripley Park, a place that inspired Walt Disney to name the first steam engine at Disneyland “the EP Ripley.” Should you ever feel exhausted from all the merry delights in Marceline, then book a room at either the Circle O Lodge or Hotel Marceline.
Sainte Genevieve
Sainte Genevieve is considered Missouri’s oldest permanent European settlement, particularly a French one. The town houses several historic French architectures, such as the Guibourd-Vallé House. It was built in 1806 for Jacques Guibourd, and its architectural format is based on the “poteaux-sur-sole” (post on sill) style. Additionally, there are the Jean-Baptiste Vallé House, the Beauvais-Amoureux House, the Bolduc & LeMeilleur Houses. For those eager to know more about the American Revolutionary War and the Louisiana Purchase which shaped Sainte Genevieve’s cultural and social dynamics, then head to the Centre for French Colonial Life for more information.
Do not miss the French Heritage Festival in June, which hosts the admirable La Veillee folk dancing at the Felix Valle State Historic Site. Try to get some exercise while exploring the Hawn State Park and Ste. Geneviève Levee Wildlife Refuge. Only halfway between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, you can enjoy your leisurely stay in Sainte Genevieve at the Inn St. Gemme Beauvais, La Fleur de Lis, Maison Huberdeau Guest House, and many more lodgings of your choosing.
Fulton
Situated 26 miles northeast of Jefferson City, Fulton stands as the county seat of Callaway County. The lush town is only an hour away from the renowned Lake of the Ozarks, and among the many attractions you can enjoy are the historic structures in the Brick District. Elsewhere, visitors can revel in the arboreal beauties along Stinson Creek Trail. More importantly, you can admire the compelling history of Westminster College, where Sir Winston Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech on March 5, 1946. In honor of this prelude to the Cold War, Westminster College houses the 12th-century Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, which you can tour on its campus grounds.
More additions and allusions to the British Prime Minister can be gleaned at America’s National Churchill Museum. There, you can learn all about England’s “darkest hour.” Similarly, you can also admire the Breakthrough sculpture which Churchill’s daughter, Edwina Sandys, created to celebrate the Berlin Wall’s dismantling. If ever you are in need for an establishment to find relaxation and sleep, then look no further than to the Loganberry Inn Bed and Breakfast.
Boonville
When it comes to being a strategic location filled with great advantages, Boonville exemplifies these geographic traits in more ways than one. During the American Civil War, Union, and Confederate armies vied for control of Boonville’s crucial railroads and its proximity to Kansas City and St. Louis along the Missouri River. Indeed, Boonville has been noted for being the site of two separate occupations and two pivotal battles for dominion over the whole of Missouri. The River, Rails & Trails Museum further contextualizes Boonville’s significance in transportation in and out of warfare.
To get a grasp of the 1800s livelihood in Boonville, tour several well-preserved residences such as the Hain House, Memorial Garden, and Kemper Military School (formerly Kemper’s Family School). There is also the Thespian Hall, the longest continually operated theater west of the Alleghany Mountains and was once an interim hospital during the Civil War. And lest you forget, you ought to first book a room at either the Boonville Luxury Lodging, Hotel Frederick, or Isle of Capri Casino Hotel.
Missouri is like a pocket filled with treasures. Among these treasures are the delightful towns to visit in Missouri in 2024. Although these small towns might not boast the largest landmarks, they certainly compensate by leaving the biggest impressions. You will not feel weary and bored in your journey across a state that many iconic figures like Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Dick Van Dyke, Eminem, and President Harry S. Truman once called home. With the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers nourishing the land and the Ozark Mountains backgrounded in the distance, these delightful small towns are some of the best locations to experience newness and wonder in Missouri.
