St Louis to Milwaukee drive: Distance, time & best attractions
The best road trip stops on the St Louis to Milwaukee drive are Springfield IL, Chicago and Kenosha WI. The distance from St Louis to Milwaukee is 373 miles, with a 5h39m driving time.
Planning a St Louis to Milwaukee road trip itinerary
The St Louis to Milwaukee drive takes you from the gateway to the west in Missouri to Wisconsin’s famous brewing city.
Milwaukee is famous for its beer, and doing a multi-brewery tasting tour is practically obligatory. Other good Milwaukee experiences include historical ghost tours and the Harley Davidson Museum.
You can also learn about Great Lakes history at the North Point Lighthouse and visit an art museum with a twist. The Grohmann Museum is devoted to art that shows the history of human work.
St Louis is one of America’s great crossroads cities. The major landmark is the 630ft-tall Gateway Arch, which visitors can go to the top of. Other top attractions include the Cathedral Basilica of St Louis, the Missouri Botanical Garden and Busch Stadium.
Good St Louis experiences include highlight-packed trolley tours, true crime walking tours and small group tours that include going to the top of the St Louis Arch and a Mississippi River cruise.
For St Louis accommodation with personality, try the Last Hotel or the Pennywell.
St Louis to Milwaukee distance and driving time
By car, the distance from St Louis to Milwaukee is 373 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours and 39 minutes. The quickest route is along the I-55 and I-94.
The best stops to add to a St Louis to Milwaukee road trip itinerary are Springfield IL, Chicago and Kenosha WI.
St Louis to Milwaukee drive: Springfield IL
The capital of Illinois is more than a little obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. Springfield plays host to Lincoln’s former law offices and home, and his tomb is in the Oak Ridge Cemetery.
The centrepiece attraction of Springfield, however, is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It’s expensively assembled, enormous, reverent and utterly riveting if you’ve got even the slightest interest in Lincoln and the American Civil War.
Best stops between St Louis and Milwaukee WI: Chicago
Chicago’s skyscrapers, music scene and massive collection of cultural attractions make it arguably the most exciting city in the US to visit.
Highly recommended Chicago experiences include an architecture river cruise, a gangsters and ghosts tour of famous Mob sites and a bike tour of the lakefront neighbourhoods. It’s also worth paying a visit to the Field Museum, the 360 Chicago observation deck at the Hancock Tower and the Chicago Architecture Center.
St Louis to Milwaukee road trip attractions: Kenosha, WI
Kenosha’s main attraction is pretty clearly Lake Michigan. The HarborPark on the lakeshore is the best place to experience it, with a splash park and sculpture walk among the highlights.
The Civil War Museum is also here, and looks at the American Civil War from the perspective of the upper middle west.
Elsewhere in Kenosha, there’s the Dinosaur Discovery Museum. This concentrates on the link between dinosaurs and birds.
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