The American Midwest has long been disparagingly known as ‘flyover country’. Sure, transcontinental flights used to favour the bright, coastal lights of LA and New York, but there’s now finally a direct flight from London to St Louis, allowing British and European travellers to explore some of the lesser-travelled parts of the Midwest. In about nine hours, British Airways will whisk you from Heathrow to the middle of Missouri, home to one of the summer’s World Cup host cities, Kansas City.
I was given a preview of the new route – here’s what I got up to when I landed.
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If you know anything about St Louis, it’ll likely either be about the controversial World’s Fair that was held in 1904 (and the Judy Garland banger from the 1944 film Meet Me in St Louis) or because of the soaring Gateway Arch. What I didn’t know about the arch was that you can go all the way up it. Was I keen? Not particularly. Did I do it anyway? I sure did.
Built in 1965, it remains the tallest arch in the world at 192 metres. Considering my experience at the Pyramids of Giza, I wasn’t thrilled about the prospect, but I will also do anything for the bit, so I boldly took a submarine-style pod on the three-minute journey to the top. Designed by legendary midcentury architect Eero Saarinen, it’s admittedly very chic, with curvy space-age design that’s somewhere between Mad Men and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
The tiny pods, we are told, haven’t been changed since the arch opened, which I have to say didn’t fill me with glee as I peered through the glass door onto the rivets and steel of the inner arch. If you’re claustrophobic or scared of heights (I am both!) I would advise against it. The viewing platform at the top is just as poky, but the views are incredible.
Happily, there are plenty of things to do at ground level in St Louis, including Busch Stadium, the home of St Louis Cardinals. I ate (two) hot dogs, drank Budweiser (including a special Bud that you can only get on-site) and watched the Cardinals lose, which apparently they’ve been doing a lot of lately. Hungry? Visit Stew’s, a dive bar with perfect peanut noodles, where you can sit out front and watch locals drive around the streets of the historic blues-and-bars Soulard neighbourhood in golf buggies, because that’s what they do here.
Enjoy the great outdoors? The Missouri Botanical Garden is a gorgeous green sprawl, much like the Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum, which has the added bonus of being the resting place of local lad William S Burroughs. Well worth a pilgrimage if you’re a Beat Generation ultra. On a similar, hippy-adjacent tip is the 1960s Hawaiian-themed Jujube Inn, which was previously home to a restaurant run by the Grateful Dead’s touring chef. Here, traditional Midwestern dishes are given a glow up (order the slippery wontons with Ozark shiitake mushrooms), as are trashy cocktails (you’ll never look at a Hurricane the same way). If you like your cocktails a little more classic, visit Monstera Mezcaleria for a majestic marg.
St Louis is also home base for one of Amtrak’s sweetest routes, the Missouri River Runner, with two daily round-trip trains between Kansas City and St Louis. I am addicted to Amtrak – cosy, clean trains with front row seats to the greatest show on earth; ever-changing, all-American scenery.
Amtrak gives you a front row seat to the greatest show on earth; ever-changing, all-American scenery
About an hour out from St Louis, you’ll reach Hermann, which was founded by German settlers, and is home to fruity vineyards (there are 15 wineries in a 20 mile radius) like the Stone Hill Winery and bourbon distillers, such as the one-man operation the Copper Mule. It’s a quirky mix of bucolic Bavarian village c.1843 and small town America c.1954. There are no chain hotels, just quaint guesthouses, and you’ll find award-winning bratwurst in an old auto parts store called Wurst Haus. Make sure you visit the excellent antiques mall on the main drag, and don’t leave without sampling a local root beer float.
Back on Amtrak, and you’ll see far more than you ever would driving the interstates. There are lush river views, small suburban towns, clapboard houses, out-of-the-way churches and Americana at a slow, low pace. It’s the perfect way to travel. After four hours, and a slow roll through Independence, the birthplace of President Harry S Truman, you’ll wind up in Kansas City.
Now on the global radar due to Taylor Swift’s picking a partner in Travis Kelce, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, the first thing you need to know about Kansas City is that it isn’t in Kansas. We’re still in Missouri. Once you get over that cognitive dissonance, you’ll find a huge city currently experiencing huge change, in part due to the arrival of the World Cup.
Much of it seems under construction or is newly built; such as the shiny CPKC Stadium, the home of Kansas City Current and the first purpose-built stadium for women’s soccer in the world. The vibe here is exceptional, not least because on my visit, KC Current win 3-0. Even if you don’t give a damn about sports, the fascinating and epically stocked Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a great place to discover the incredible story of African-American baseball.
Weirdly, Kansas City is also home to the National WWI Museum and Memorial. Even more weirdly, it’s very good, with powerful exhibits and incredible artifacts, such as an original 1917 Harley-Davidson.
Kansas City is also really good, I discover, at vintage shopping. Fill up on the superior chicken and waffles at the grand Brown & Loe, before strolling to the four-storey River Market Antiques, with an entire top floor dedicated to amazing vintage clothing. Head also to West Bottoms, an industrial neighbourhood of massive warehouses taken over by secondhand emporiums, such as the bargainous Rex and workwear-coded Six Foot Closet. Not that I ever visited Soho, New York in 1975, but it does feel a little like pre-gentrification Lower Manhattan. There’ll be an Apple Store and Sephora here in a decade, for sure.
Known for its barbecue, Kansas City’s unique take involves slow-smoked meats served with sweet, sugary sauce. We went to Jack Stack, but there are plenty of options across town. If you’re after something a little lighter, get a breakfast burrito at family-run bakery McLain’s. Want a drink? Then Green Lady Lounge, a vintage jazz bar with low lights and busted leather booths, is basically a sentient Tom Waits song.
Does that sound like flyover country to you?
Leonie Cooper travelled to St Louis, Hermann and Kansas City as a guest of Brand USA. Our reviews and recommendations have been editorially independent since 1968. For more, see our editorial guidelines.
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