Heartland of America

Arrive in St. Louis and transfer to your hotel. After settling in, join our welcome briefing and reception before you begin discovering the city on your own; enjoy dinner at a local restaurant. Your Viking Tour Director is available to help you plan your time here so you can make the most of your visit.

See St. Louis’s highlights today. Begin with a tour of the Old Cathedral (officially, Basilica of St. Louis, King of France), the oldest church west of the Mississippi, and the historic Old Courthouse. Ride a tram to the top of the Gateway Arch and visit its museum. At the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, witness a dazzling display of mosaics. Afterward, enjoy an authentic St. Louis barbecue lunch. Explore the city on your own this evening. (B, L)

Enjoy breakfast, then continue to Forest Park, one of the largest city parks in the US. Learn about the 1904 World’s Fair and the park’s development, then visit the Missouri History Museum, home to Charles Lindbergh’s “The Spirit of St. Louis.” Later in the day, transfer to your awaiting ship to commence your cruise. (B)

Disembark and set out to discover Minnesota’s capital, St. Paul. See the Cathedral of St. Paul, modeled after Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica, and the Victorian mansions and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthplace along Summit Avenue. Your Viking Tour Director is available to help you plan your time here so you can make the most of your visit.

Today, visit Fort Snelling, a military outpost from the 1820s. Set at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, learn the layered histories of the Native American, European and African peoples who settled here. After your tour, enjoy the rest of the day at leisure. (B)

After breakfast, you will have some free time to explore on your own. Later, you will transfer to the airport for your return flight home. (B)