Plan Your Visit: St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station Tickets & Hours
Revised July 14, 2026
How do I plan a visit to the St. Louis Aquarium?
The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station is open Sunday–Thursday 9am–5pm and Friday–Saturday 9am–6pm, with last admission 45 minutes before close. General admission runs about $25–$30 for adults and $18–$25 for kids 3–12 (under 3 free); prices are dynamic, so check the live ticket page. Parking is $5 with gift-shop validation.
Keep reading ↓There’s a moment that happens to almost every kid in Shark Canyon. They’re walking along, a little bored, and then a sand tiger shark glides past the glass at eye level — and they just stop. Mouth open. For a few seconds nobody is asking for a snack or a phone. That moment is what the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station does best.
Tucked inside the historic Union Station, the aquarium is one of the metro’s newest family attractions and a reliable rainy-day rescue. But it’s also a ticketed visit in a city famous for its free zoo, so it’s fair to ask whether it’s worth it — and to know exactly what you’ll pay, when it’s open, and how to get the most out of a couple of hours there.
Here’s the honest, up-to-date plan-your-visit guide for 2026, verified against the aquarium’s official information. Because prices now change by the day, the one thing to always double-check is the live ticket page — more on that below. Everything else here (hours, parking, what to see) holds steady, so you can plan the rest of your day with confidence.
Save this page and share it with whoever you’re taking — then check the live ticket page at stlouisaquarium.com for the exact price on your date.
Is the St. Louis Aquarium worth visiting?
For families with kids roughly 3–12, on a hot or rainy day, or as part of a full day at Union Station — yes, it’s worth it. It’s a well-designed, walkable, air-conditioned two hours with genuine wow moments and lots of hands-on touch tanks. Where honesty matters: the world-class St. Louis Zoo is free and much larger, so if you want a big all-day outing on a nice day, the zoo is unbeatable value. The aquarium wins on a different axis — it’s indoor, compact, interactive, and easy to pair with the St. Louis Wheel and Union Station’s other attractions. Many families do the zoo and the aquarium on separate trips and love both.
How much are tickets to the St. Louis Aquarium?
General admission runs roughly $25–$30 for adults and about $18–$25 for kids ages 3–12, with children under 3 free and a discounted rate for seniors 65+. The important 2026 change: the aquarium now uses dynamic pricing, so the exact cost flexes with the date and season and only appears in the checkout on the official ticket page. Don’t trust an old “$25 flat” figure from a few years back — check the live page for your day.
A few ways to save:
- Combo tickets pair the aquarium with the St. Louis Wheel and other Union Station attractions for less than buying separately.
- Annual memberships start around $61 for one person and pay for themselves in about two visits — they include free parking, 15% off the gift shop and Union Station restaurants and attractions, and hotel discounts.
- Kids under 3 are free, so a young family’s cost is lower than the sticker suggests.
St. Louis Aquarium hours
The aquarium is open Sunday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Last admission is 45 minutes before closing, so arrive with time to spare. Hours can shift around holidays, so confirm on the official site if you’re visiting on a special date.
Good news for planning: the aquarium dropped timed-entry tickets. Your ticket is now all-day general admission with re-entry, so you can come when you like during open hours, step out for lunch at Union Station, and come back — no reservation window to catch.
What’s inside the aquarium?
The aquarium tells the story of water from a local creek all the way to the deep ocean, across six galleries on two levels — and it leans into its train-station home with a fun themed entry:
- Confluence Gallery — the fish of our own Missouri and Mississippi rivers, right where two of America’s great rivers meet.
- Global Rivers — river life from the Amazon to Asia.
- Changing Rivers — playful river otters, sloths, and interactive water tables the little ones love.
- Ocean Shore — tropical fish and coral color.
- Shark Canyon — the marquee, a 250,000-gallon habitat of sharks, rays, and sea turtles you walk right up to.
- The Deep — the strange, glowing creatures of the twilight ocean.
The best parts for kids are the hands-on ones: touch pools with stingrays, jellyfish and sea-urchin touch stations, doctor-fish tanks, and starfish petting. There’s an upstairs water-play area for the youngest visitors, too. The aquarium is ZAA-accredited and Sensory Certified, with quiet-friendly accommodations, and it’s stroller- and family-friendly throughout.
Beyond the galleries, it’s worth timing your visit around the special experiences: scheduled stingray feedings and diver shows in Shark Canyon, up-close animal encounters, and seasonal events like the much-loved Polar Express Train Ride during the holidays. The aquarium also hosts birthday parties and overnight sleepovers under the sharks. Grab a daily schedule when you arrive so you don’t miss a feeding — watching a diver hand-feed a sea turtle is the kind of thing kids talk about for a week.
A train station turned aquarium
Part of the fun is the setting. The St. Louis Aquarium opened on Christmas Day 2019 inside Union Station — the grand 1894 railway terminal that later became a shopping mall and then faded, before a major redevelopment turned it into today’s entertainment destination. The aquarium literally took over the old mall space, and it embraces the history: your visit begins with a train-station-themed experience, complete with a conductor and a short “ride,” before the galleries open up. Even the walk in, under Union Station’s restored barrel-vaulted Grand Hall, is worth a look up. It’s a genuinely local attraction — St. Louis’s railroad past repurposed into a modern family outing.
How long does it take to go through the St. Louis Aquarium?
Plan on about 1.5 to 2.5 hours for a typical visit — the aquarium suggests giving yourself at least one to three hours. Families with young kids who stop at every touch tank land at the longer end; a quick walk-through is closer to an hour. Since there’s no timed entry and re-entry is allowed, you can pace it however your crew needs.
Parking and getting there
The aquarium is inside St. Louis Union Station at 1820 Market Street (the aquarium entrance is at 201 S. 18th Street). Parking is easy and cheap by downtown standards: the South Lot offers a $5 flat rate when you validate at the gift shop (credit card only). You can also take MetroLink — the Union Station stop on the Red and Blue lines is a short walk from the door, which makes for a car-free trip from the airport or downtown hotels.
Tips for the best visit
- Go on a weekday morning if you can — it’s calmest right at open, and Sunday–Thursday close at 5.
- Bundle it with the St. Louis Wheel or the other Union Station attractions on a combo ticket to save.
- Validate your parking at the gift shop for the $5 rate before you leave.
- Note the after-3 p.m. rule: per Union Station’s code of conduct, guests 16 and under need an adult 21+ with them after 3 p.m.
- Buy online in advance on a busy weekend to skip the line.
- Dress in light layers — the galleries are kept cool for the animals, so a thin jacket keeps little ones comfortable.
- Grab the daily schedule at the entrance so you can plan around feedings, diver shows, and animal encounters instead of catching them by luck.
More to do at Union Station
The aquarium is the anchor, but it’s one stop in a whole entertainment complex — the 200-foot St. Louis Wheel, a carousel, a ropes course, mini golf, a mirror maze, and the free nightly Fire & Light Show on the lake, plus restaurants and the historic Grand Hall. It’s easy to turn an aquarium ticket into a full day — see our guide to everything there is to do at Union Station, and our guide to shopping and gifts at Union Station, to round out the trip.
And when hunger hits, you don’t have to leave. Union Station has the Soda Fountain (famous for its over-the-top Freak Shakes), Station Grille in the historic Fred Harvey space, Landry’s Seafood under the old train shed, and more. It’s genuinely easy to arrive mid-morning, do the aquarium, grab lunch, ride the Wheel toward sunset, and catch the free Fire & Light Show after dark — a full, low-stress day for the whole family without ever moving the car.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much are tickets to the St. Louis Aquarium?
General admission runs roughly $25 to $30 for adults and about $18 to $25 for kids ages 3 to 12, with children under 3 free and a senior rate for 65+. The aquarium uses dynamic pricing now, so the exact cost changes by date — check the live ticket page at stlouisaquarium.com for your day, and look at combo and membership options to save.
What are the St. Louis Aquarium hours?
The aquarium is open Sunday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Last admission is 45 minutes before closing. Hours can change around holidays, so confirm on the official site for special dates. There are no timed tickets — admission is all day with re-entry.
How long does it take to go through the St. Louis Aquarium?
Most visits take about 1.5 to 2.5 hours, and the aquarium suggests planning at least one to three hours. Families who linger at the touch tanks stay longer; a quick walk-through runs about an hour. With no timed entry and re-entry allowed, you can set your own pace.
Is parking free at the St. Louis Aquarium?
Not free, but cheap: the South Lot at Union Station charges a $5 flat rate when you validate at the aquarium gift shop (credit card only). You can also skip parking entirely by taking MetroLink to the Union Station stop on the Red or Blue line, a short walk from the entrance.
Do you need timed tickets for the St. Louis Aquarium?
No. The aquarium dropped timed-entry tickets, so your ticket is now all-day general admission with re-entry. Come any time during open hours, step out for lunch at Union Station, and return the same day. Buying online in advance is still smart on busy weekends to skip the line.
St. Louis Zoo or aquarium — which is better?
They’re different trips. The St. Louis Zoo is world-class, free, and huge — the best value for a full day on nice weather. The aquarium is a ticketed, indoor, interactive 1.5–2.5-hour experience that shines on hot or rainy days and pairs perfectly with Union Station’s other attractions. Many families happily do both on separate visits.
Is the St. Louis Aquarium free?
No, the St. Louis Aquarium is a paid attraction — general admission runs roughly $25 to $30 for adults, with kids under 3 free. (You may be thinking of the St. Louis Zoo, which is free.) That said, Union Station has free things to enjoy around your visit, including the nightly Fire & Light Show on the lake and the Grand Hall light show.
Is the St. Louis Aquarium worth going to?
For families with kids around 3 to 12, on a hot or rainy day, or as part of a full Union Station outing, most visitors say yes. It’s a polished, hands-on couple of hours with real wow moments like the 250,000-gallon Shark Canyon and plenty of touch tanks. If you want a free, all-day outing in good weather, the St. Louis Zoo is the better value — the two attractions suit different days.
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