Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) is an easy to navigate midsize airport with shops and lots of domestic and Canadian flights. Metrolink light rail runs from STL Airport to downtown St. Louis. Shuttles: Some airport hotels have shuttles; their pick-up phones are located by Terminal exits MT 12 & 17. Taxis are at the Main Terminal lower level. A taxi ride from STL Airport to downtown costs $25-30, depending on commute time. Car Rental service includes Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National and Thrifty. The most direct route to downtown is to follow airport exit signs to I-70 Freeway, East; then it’s 11-12 miles.

Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center located at 430 South 15th Street is the St. Louis home for Amtrak. Operating 24/7, the transportation center has a food court and earns an intermodal status for being adjacent to a Metrolink station, while hosting Greyhound, taxis, a rental car center and these daily Amtrak routes:

Missouri: Chicago-Springfield-St Louis-Jefferson City-Kansas City
Illinois: Chicago-St Louis
Texas Eagle: Chicago-St. Louis-Little Rock-Dallas-Ft Worth-San Antonio

Milwaukee-Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City is a U.S. High Speed Rail Corridor receiving contruction funding by the U.S. Department of Transportation. For more context on this subject, see this important article about Interstate High Speed Rail.

MetroLink light rail transit runs every 6 minutes during peak periods, then tapers to 30 minutes.  You can get from STL airport to the Downtown convention center in only 35 minutes.  Though St. Louis metro area plans to expand their number, current MetroLink lines are:

Red: STL Airport-Forest Park-Downtown-Gateway Arch-East St. Louis-Belleville-Shiloh

Blue: Shrewsbury-Clayton-University City-Forest Park-Downtown-Gateway Arch-Fairview Heights

St. Louis Freeway Network is designed to get you quickly to downtown, points west and the airport and Interstates 70, 44, 64 and 55 freeways interconnect at or near downtown. Unfortunately, the freeways exits downtown can approach quickly with little forewarning by freeway signage, so be attentive. Freeway names are:

  44    Interstate from I-55 near downtown to southwest Missouri
  55    Interstate from Memphis to St Louis to Chicago
  64    Interstate (Route 40) Illinois thru St. Louis
  70    Interstate from east Coast to St. Louis to Kansas City
170    Interstate connector between I-64, I-70 and I-270
255    Interstate joins I-270 in Illinois to form a St. Louis beltway
270    Interstate beltway on the western side of St. Louis

Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge
Formerly known as Veterans Bridge when built in 1951, this cantilever truss bridge spans the mighty Mississippi River, connecting St. Louis with East St. Louis, IL. Renovated over the years, it is considered to be an integral part of Route 770 Highway. Get an excellent view of this bridge from Laclede’s Landing on the St. Louis riverfront.

Parking downtown is fine except during major events, where you need to arrive early. Use secured parking lots with guards and check for ID badges of the parking lot attendant, even around America's Center and the Gateway Arch.