Looking for a historic hidden gem of a city to visit this summer? The travel website Orbitz says St. Louis should be on your bucket list.
In honor of the long Fourth of July weekend, Orbitz senior editor Jeanenne Tornatore published a list of the five beautiful places every American should visit. St. Louis earns a spot on the list with its historical attractions, including the Old Courthouse, the Museum of Westward Expansion, the Museum of Transportation and Forest Park, home to the 1904 World's Fair.
See also: St. Louis: A Cheap Canadian Traveler's Dream
Tornatore took her curated list to the Today Show, touting St. Louis' free attractions, the Gateway Arch, and the Loop neighborhood, especially the "boutique" Moonrise Hotel.
"A lot of these smaller Midwest cities are often overlooked," Tornatore says. Her other four choices are in the West or on the East Coast: Houston, Texas; the San Juan Islands in Washington; Estes Park, Colorado; and Charlottesville, Virginia.
"St. Louis is second only to Washington, D.C., in terms of free attractions and museums," Tornatore continues, getting an audible, "Oh!" of surprise out of Hoda Kotb.
"There's a lot to do here."
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Follow Lindsay Toler on Twitter at @StLouisLindsay. E-mail the author at [email protected].
