Discover Kansas City Between Trains

A Guide for Amtrak Passengers

 
Kansas City's Amtrak Station is at the heart of this great city, the "Heart of America."
Many of Kansas City's most popular attractions can be reached easily from here,
either on foot or by local public transit. Check us out, and come back when you
can stay longer. Here are more than a dozen ways to make your stay in
Kansas City a treat.

Within Walking Distance…
UNION STATION / SCIENCE CITY - Built in 1914, this monumental
structure has been completely refurbished and now includes shops
and eating places, as well as Science City at Union Station, an Iwerks theater,
live theaters, and a planetarium.

Admission to the station itself is free; admission to Science City is up to $12,
but free if you are a member of a cooperating museum. Get there by going
up to the Main Street level and exiting the Amtrak station, then walk about
100 yards down the street to your right. Enter Union Station through the
Transit Center entrance off Main Street, or through the main entrance on the south
side of the station. (Amtrak will be moving its station back to Union Station in the
Fall of 2001.) Trolley tours of the city ($7) leave from the Transit Center on the
West side of the station.

CROWN CENTER - This massive project just south and east of the Amtrak station
surrounds the corporate headquarters of Hallmark Cards. It includes a shopping
center, movie theaters, "Kaleidoscope" children's center, ice skating (in season),
legitimate theaters, two convention hotels, apartments, and a number of commercial
office buildings. Explore much of the complex via "The Link," an enclosed, elevated
walkway that you can enter from the Union Station Transit Center on Main Street,
just south of the Amtrak station.

CHECK OUT THE TRAINS - Kansas City is the second busiest rail freight hub in the US
after Chicago. Dozens of cross-country freight trains of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe,
the Union Pacific, and other railroads pass by the Amtrak station every day, and you can get a
first-class view of them from Science City's "Train Room". Five miles east of the station the
new $55 million Sheffield bridge carries BNSF trains over the north-south tracks of the UP
and Kansas City Southern railroads, eliminating one of the nation's busiest rail bottlenecks.

Just a Transit Trip Away…
DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY - Catch the blue north/south "Downtowner" shuttle
bus weekdays at the stop on Main Street just outside the Amtrak station entrance.
Fare is 25 cents. Ask for a transfer and use it to return free. Downtown attractions
include:

• City Hall, 12^th and Oak (two blocks east of the 12^th and Grand stop). See the city
  from the free roof-top observation deck, open 9-4 weekdays.
  
• Federal Reserve Bank, 10^th and Grand. Educational exhibits about economics
  and the money supply, 9-4 weekdays.
  
• River Market, 4^th and Grand. Farmers market on weekends, restaurants and
  shops throughout the week. Home to the Steamboat Arabia Museum.
  Surrounding district has hundreds of loft apartments in a uniquely urban setting
  dating back before the Civil War.
  
• 10^th and Main Transit Center, 10^th and Main. Bus connections here to many
  parts of the metro area.
  
• Case Park, 7 blocks west of the 10^th and Main Transit Center (on the east/west
  Downtowner route), provides a commanding view of the Kansas and Missouri
  river valleys, and was once a campsite for the Lewis and Clark expedition.
  
• Bartle Hall Convention Center and Barney Allis Plaza public square, 12^th to 15^th,
  Wyandotte to Broadway. Walk two blocks west from 12^th and Main.

KANSAS CITY STEAKS / BBQ

• Hereford House, 20^th and Main. Walk north from Amtrak station along Main
  about 200 yards.
  
• Majestic Steak House, 9^th and Broadway. Take #27, #56, or #57 bus to 10^th,
  walk west four blocks.
  
• Gates Bar-B-Q, 32^nd and Main. Take #56 or #57 bus south to the restaurant,
  one of more than 80 BBQ restaurants in the metro area.

THE VISUAL ARTS - Take #56 or #57 bus south to 45^th and Main, walk one block
east to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 45^th and Warwick, then through
the grounds of the Kansas City Art Institute to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
45^th and Oak. Excellent Chinese collection plus outdoor sculpture garden (collection
of Henry Moore sculptures) and whimsical giant shuttlecocks on north and south
lawn. A real gem in the Heartland.

COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA - Developed by J.C. Nichols beginning in the 1920's,
this unique shopping district displays a Spanish architectural style and is generally
recognized as the first suburban shopping center in the US. Great place to walk,
to see and be seen. South and east of 47^th and Main. Take #56 or #57 bus
southbound from the stop on Main Street just outside the Amtrak station.

RIVERBOAT CASINOS - Ride the "Casino Express" bus to visit three of Kansas
City's four major casinos, as well as "Worlds of Fun" - family amusement park.
Each has eating places, movie theaters and other entertainment in addition to "gaming."
Catch the #173 bus southbound on Main, just outside the Amtrak station entrance.

HARRY TRUMAN'S INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI. Visit the historic
Harry S. Truman Courthouse on the square, or the nearby Truman Home and
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. Take blue Downtowner bus to 11^th and
Grand, transfer to #24 Independence bus. Pay full $1 fare and ask for a full-fare
transfer. Courthouse is one block east of Independence Transit Center; Truman
home and library can be reached via local circulator route from the Independence
Transit Center. Or, if you're traveling on the St. Louis-Kansas City trains, just get
off at the Independence stop, just a half-dozen blocks from downtown Independence.

SIGHTSEEING BY BUS. Routes #56 and #57 take you through Kansas City's
midtown, past the Country Club Plaza and Brookside, and through the city's
Country Club residential district. Round trip to Waldo (75^th Street) takes less than
two hours. Route #173 lets you see Kansas City's downtown and much of its
industrial riverfront. Round trip takes less than two hours.

LOCAL TRANSIT SERVICE
Routes #56, #57 and #173 serve the stop just outside the Amtrak station on Main
Street. Other routes serve the Union Station Transit Center just 100 yards south
on Main, and the 10^th and Main Transit Center downtown (take the blue Downtowner
bus). Downtowner fare is 25 cents. Regular adult transit fare is $1, children 6-11 25 cents,
children under 5 free. Transfers are free.

Connections to other inter-city transportation:
BUS LINES: GREYHOUND STATION, 12^th and Troost. Take #56, or #57 bus
northbound (toward downtown) on Main; transfer to eastbound #12 or #25 bus at
12^th and Walnut stop. Fare is $1; get transfer as you board bus.

AIRLINES: KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

• Via PUBLIC TRANSIT: Take #56, or #57 bus north to 10^th Street, walk west
  one block to 10^th and Main Transit Center; take #129 bus (hourly, 6 am to 10 pm)
  to Northland Transit Center and transfer to KCI bus. Fare is $1; ask for transfer
  as you board.
• Via KCI SHUTTLE: Walk to Westin Crown Center Hotel and ask bellman.

Vans depart about every 30 minutes. One-way fare is approximately $11.00