Collinsville's position in Metro East puts several worthwhile destinations within an easy drive.
St. Louis, Missouri (20 minutes west) is the obvious anchor. The Gateway Arch National Park is free to enter the grounds and cheap to ride the tram to the top — arrive early to beat the lines. The St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park is free and genuinely excellent, with a strong collection of European masters and pre-Columbian antiquities. The City Museum, a sprawling industrial sculpture playground, is unlike anything else.
Grafton, Illinois (45 minutes north) sits at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and has the feel of a small river town that discovered wine tourism. The bluffs above town offer dramatic views, especially in autumn. Pere Marquette State Park nearby has good hiking trails.
Alton, Illinois (30 minutes north) is a historic Mississippi River town with antique shops, a notable Civil War history as the site of the last Lincoln-Douglas debate, and a riverfront worth a walk.
