- 1. Weston, Missouri (about 40 minutes)
- 2. Lawrence, Kansas (about 45 minutes)
- 3. Topeka (about 1 hour)
- 4. St. Joseph, Missouri (about 1 hour)
- 5. Manhattan and the Flint Hills (about 2 hours)
- 6. Lake of the Ozarks (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
- 7. Omaha, Nebraska (about 3 hours)
- 8. Wichita (about 3 hours)
- 9. Springfield, Missouri (about 3 hours)
- 10. Tulsa, Oklahoma (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
- 11. Branson (about 3 hours 45 minutes)
- 12. St. Louis (about 3 hours 45 minutes)
- Getting out of Kansas City without a car
- Cheap weekend getaways from Kansas City by car
- Last-minute weekend getaways from Kansas City
Kansas City sits within a comfortable drive of more variety than most people give it credit for, and the twelve below are ordered by how long it takes to get there. Drive times are for clear roads, so add to them for a Friday evening start.
1. Weston, Missouri (about 40 minutes)
A river town that stopped growing in the 1860s and kept its main street as a result. Antique shops, a couple of distilleries and a brewery, with Weston Bend State Park above the Missouri River for the view.
2. Lawrence, Kansas (about 45 minutes)
Massachusetts Street is one of the better main streets in the Midwest and the university supplies the energy. The Spencer Museum of Art is free, and the Haskell Indian Nations University campus is worth the detour.
3. Topeka (about 1 hour)
Worth the drive for the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park alone, housed in the segregated school at the centre of the case, which softens nothing.
4. St. Joseph, Missouri (about 1 hour)
Where the Pony Express started and where Jesse James was shot, both of which have museums. The Glore Psychiatric Museum is the unexpected one and tends to stay with people.
5. Manhattan and the Flint Hills (about 2 hours)
The last large stretch of tallgrass prairie left anywhere, protected at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Drive the Flint Hills Scenic Byway in late spring when the grass is green and the sky does most of the work.
6. Lake of the Ozarks (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
More than a thousand miles of shoreline, which is more than the coast of California, and a boating culture built on top of it. Ha Ha Tonka State Park at the western end has castle ruins above the water.
7. Omaha, Nebraska (about 3 hours)
The Henry Doorly Zoo is genuinely one of the best in the country, the Old Market handles the eating and drinking, and the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge lets you stand in two states at once.
8. Wichita (about 3 hours)
Old Cowtown Museum, a strong art museum, and the Keeper of the Plains sculpture where the two rivers meet, lit by fire bowls most evenings.
9. Springfield, Missouri (about 3 hours)
The practical base for the Ozarks, and home to the original Bass Pro Shops with the Wonders of Wildlife aquarium attached, which is far better than that description suggests.
10. Tulsa, Oklahoma (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
An art deco city centre funded by oil money, the Philbrook and Gilcrease museums, and Greenwood Rising, which tells the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in the district where it happened.
11. Branson (about 3 hours 45 minutes)
Theatres, Silver Dollar City and Table Rock Lake. It is unapologetically what it is, and with children in the car that is usually the point.
12. St. Louis (about 3 hours 45 minutes)
The other end of Missouri and a straight swap of one city for another. The Gateway Arch, a free zoo and a free art museum make it cheap once you have arrived.
Getting out of Kansas City without a car
Amtrak’s Missouri River Runner crosses the state to St. Louis twice a day, and the Southwest Chief stops at Lawrence and Topeka once in each direction, which covers two of the closest trips on this list. Everything else here assumes a car, and the Flint Hills in particular are the kind of drive that is the point of the trip.
Cheap weekend getaways from Kansas City by car
- Weston: free to walk, and the state park charges nothing to enter
- Lawrence: student prices on a main street worth walking
- Flint Hills: the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is free to enter
- Topeka: the Brown v. Board historical park is free
Last-minute weekend getaways from Kansas City
- Lawrence or Weston, both close enough to decide on Saturday morning
- Topeka, which almost never sells out
- St. Joseph, an hour away with museums that take walk-ins
- Omaha, large enough to absorb a late booking
If you are deciding on the day, work backwards from the drive rather than the destination: anything under two hours leaves you a genuine Saturday, and anything past four is really a three-day trip wearing a weekend label.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
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