Three Good Stops

Richmond to St. Louis: where to stop

821 miles, about 12 hr 16 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Richmond, VA and St. Louis, MO, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

Lexington, VAStretch your legs in Lexington, VA · mile 135

The other 6 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

B•••••, WVstretch, meal · mile 266
C•••••, WVfuel · mile 320
W•••••, KYstretch · mile 456
N•••••, INstretch, overnight, meal · mile 586
F•••••, INfuel · mile 640
L•••••, ILstretch, fuel · mile 776

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
15868 hr 46 minNew Albany, IN
22353 hr 30 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Richmond to St. Louis your way →

Questions

How far is Richmond, VA to St. Louis, MO?
About 821 miles, roughly 12 hr 16 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Richmond to St. Louis in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 2 days, with a night in New Albany, IN.

Where is a good place to stop between Richmond and St. Louis?
Lexington, VA is the first one on this route.