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    Mark Twain Riverboat

    4.3 (64 reviews)

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    Mississippi River
    Ward D.

    A great riverboat tour that gives visitors a good history of the iconic Author While visiting Hannibal, we decided to take a ride on the Mark Twain Riverboat, and it turned out to be a very enjoyable way to spend about an hour on the Mississippi River. The riverboat departs from the riverfront in downtown Hannibal, making it easy to combine with visits to the other city sights like the Mark Twain Boyhood Home, museums, and the other attractions in the area. Before boarding, there is a nice gift shop where you can browse for souvenirs and they offer a photo opportunity to capture your visit before the cruise begins. The boat has three passenger decks with plenty of seating, so it wasn't difficult to find a comfortable place to enjoy the trip. We chose seats on the forward starboard side of the middle deck, which gave us some welcome shade while still providing excellent views of the river. As the boat makes its way along the Mississippi, the narrator gives a running commentary on the history of Hannibal, Mark Twain, the river, nearby islands, and many of the local landmarks. It adds a lot to the experience and helps you appreciate why this area played such an important role in Twain's life and writing. The cruise itself is fairly short, but that actually made it just about the right length. It provides a relaxing ride on one of America's most famous rivers while offering some beautiful views of Hannibal from the water that you simply can't get from land. Overall, we had a very nice time and thought it was well worth doing while visiting Hannibal. If you're interested in Mark Twain, the history of the Mississippi River, or just want a relaxing break during your visit, I think you'll enjoy this riverboat tour. Enjoy!

    Tami M.

    We went on this boat tour so we could say we were on the Mississippi!!! The staff was friendly. Easy to book via internet. Easy to find once in Hannibel. Was only one hour so not alot of visual. But did give a different look to Lovers leap and information about the river. The boat staff were friendly and they did provide food and drinks for purchase. Hot dogs, chic salad, nachos, popcorn , candy..and did look like it had a full bar. The boat was very comfortable. Three levels. Deck one is all inside, deck 2 is in and out and three all out. One thing I was said about is they have cover over the paddlewheel so you couldn't see it. Kinda defeats the purpose of being on a paddleboat....is to see the paddlewheel. Lol Be prepared that the water is not clear like the ocean or gulf....but the Muddy Mississippi. At this time it was above the banks so lots of debre. **parking is a bit tricky, the handicapped assigned parking is NOT the closest parking to the gangway. Be prepared to walk if using a walker! Not handicapped friendly for parking.

    Caroline M.

    This was such a peaceful way to spend an hour. Captain Steve did a great job of narrating our tour. It wasn't a busy cruise so it was great to have our own space. There wasn't a lot to see but I thought it was worth it. The woman at the bar was very personable. Tons of free parking.

    Dustin H.

    If you're a tourist in Hannibal I'd highly recommend booking a Mark Twain river cruise. You can book them online in advance--note that your ticket and email will say to meet at the office prior to your tour for loading. As of our visit (July 2019) the loading area and main office aren't open and we wouldn't have known that if not calling to check it out. You'll go to their "alternate loading area" due to construction/higher water at the original location. They plan to have that corrected by year's end. Signs for the alternate office and loading area are around the docks but it's basically around the corner from the bar that's at the bottom of the hill past Mark Twain Brewing Company. Anyway, we enjoyed the tour. We did the standard tour rather than the dinner tour as it was half the price, we'd rather be outside on the deck than in the cabin, and we wanted to eat somewhere else for dinner that evening. Drink and snack prices for the standard tour are fair though. The tour captain is good, tells enough local factoids worth hearing without constantly talking. It's a pleasant detour and fits in with everything else you're apt to do when in the area.

    DINNER AREA
    Cynthia H.

    Food was great!! Buffet style! Name on table so no need to hurry to be first in line! We did the Friday cruise for dinner it was very nice and romantic. The music was great one trip to buffet but the plates they give you are a good size very filling food. Out of souvenir glasses which was a downer. But very nice staff and crew! Loved our table at the windows and after dinner you are able to roam the boats three floors. We went up to the top floor and just watched the lights and the river. Music was good including a few pictures. They had salad but I skipped it for I can get more of the main courses

    Travis T.

    This was a nice cruise on the Mississippi River. I did the dinner cruise which came with a nice buffet dinner and music. The food was fantastic. The views of the Mississippi were gorgeous and I had a nice relaxing time meeting new people.

    Riding into the sunset at the end of the cruise.

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    Review Highlights - Mark Twain Riverboat

    “$40 for a wonderful buffet dinner, a cruise on the Mississippi river, nice jazz band and a great two hour experience.”

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    Mark Twain Cave

    Mark Twain Cave

    (65 reviews)

    $$

    This was a great experience for me, and my family! We stopped here on our way out of town and…read moreabsolutely loved our 60 minute walk-through the cave. Our tour guide was Avery and he was fantastic! From the middle that we stepped out to take a picture in front of the cave until we exited through the gift shop. It was a great experience. We walked through places in the cave that were noted in the adventures of Tom Sawyer, and through the cave history, including the thousands of signatures in the cave. We also participated in 15 through a pay dirt bag. This space is grade for all ages, and they have ample souvenirs. In the gift shop. We even visited the winery across the street. We look forward to potentially camping there in the future.

    Very much a definition of a tourist attraction, the Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal, MO ended up being…read morea worthwhile stop for my wife and me during Day 4 of our Mississippi River/Upper Midwest road trip. The stop was one of those places where I planned as a possibility if we had time and made sense, so didn't buy tickets upfront and thus paid the full adult price ($29.99 pp) when we got there. Other tours at the attraction included a guided tour of the Cameron Cave, a trolley tour, and Mark Twain Live Show. The Cameron Cave is the sister cave of this one, kept much more in a natural state (so more appropriate for visitors who come to visit a cave vs a museum for Samuel Clemens) , only open during the summer, and has almost twice the number of passages. We bought our tickets just as the 60 minute tour was starting, so we were hurriedly ushered into the starting theater where the short movie was ending. There was one other couple in our tour, and it was nice that our group was so small. Our guide was a young man who made up for his lack of knowledge in some areas with a lot of enthusiasm. The history of the discovery of the cave was given. He guided us around various areas (some a bit tight) and showed how dark the cave was without artificial light (would not want to be down here without a flashlight)...definitely brought to life some of the scenes I read in 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'. It also showed how children during that time would play in the cave without adult supervision... made me think of how my lack of sense of direction would have been a big problem. The cave is privately owned, and was declared a National Landmark in 1972. Part of the tour included seeing the famous people who had visited the cave as part of previous tours, leaving signatures. Our guide mentioned that 'Darth Vader' had left his mark there, but couldn't tell us who the actor was. Later I learned that it was Spencer Wilding, who portrayed the Sith Lord in 'Rogue One'...for my generation, Darth Vader is David Prowse (physical) and the iconic James Earl Jones (voice). It was a consistent 55 degrees in the cave which was a nice relief from the outside heat. We also learned how the cave was used for town meetings when it got really hot, and the places where children would doodle and pass time as their parents would deal with the town problems of the day. As we left, we entered a modern room with more information about the history of the cave as well as some small mockups of the passages. The exit led to the same gift shop where we bought our tickets. As we exited, we noticed a set-up for the Mark Twain Mining company, where kids of all ages could prospect for valuable minerals in the 'river'. We came during the low season so it wasn't running. We went to Mark Twain's home as an adult and father in Connecticut last year around this time, so was nice to come to Hannibal to see his childhood home, and experience a little bit of his childhood by coming to this cave and the tourism that surrounds it.

    Stark Caverns - The darkest part of the cave lot up with a black light flash light

    Stark Caverns

    (137 reviews)

    We had such a great time at Stark Caverns! Brielly was a great tour guide and made the whole…read moreexperience fun and educational. The caves were beautiful and we got some really great pictures. We learned a lot throughout the tour and it was a great experience for the whole family. We especially loved the complete darkness experience and the black light portion of the tour. Those were definitely some of our favorite parts. Overall, it was a really fun tour and we are so glad we went. I would definitely recommend Stark Caverns for families!

    Genuinely cool cave. There are algae fossils in there from when Missouri was underwater millions of…read moreyears ago, which is a wild thing to stand next to. Sadly our guide Macy was less "passionate cave enthusiast" and more "reciting a script she's said a thousand times and stopped listening to herself." I still don't know how this part of Missouri used to be an ocean based on the tour. She gave the exact same intro four separate times. Not because groups were bumping into each other, just straight up robot mode, probably from also trying to work in the photo package pitch every single time. Ask a follow up question and you'd get a shrug dressed up as an answer. A kid asked about a mineral and got a confident "nope, not that" immediately followed by "I'm not really a gem expert," which, ma'am, pick one. Nobody could tell us where all the clay that used to be in the cave went (there's a lot of water now after the excavation), how the bootleggers pulled off their operation, or whether the cave's ever taken earthquake damage. Also they sell alcohol at the gift shop right before you head into a dark cave, which feels like a liability seminar waiting to happen. What indigenous tribe did the skeleton remains belong to? How did you know it was an indigenous person(s)? What is the difference between an arrowhead and a spear, and when did those relics be given to be on display? She said the stairs were built by child labor because there are child sized handprints in the concrete, but provided no evidence of truth or why. Was it his 18 kids? No one knows. At least it was cool inside while the weather was hot outside. The cave has a story to tell. Macy just wasn't the one telling it. Would recommend the cave, would not recommend Macy. She already told us she's had a bad Yelp review, and I'm sad to say I understand why.

    Mineral Springs Haunted Tours

    Mineral Springs Haunted Tours

    (6 reviews)

    They truly have some amazing things inside here I truly enjoyed every moment of checking this…read moremuseum out. Don't forget to check out Sam, he's definitely something special today was my second time visiting. I'm looking forward to Dinner And Spirits.

    OK...let me first say that I have never seen a ghost and when a friend got a group of us together…read morefor a haunted tour in Alton I was not expecting much excitement. I was wrong. I'm still not sure about ghosts but the folks that run this operation take it very seriously and did a great job of presenting historical information about the MIneral Springs hotel and some of its past visitors that may still be...hmmm...visiting. They also went into great detail about the background on a number of individuals buried in the Alton Cemetery which we also toured in the dark with flashlights. The cost per person was $30 which included soft drinks and snacks at the hotel. Everyone also received a tarot card reading. Oh...did I mention we held a seance in the cemetery....hmmm. The entire event took about four hours and I have to admit a few strange things happened during the tour. So based on the presentation of four hours of well-thought out entertainment in a dark cemetery and old hotel, I give these folks four stars and a recommendation to check them out. Tip #1: Bring a flashlight and wear comfortable walking shoes Tip #2: Leave kids under 10 at home Tip #3: If you ever plan to go on a ghost tour anywhere, download an app called Ghost Radar. It was not made by the owners at Mineral Springs (or me), but they told us about it. It cost a buck and I still can't believe what happened when we used it during the tour of the cemetery. Tip #4: Get ready to say: Hmmm...

    Missouri State Penitentiary Tours

    Missouri State Penitentiary Tours

    (73 reviews)

    I took the 6:00 PM, two-hour history tour on 20th June this year and had such a fascinating…read moreexperience. I feel lucky to have had Michael Lear as our guide, he was absolutely brilliant and was a stellar storyteller! The prison itself is very interesting, has alot of history behind it and honestly a little chilling. Hearing about its dark history really makes you stop, think about life and human existence. The parts about solitary confinement and how tiny the cells were with several people stuffed in were especially shocking. Michael even took us down to the basement solitary area and turned off the lights for a full minute so we could feel what it was like. That part gave me chills. We also got to see the prison cells from the 1800s all the way up to more recent ones, and even the gas chamber. It was intense but very eye-opening. I highly recommend this tour 1000%! And if you are lucky enough to have Michael as your guide, you're in for something fascinating. He also has a Missouri murder history podcast which is definitely worth checking out and supporting - It is called Show Me Murder. To conclude, thanks MSP for such an unforgettable experience!

    The overnight paranormal investigation at the Missouri State Penitentiary was even cooler than it…read moresounds and honestly felt like a once in a lifetime experience. I was lucky enough to do the full eight hour overnight investigation, which means about 40 to 50 people with near free rein over three massive prison buildings in the middle of the night. Most of the time was spent breaking into small groups and exploring the grounds looking for paranormal activity, and for me that meant just me and one friend wandering dark cell blocks and corridors that felt completely abandoned. This is absolutely not for the faint of heart because there are long stretches where you truly feel alone, surrounded by silence, shadows, and your own racing thoughts. There were plenty of spine chills, more than a few moments where I questioned my life choices, and by the end of the night I walked out a full believer. It was intense, unforgettable, and easily one of the most fascinating and highly recommended adventures I have ever done.

    Mark Twain Riverboat - boating - Updated October 2026

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