Kansas City, United States

Evergreen city guide with quick facts, travel, business, and culture.

United StatesMissouri

Overview

Kansas City, Missouri, is a warm, walkable Midwestern city famous for three things above all — world-class barbecue, a deep jazz heritage born at 18th & Vine, and so many fountains it is nicknamed the 'City of Fountains'. Add a free downtown streetcar, the free Nelson-Atkins art museum, and the loudest sports stadium on Earth, and KC punches well above its size.

Barbecue

One of America's great barbecue cities — burnt ends, slow-smoked meats and 100-plus smokehouses from Arthur Bryant's to Joe's Kansas City.

Jazz Heritage

The 18th & Vine district where Kansas City jazz was born — the American Jazz Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and live sets across the city.

Fountains and Art

The fountain-filled Country Club Plaza and the free Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art with its giant shuttlecocks.

Downtown and Memorials

The National WWI Museum and Memorial, the Crossroads First Friday art walk and a free downtown streetcar.

Sports

The Chiefs at Arrowhead — the world's loudest stadium — and the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Travel Overview

Kansas City sits on the Missouri–Kansas state line (the big city is on the Missouri side), and for visitors it delivers a generous, unpretentious slice of America. Its reputation rests first on barbecue: KC is one of the great barbecue capitals, with more than a hundred smokehouses and a signature style built on slow-smoked meats, thick tomato-molasses sauce and the city's own invention, burnt ends. Its second great legacy is jazz — the historic 18th & Vine district was the cradle of the swinging, blues-rooted Kansas City sound of Count Basie and Charlie Parker, and today holds the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum under one roof. KC is also the 'City of Fountains', said to have more fountains than any city in the world except Rome, many of them clustered around the beautiful 1922 Country Club Plaza, the first shopping district in America designed for the automobile, built in a Spanish-Sevillian style. Culture runs deep and often free: the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (free admission, with Claes Oldenburg's giant shuttlecocks on its lawn), the National WWI Museum and Memorial beneath the landmark Liberty Memorial tower, and the gallery-lined Crossroads Arts District with its First Friday art walks. Getting around the core is genuinely easy — the KC Streetcar runs free through downtown — while greater Kansas City is car country. The single-terminal Kansas City International Airport (MCI) opened a sleek new building in 2023. KC is also a major-league sports town, home of the NFL Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium — officially the loudest stadium in the world — and the MLB Royals next door at the Truman Sports Complex.

Discover Kansas City

Barbecue is the first reason most people come to Kansas City, and it lives up to the billing. The KC style is defined by a wide range of slow-smoked meats — brisket, ribs, pulled pork, turkey, sausage — finished with a thick, sweet-and-tangy tomato-and-molasses sauce, and by the city's own contribution to the canon: burnt ends, the prized caramelised tips of the brisket. More than a hundred barbecue joints compete across the metro, from legendary counter institutions like Arthur Bryant's and Gates to modern favourites such as Joe's Kansas City (set in a working petrol station). Pulling up a tray, a roll of paper towels and a few sides is the essential Kansas City meal.

Frequently asked questions

Three things above all: barbecue (KC is one of the great barbecue capitals, and the home of burnt ends), jazz (the 18th & Vine district was a birthplace of the Kansas City sound), and fountains — it is nicknamed the 'City of Fountains' and is said to have more than any city except Rome. It is also home to the loudest stadium on Earth: Arrowhead Stadium holds the Guinness World Record for crowd noise at 142.2 decibels.

Everywhere — there are more than a hundred smokehouses. Order burnt ends (the city's own invention), plus ribs, brisket and pulled pork with the thick, sweet-tangy KC sauce. Legendary names include Arthur Bryant's and Gates, while Joe's Kansas City — famously set in a working petrol station — is a modern favourite. Grab a tray, plenty of paper towels and a couple of sides.

It is the historic heart of Kansas City jazz, where the swinging, blues-rooted KC style of Count Basie and Charlie Parker took shape in the 1920s and 30s. Today it holds the American Jazz Museum (with live music at the Blue Room) and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum on a shared campus, plus late-night jam sessions at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. It is the essential stop for music and heritage.

Diplomatic missions in Kansas City

1 embassy based in this city, grouped by region.