Hannibal

Samuel Clemens lived here from age four to seventeen and used the town as St Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The boyhood home on Hill Street is preserved with a whitewashed fence outside, and the museum complex covers several adjoining properties including the houses that belonged to the models for Becky Thatcher and Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain Cave outside town is the one in the book, where Tom and Becky are lost; it has been shown to visitors since 1886, which makes it Missouri's oldest operating show cave, and Clemens's own signature is among the thousands on the walls. Cardiff Hill and the lighthouse look over the river.

What you actually see

• The boyhood home - with the whitewashed fence.
• Mark Twain Cave - the one in the book, shown since 1886.
• Houses of the real models - for Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn.
• The Mississippi from Cardiff Hill - the view over the town.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The properties are individually ticketed or need a combination pass. The town leans hard on the association and some of it is thin. The cave is a separate drive and ticket. Winter reduces opening.

Nearby

The Mississippi runs past; Quincy, Illinois is north across the river.