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Travel guide
Minneapolis and Saint Paul
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: June to September
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Welcome
Minneapolis and Saint Paul, in a few days
Two twin cities on the Mississippi, one of converted flour mills and daring museums, the other of Victorian mansions and domes, linked by lakes where people paddle in summer and skate in winter. A giant spoon holding a cherry, in the middle of a sculpture garden, has become their emblem.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Walker Art Center and Sculpture Garden · about 3 hOne of America's great contemporary art museums, facing a free 7-hectare sculpture garden with some sixty works, including Oldenburg and van Bruggen's Spoonbridge and Cherry, the city's emblem since 1988.
- Afternoon · Minneapolis Institute of Art free · half a dayThe city's free encyclopaedic museum, opened in 1915, holding nearly 90,000 works, from Rembrandt's Lucretia, Van Gogh and Monet to period rooms, Japanese lacquer, Chinese bronzes and Native American art.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hewing Hotel ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€200 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Mill City Museum · about 2 hA museum built inside the burnt-out walls of the Washburn A mill, once the world's largest, with the Flour Tower lift ride through the rebuilt floors and a rooftop view of St. Anthony Falls.
- Afternoon · Stone Arch Bridge free · about 1 h 30James J. Hill's curving 1883 granite and limestone railway bridge below St. Anthony Falls, now for walkers and cyclists, with the best views of the mill ruins, the locks and the downtown towers.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hewing Hotel ↗€200 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Chain of Lakes free · half a dayLakes linked by canals and parks in south-west Minneapolis, including Bde Maka Ska and Lake Harriet, ringed by walking and cycle paths, for swimming and kayaking in summer and skating in winter.
- Late afternoon · Minnehaha Falls free · about 1 h 30A 16-metre waterfall dropping into a limestone gorge in a 70-hectare park, made famous by Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha, freezing into columns of ice in winter, with a creekside trail to the Mississippi.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hewing Hotel ↗€200 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Mall of America free · half a dayThe largest shopping centre in the United States, opened in 1992 in Bloomington, with more than 500 shops on four levels around Nickelodeon Universe, an indoor theme park with roller coasters.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hewing Hotel ↗€200 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Summit Avenue and the Cathedral of Saint Paul free · half a dayMore than 7 km of Victorian mansions in Saint Paul, including James J. Hill's red sandstone house and F. Scott Fitzgerald's home, ending at a cathedral crowned by a 57-metre dome.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €150 a day, mid-range
Best seasonJune to September
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/minneapolis
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.