United StatesMinneapolis
Discover routes, attractions, and guides in Minneapolis.
8 routes
Minneapolis: Cuba-Touring Orchestra, Indigenous James Beard Winner and 150 Miles of Lake Superior Cliffs
Hear the Minnesota Orchestra that toured Cuba in 2014 after a 16-month lockout nearly destroyed it, eat at Owamni where Sean Sherman won Best New Restaurant James Beard using only Indigenous ingredients, walk Nicollet Mall where the Mary Tyler Moore Show tossed her hat in the 1970s first modern American pedestrian corridor, drive Highway 61 Bob Dylan road past Split Rock Lighthouse on 130-foot Lake Superior basalt cliffs, land at MSP airport for direct Delta flights to Tokyo and London then take the Blue Line train downtown in 25 minutes, and bike the 13-mile Chain of Lakes trail on a summer morning.
Minneapolis: Mississippi River national park and 22 city lakes (best urban park system US, Grand Rounds 87km loop, Bde Maka Ska), Prince and Paisley Park (Purple Rain 1984, First Avenue nightclub, 100M records, Paisley Park museum), Mall of America (largest US mall, 40M visitors, Nickelodeon Universe, Walker Art Center Spoonbridge and Cherry, Guthrie Theater Jean Nouvel), Twin Cities food and diversity (Somali diaspora largest US 70,000-100,000, Hmong Village Saint Paul, Juicy Lucy invention, Minnesota State Fair 2M visitors), George Floyd Square (May 25 2020, Darnella Frazier, largest US protest movement 15-26M people, Chauvin convicted 2021), Practical (skyway system 13km longest world, Vikings 4 Super Bowls 0 wins, MSP airport Delta hub, Metro Blue Line airport rail)
Minneapolis highlights: Mississippi River and lakes (22 lakes, Grand Rounds 87km parkway, best urban park system in US by Trust for Public Land, Bde Maka Ska Dakota renaming), Prince legacy (39 albums, 100M records, Purple Rain 24 weeks at #1, Paisley Park Museum Chanhassen, First Avenue nightclub 1937 bus depot), Mall of America (520 stores, 40M visitors, Nickelodeon Universe roller coaster, Walker Art Center 13,000 works, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Guthrie Theater Jean Nouvel Endless Bridge), Twin Cities food and diversity (Somali diaspora 70,000-100,000 Cedar-Riverside, Hmong Village largest urban Hmong community US, Juicy Lucy Matts Bar vs 5-8 Club rivalry, Minnesota State Fair 2M visitors), George Floyd Square (May 25 2020 murder, Darnella Frazier Pulitzer citation, 15-26M protesters largest US protest movement, Chauvin 22.5 years first convicted Minneapolis officer), Practical (Skyway System 13km longest world, Vikings 4 Super Bowls 0 titles, MSP Delta hub, Metro Blue Line airport to downtown).
Minneapolis R2: Nicollet Mall and downtown architecture (IDS Center Philip Johnson 1972, Foshay Tower 1929 W Hotel, Mary Tyler Moore statue, Hennepin Ave theater district), University of Minnesota (51,000 students, 29 Nobel laureates, Norman Borlaug Green Revolution 1 billion deaths prevented, Bob Dylan Dinkytown 1959-1960), Boundary Waters Canoe Area (1.1M acres, 1,175 lakes, most visited US wilderness, Twin Metals mining controversy), Saint Paul (Minnesota State Capitol Cass Gilbert, Summit Avenue F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cathedral of Saint Paul), Minnesota Scandinavian heritage (1.5M Norwegian descent, Minnehaha Falls Longfellow, lutefisk Lutheran church suppers, Lake Wobegon Garrison Keillor), Day trips (Duluth Lake Superior Aerial Lift Bridge, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Stillwater Victorian birthplace of Minnesota)
Minneapolis extended: Nicollet Mall (Mary Tyler Moore statue, IDS Center Philip Johnson Crystal Court, Foshay Tower Washington Monument replica, Hennepin Ave theater district Orpheum State Pantages), University of Minnesota (29 Nobel laureates, Norman Borlaug Nobel Peace 1970 Green Revolution, Bob Dylan Dinkytown first performances 1959-1960), Boundary Waters (1.1M acres 1,175 lakes most visited US wilderness, Twin Metals copper mining controversy), Saint Paul (Cass Gilbert Capitol largest dome world 1905, Summit Avenue F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise, Cathedral of Saint Paul French Renaissance 1915), Scandinavian heritage (1.5M Norwegian 900,000 Swedish, Minnehaha Falls Longfellow Song of Hiawatha, lutefisk lefse church suppers, Lake Wobegon Prairie Home Companion Fitzgerald Theater), Day trips (Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge Lake Superior 10% worlds freshwater, Mayo Clinic Rochester USD 17B 70,000 employees, Stillwater birthplace of Minnesota 1848).
Minneapolis: F. Scott Fitzgerald Summit Avenue, Guthrie Theater Over the River and 9 Miles of Indoor Skyways
Shop 500 stores at Mall of America where Minnesota no-tax on clothing law draws out-of-state visitors to the nation second most visited attraction, see Saint Paul Victorian grandeur on Summit Avenue where Fitzgerald grew up under the second-largest self-supporting dome after Rome, browse 90000 objects in the free Minneapolis Institute of Art permanent collection, understand Minneapolis reckoning after George Floyd at 38th and Chicago where the memorial remained for two years, see the Guthrie Endless Bridge cantilevered 178 feet over Mississippi mill ruins, and navigate downtown in January through 9.5 miles of heated second-floor Skyway bridges.
Minneapolis: Bob Dylan Dinkytown Coffeehouses, East African Little Mogadishu and Gehry Campus
Hike the Mississippi River Gorge the only true gorge on the upper river through limestone bluffs on the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, watch the Twins play outdoors at Target Field where limestone and skyline views make it one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball, walk Dinkytown where Bob Dylan launched his career at the Ten OClock Scholar before leaving for New York, explore Bde Maka Ska Uptown waterfront and Eat Street for Vietnamese and Somali food on Nicollet, see how Minneapolis largest Somali diaspora in the US transformed Cedar-Riverside into Little Mogadishu, and visit 500 artists in their Northeast studios during Art-A-Whirl open studios.
Minneapolis: Prince Paisley Park, Spoonbridge Cherry and the Busiest Wilderness in America
Visit the Spoonbridge and Cherry in the country largest urban sculpture garden beside Walker Art Center, walk the Stone Arch Bridge above St. Anthony Falls where Minneapolis milled 12 million loaves of bread worth of flour daily at its 1880s peak, plan a BWCA canoe trip 150 miles north through 1000 lakes that requires a permit lottery months in advance, eat 50 new foods on sticks at the Great Minnesota Get-Together state fair drawing 2 million people, make a pilgrimage to First Avenue club and Paisley Park in Chanhassen where Prince recorded everything he ever made, and bike the 13-mile Chain of Lakes trail from Bde Maka Ska to Lake Harriet bandshell concerts.
Minneapolis R3: Target Field and Twins (1987 and 1991 World Series champions, 1991 Greatest World Series ever, Kirby Puckett walk-off Game 6), Minneapolis literary scene (Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions, Sinclair Lewis first American Nobel Literature, F. Scott Fitzgerald Saint Paul Summit Avenue), brewing culture (Surly Bill 2011 changed Minnesota law, Grain Belt Nordeast revival, North Loop warehouse district), Uptown and lakes (Bde Maka Ska renaming controversy, Lake Harriet Bandshell, chain of lakes 53km cycling), Vikings and US Bank Stadium (4 Super Bowls 0 wins, Minneapolis Miracle 2018 Diggs, Minnesota Lynx 4 WNBA titles), Grand Rounds cycling (best US bike city, 87km parkway loop, Midtown Greenway 5,000 daily cyclists, year-round winter cycling)
Minneapolis sports and culture: Target Field and Twins (1987 and 1991 World Series, 1991 greatest WS 5 one-run walk-off games, Kirby Puckett Hall of Fame), literary scene (Graywolf Press Milkweed Editions, Sinclair Lewis first American Nobel Literature 1930, F. Scott Fitzgerald Great Gatsby Saint Paul), brewing (Surly Bill 2011 legalized taprooms triggering 200 new breweries, Grain Belt Nordeast 1893 brand revival, North Loop warehouse district), Uptown and lakes (Bde Maka Ska 2020 renaming from Calhoun, 53km chain of lakes cycling, Lake Harriet Bandshell free summer concerts), Vikings and US Bank Stadium (4 Super Bowls 0 titles, Minneapolis Miracle January 14 2018 Keenum-to-Diggs, Minnesota Lynx 4 WNBA championships most successful franchise), Grand Rounds cycling (best or 2nd best US bike city, 87km Grand Rounds loop, Midtown Greenway 5,000 daily cyclists, year-round winter cycling culture studded tires).
Minneapolis R4: Visual arts scene (Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Spoonbridge and Cherry, Art-a-Whirl 700 artists 20,000 visitors, McKnight-Jerome-Bush foundations USD 100M grants), First Avenue music (Prince Purple Rain 1983 filming, Husker Du, The Replacements, Atmosphere, Rhymesayers Entertainment), Minnesota State Fair (2M visitors, 60-80 new foods-on-a-stick, Pronto Pup 1941 first corn dog, Sweet Martha Cookies 1M per day), Hmong and Somali communities (Hmong Village 300 vendors, Cedar-Riverside Little Mogadishu, Riverside Plaza 4,000 residents), Winter lake culture (frozen lake skating, Pond Hockey Championships Bde Maka Ska, ice fishing Mille Lacs, Skyway 13km longest world), Practical (summer best, Metro Blue and Green Lines, no sales tax on clothing, Minnesota Nice)
Minneapolis arts and practical: visual arts (Walker 13,000 works, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Spoonbridge and Cherry 1988, Northeast Art-a-Whirl 700 artists largest studio crawl US, McKnight-Jerome-Bush foundations USD 100M per year), First Avenue music (Prince Purple Rain filmed 1983, Husker Du Zen Arcade 1984, The Replacements most important unheard 1980s band, Atmosphere Rhymesayers Entertainment), State Fair (2M visitors 12 days, Pronto Pup 1941 original corn dog, Sweet Martha Cookies 1M per day, Spam Austin MN HQ 8 billion cans sold), Hmong and Somali (Hmong Village 300 vendors Saint Paul, Cedar-Riverside Little Mogadishu, Riverside Plaza Ralph Rapson 4,000 residents), winter lake culture (Bde Maka Ska groomed skating, Pond Hockey Championships 3,000 players, ice fishing Mille Lacs 5,000 houses, Skyway 13km longest system world), practical (summer peak, Blue and Green Line Metro Transit, no Minnesota clothing tax, Minnesota Nice social reserve).