Minneapolis

Understand

Minneapolis was destined to be a center of commerce due to its location at the Falls of St. Anthony, which was named by the French explorer Fr. Louis Hennepin in 1680. St. Anthony Falls is by far the largest source of water power on the Mississippi River. The falls were harnessed to power lumber mills in the 1840s and later for flour milling. By 1870, Minneapolis on the west bank and St. Anthony on the east bank formed the largest flour producing center in the world. In 1872, Minneapolis absorbed its older neighbor. Most of the old St Anthony township is now known as Northeast Minneapolis. A small part of the old township comprises most of the current suburb of St. Anthony. The name "Minneapolis", meaning "The City of Lakes" is a blend of the Dakota word mní (meaning "water") and the Ancient Greek word polis (meaning "city"). This refers to the city's 22 natural lakes. The local jewels are the "Chain of Lakes": Cedar, Isles, Bde Maka Ska (formerly known as Lake Calhoun), Harriet, and Nokomis—each 3–4 miles around. The city's excellent parks department maintains walking and biking paths around the lakes, offering residents a place to exercise or stroll. The Lake Harriet Bandshell is a popular summertime event host often featuring the renowned Minnesota Orchestra. Don't miss a ride on the restored trolley between Bde Maka Ska and Lake Harriet operated by the Minnesota Streetcar Museum. The city has done an excellent job fostering developed neighborhoods, each with a distinctive feel. Downtown is the visual anchor featuring the high-rise suites, sporting events (the Timberwolves, Twins and Vikings play downtown), and nightclub scene. Northeast is the oldest part of the city, showing off its working-class and immigrant roots in great ethnic food, neighborhood bars, and social clubs, and more recently home to an arts and riverfront redevelopment movement. Uptown historically has been one of the city's youth centers featuring funky food, drink, theater, and plenty of tattoos and mohawks, but is orienting more towards yuppies and young families as real estate anywhere near the lakes becomes an ever more prized commodity. Uptown and the Lakes area dissolves into quiet, tucked-away Linden Hills (a one-time bedroom community) to the south and Lyn-Lake, home to many indie stages, music-oriented cafes and boozers, and alternative lifestyles and hangouts of all sorts, to the east. The University of Minnesota's main campus straddles the Mississippi River in the southeast surrounded by the usual college campus environs.

Climate

With neither mountains nor large bodi

Getting there

By plane Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP IATA) is located 10 miles southeast of downtown Minneapolis. The airport contains two terminals: Terminal 1-Lindbergh and Terminal 2-Humphrey, with most flights arriving at Terminal 1. There is no airside connection between the terminals, transferring between the two requires use of the metro, which is free between the two stations. Ensure you know which terminal you are arriving at/departing from, as transferring between the two can be time consuming. The METRO Blue Line light rail operates service between the airport and downtown, the Mall of America, and parts of South Minneapolis, and offers connections to buses to other parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The trains are convenient, fast, and clean. Fare is $2 regardless of time or day. This fare includes a transfer to any local bus or train for 2.5 hours after purchase. The light rail has stations at both terminals.

By car Interstate Highways 35W and 94 are the main arteries into town. Both will take you to the edges of downtown. I-35W runs north and south (for the most part) and I-94 east and west; both interstates will connect you to the I-494/694 beltway around the metro area. I-394 runs west from downtown to I-494, where it becomes US Hwy 12. Keep an eye on which lane you're in, as freeway interchanges come up fast, and traffic back-ups will occur at any time, day or night; the morning (7-9AM) and evening (3-7PM) rush hours are predictably congested.

By train Daily long distance inter-city train service is available at Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul. See Saint Paul.

By bus Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and FlixBus buses arrive at the lower level of the transit center at N 3rd Ave and N 5th St (address 516 2nd Ave North). It's just a few minutes' taxi ride away from most of the downtown hotels and a couple blocks away from a few major bus routes and the light rail. Some routes make additional stops.

Badger Coaches. 4x weekly scheduled services in cooperation with Jefferson Lines to Madison daily and Milwaukee, with a few local stops in between. $45-53. FlixBus. Greyhound. Service from Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, and other places in Wisconsin. Some Chicago and Milwaukee services are express runs. Jefferson Lines. Operate scheduled services across Minnesota to South Dakota, Wisconsin, and beyond. Also operates service between the Twin Cities and Kansas City, via Des Moines. Jefferson prides itself on its 'eco-friendly' new coaches. Megabus. Service from Madison (4 times daily), Milwaukee (4 times daily), and Chica

Getting around

The city streets have a grid system that's helpful if you learn it. Minneapolis is divided into quadrants: North, South, Northeast and Southeast. Hennepin Avenue forms the divider between streets labeled N and S near downtown. This division continues through the smaller portion of Minneapolis east of the Mississippi, dividing it into Northeast (NE) and Southeast (SE). Further west of downtown, this division lies along Linden Avenue, just north of the I-394 freeway. In North, Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis, all roads carry N, NE, or SE prefixes on street signs. In South Minneapolis, the north-south avenues are marked S. The east-west streets are marked with W or E, depending if you are west or east of Nicollet Avenue. Even though street signs show these directions before the names, most locals read the addresses with them at the end. Thus "York Avenue South" appears on signs as "S York Ave" and "N 33rd Ave" is called "33rd Avenue North". Minneapolis is one of few cities to use multi-colored street signs. Blue signs indicate major roads which are "Snow Emergency Routes," the first to be plowed during heavy snow storms. Rust-colored signs indicate roads that run primarily east-west. Light green signs indicate roads primarily north-south. Dark green signs indicate scenic parkways that ring the city and the lakes.

By public transit

Metro Transit, ☏ +1 612 373-3333. Operator of the public transit system in the Twin Cities. Single-ride fares (including unlimited transfers for 2.5 hours) for local and limited-stop services (including the Metro Light Rail) are $2 for all days and times. For express services, the fares are $3.25 during peak hours and $2.50 during off-peak hours. Other fare options are described below. (updated May 2025)

Metro Light Rail. The light rail system in Minneapolis consists of two lines, the Blue Line and the Green Line. Both lines run on 5th Street in downtown Minneapolis. Past downtown, the Green Line runs on Washington Avenue through the University of Minnesota campus and University Avenue through the city of Saint Paul, before terminating at Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul. The Blue Line heads to South Minneapolis along Hiawatha Avenue, and then passes through MSP Airport before terminating at the Mall of America in Bloomington.

Bus. Knowing your Route 2 from your Route 22 is considered one mark of a true-blue Twin Citian. The routes and fares are confusing to non-natives. The Metro Transit web site, however, is user-friendly. The Trip Planner lets you provide your beginning and ending points and times, and suggests the

See

The museums, natural parks and waterfronts, malls, shopping districts, and dining zones should give you several options no matter what your age.

Museums The major fine art museum in town is the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in Whittier, which covers 5,000 years of art and has a particularly strong collection of Asian art. Not too far away is the Walker Art Center near Loring Park, one of the big five modern art museums in the U.S. Another (mostly) contemporary art museum is the Weisman Art Museum on the U of M East Bank campus; it tends to be more known for its Frank Gehry-designed building than any of the art collections inside. The Museum of Russian Art, housed in a former church in Southwest Minneapolis, opened in 2005; its focus is on 20th-century Russian art which means there is also a strong collection of Soviet art. For history buffs, there's the Mill City Museum near the Downtown riverfront, housed in the former Washburn "A" Mill. The museum chronicles the development of the flour milling industry in Minneapolis; the city was the world's leading producer of flour around the turn of the 20th century. Down in Whittier near the MIA is the Hennepin History Museum, a somewhat low-key museum with permanent and rotating exhibits covering the history of Minneapolis and Hennepin County. They also have an archival library (free and open to the public) covering local history.

Theater Large theaters are clustered in Downtown, the West Bank, and Uptown, with smaller venues dotting the rest of the city. The city has a vibrant theater scene that incorporates all levels of theatrical engagement. The Guthrie Theater is the regional theater for the state of Minnesota, crafting high-quality productions with local talent, as well as bringing in artists from the wider professional theater circuit. Organizations like The Playwrights' Center have made the Twin Cities a nationally-renowned center for new work, while companies like Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Jungle Theater, Penumbra Theatre, and Ten Thousand Things Theater, Theater in the Round, among others, have created a local theater scene with diverse, high-quality offerings. Lake Street is also home to the Heart of the Beast Puppet theater, which offers family friendly shows Saturday mornings, and a variety of other unique puppet shows through the year. They also host the Mayday Parade the first Sunday in May. If you want to see the community feel of Minneapolis, it's a great event!

Music The Twin Cities has a great and diverse local music scene- punk, folk, club, jazz, classical, house, reggae, hip-hop,

Do

Minneapolis on the surface seems like a pretty but rather quiet tourist destination. If you properly do your research though, there is plenty to do. Minneapolis has beautiful lakes and riverfronts that the local residents work hard to keep clean. It is also easy with a car, the proper permits, and necessary equipment to go camping as close as twenty miles east on the St. Croix River, or as far as seven hours north on the Canadian border. And it can be delightfully cheap. Biking. An old freight train railway has been converted into the Midtown Greenway, which cuts through the middle of South Minneapolis beginning on the West Bank and crossing west all the way to the Bde Maka Ska area and meeting up with the, Kenworth Trail which in turn connects with the, Cedar Lake Trail.

Lakes and parks Walk, bike, drive, swim or paddle around the chain of lakes running north to south along the western side of Minneapolis. Some are connected by lagoons and creeks which eventually spill into the Mississippi River at the famed Minnehaha Falls, inspiration of Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha". These are all part of the Minneapolis Grand Rounds, a 40-mile loop around the city begun over a century ago during the nation's first grand movement to toss the "Keep Off the Grass!" signs into the dustbin of history. Each of the Chain of Lakes has a walking path and a one-way biking/skating path. At least one path is kept clear even during snowy winter month, and it is possible to use the paths almost every day of the year. The Chain of Lakes is not a continuous navigable waterway by any means, although the paths and auto parkways connect parks and waterways from North Minneapolis almost without interruption to the Mississippi River.

Southwest Minneapolis is home to four of these lakes. Cedar Lake has three public beaches, and is accessible by canoe, rowboat, or kayak by its connecting lagoon to Lake of the Isles and, by extension, Bde Maka Ska. Lake of the Isles has bird sanctuaries on its islands, and a public skating rink in the winter months. Bde Maka Ska (formerly 'Lake Calhoun') has several public beaches, including volleyball nets on the south beaches. It also has rowboat and canoe rentals and sailboat lessons. The surface conditions on Bde Maka Ska make this lake most popular among sailboarders. Lake Harriet also has boat rentals, and several public swimming beaches. South Minneapolis is home to Lake Nokomis, which has several beaches, public boat access for canoes, kayaks and sail boats; and to Minnehaha Creek. The creek connects Lake Minnetonka in the far west suburbs w

Buy

See the Districts articles for more listings.

Shopping Districts Uptown area, centered on Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street, south of Downtown Minneapolis and extending East to the Lake/Lyndale avant-garde theatre district. In this area you'll find all kinds of retailers. Nicollet Mall is a pedestrian mall right in the heart of downtown.

Clothes Clothing boutiques tend to be clustered near Uptown and Lyn-Lake. There are also boutiques in the 50th and France area.

Bookstores The Twin Cities are a hotbed of independent presses and bookstores. Specialty and used bookstores can be found scattered across the city.

Record stores Southwest is home to the bulk of record stores in Minneapolis, including the Electric Fetus, Roadrunner Records, Extreme Noise Records (specializing in punk), and Cheapo. South is home to Hymie's Vintage Records.

Groceries and other basics The major supermarket chains in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area are Cub Foods, Hy-Vee, Lund's and Byerly's, Kowalski's, Aldi, Whole Foods Market, and Trader Joe's. The discount store chain Target also has a store in Minneapolis. The Walgreens drug store chain is ubiquitous throughout Minneapolis, St. Paul, and its suburbs with many locations open 24 hours a day. Minneapolis and St. Paul have a large variety of ethnic grocery stores catering to the sizable Mexican, Somali, and Hmong community. These tend to be found along Lake Street in Minneapolis and along University Avenue in St. Paul.

Eat

See the Districts articles for more listings.

Don't miss Nicollet Avenue's Eat Street for a variety of ethnic fare; it is particularly heavy on Southeast Asian options. Options include Quang and Jasmine Deli for Vietnamese and the Black Forest Inn for German cuisine. The Vietnamese restaurants are incredibly cheap ($5-10 per person) and have received consistently exuberant reviews since their openings. The Dinkytown and Stadium Village areas near the University of Minnesota have great offerings mostly catering to the collegiate crowd. Plenty of Americanized Chinese and cheap burgers-and-fries joints. Midtown is home to the Midtown Global Market, operating on the first floor of what used to be a large Sears store. It is now home to a variety of cafes and restaurants from all around the world. Favorites like Holy Land Deli and Bakery, Andy's Garage, and several restaurants from around the city have opened satellite locations here. Mercado Central is another indoor market featuring several Mexican eateries. Outside of the markets, plenty of Mexican and other Latin restaurants dot the Lake Street strip. Northeast contains a wide variety of establishments. Old Saint Anthony is home to decades-old Eastern European mainstays like Kramarczuk's Deli. Closer to Central and Lowry you can find well-regarded Middle Eastern eateries like Holy Land and Crescent Moon and Mexican restaurants such as Taco Riendo and Adelita's. Food trucks have also become very popular throughout the twin cities. On weekends during the summers (approx. May- Oct) they can be found at the variety of neighborhood farmer's markets, including Midtown, Kingsfield, Linden Hills, and Northeast.

Local dishes Traditional foods associated with Minnesota, including hotdish (casserole) and lutefisk (a Norwegian fish delicacy) are rarely found in restaurants. However, one uniquely Minneapolitan item that can be easily located is the Juicy Lucy (sometimes spelled Jucy Lucy), a cheeseburger variation in which the cheese is cooked inside two molded-together meat patties rather than on top. The cheese inside the burger is gooey and piping hot. While the origin, and spelling, of the Juicy Lucy is disputed, popular places to order a Juicy Lucy include Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club in South Minneapolis, and a short distance across the river in Saint Paul at the Nook, among others.

Drink & nightlife

See the Districts articles for more listings.

Music Minneapolis has one of the most vibrant and independent music scenes in the country. The city is probably most famous for its purple pop wonder, Prince, but also has bands such as Soul Asylum, The Replacements, The Jayhawks, Atmosphere and Hüsker Dü. Several clubs in town play host to shows by local bands and your chances of finding a good one are better than average.

Downtown is home to the internationally renowned First Avenue. First Avenue is famous as setting for the film Purple Rain and for the silver stars that cover the outside of the building. The venue is split into three: the Mainroom which hosts national and international touring bands (usually of the punk, indie, and hip-hop variety), the smaller 7th Street Entry which hosts local and less-known touring bands, and the Record Room a small dance lounge primarily used for DJ's and smaller dance nights. Also in the area are the Fine Line Music Cafe, the Dakota Jazz Club, Grumpy's, Lee's Liquor Lounge, Skyway Theater, and Bunkers. The West Bank contains the Cabooze, a biker bar featuring mostly classic rock-type music. Other venues include the Nomad, the Red Sea, and in the nearby Seward neighborhood, the Hexagon Bar. Northeast has some venues scattered around like the Terminal Bar and the 331 Club. In nearby Dinkytown, don't miss the elegantly decorated Varsity Theater and college band favorite, the Kitty Cat Klub.

Alcohol The nightlife in general can be vibrant in several areas. The Warehouse District is great for clubbers, Dinkytown is good for college party-goers, Uptown is good for those with a bit more money, and Northeast is great for dive bar aficionados. Minneapolis is not the 24-hour city that New York is, but bars close at 2 AM so that is still plenty of time, especially if you find a party to go to afterwards. Minneapolis certainly accommodates those seeking a good drink, a tendency which certainly complements the alcohol culture endemic to the Upper Midwest. There are over a dozen Irish, German, or British pubs, such as The Local, Black Forest Inn, Brit's Pub, Gastoff's, O'Donovan's or Kieran's. Local dining, clubs, pubs, and bars tend to compete for the best Happy Hour specials. It's a good idea to do an internet search to find the best deals.

Coffee and tea The Scandinavian and north African influence can be seen quite clearly in the ubiquitous access to coffee shops in Minneapolis. This is a place where important things are discussed over a cup of coffee. Caribou is a locally-based national chain that actually outnumbers

Sleep

See the Districts articles for more listings. There is a good variety of hotels. Downtown hosts many independent and international hotel chains from the mid-range to the high-end. The University of Minnesota campus, not too far from downtown, has many mid-range options. South Minneapolis has limited options but they are also close to downtown. Travelers getting by without a car will want to avoid staying in a hotel outside the city.

Go next

There are several day or overnight destinations near the city.

In the Twin Cities metro Mall of America in nearby Bloomington. Minnesota has no sales tax on clothing. Valleyfair is an amusement park that's within an hour's drive in nearby Shakopee. Minnesota Zoo is in nearby Apple Valley. Stillwater is a beautiful, historic town about an hour away. Chaska is home to the Minnesota Arboretum. There are events and nature explorations year round. The third Monday of the month is free. Other days admission is $15 for anyone over the age of 15. Free for ages 15 and under.

Greater Minnesota Lutsen has what may be the best skiing in the state (or a few states, given the otherwise flat geography) with cheap ski/stay packages. At 5 hours from Minneapolis, this is not exactly a day trip but worth the drive if you are a gravity addict! Lake Mille Lacs offers good fishing, boat rentals and fishing guides. New Ulm is famous for its German beer, German festivals, and amateur baseball tradition. Pine City is north, nice and close, just an hour's drive from downtown. It's a great glimpse of small-town Minnesota life. State Parks. The state has many well-kept state parks for those who like to camp and fish. Duluth, the gateway to the North Shore, is 155 miles north on I-35, and is great for an overnight trip.