Minneapolis Tourism - Travel to Minneapolis
Minneapolis is part of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Approximately 630,000 people, it is the largest city in Minnesota.
| Table of contents |
Understand Minneapolis Tourism
Minneapolis was born as a center of grain commerce due to its location on the banks of the Mississippi. The river cuts through the downtown defining a cut between North and South Minneapolis. That was the time of the trolley cars that can still be ridden today near Lake Harriet.
The city calls itself "The City of Lakes" because of 5 fair size (2-4 mile circumference) lakes. The city's excellent parks department maintains walking and biking paths around the lakes, offering residents a place to exercise or stroll. Personal sailboats may be buoyed on three of these lakes. The Lake Harriet Bandshell offers seasonal concerts.
The city has done an excellent job fostering developed neighborhoods each with a distinctive feel. Linden Hills for families, Uptown and Lake Calhoun for twenty somethings, and downtown for highrise suits, sporting events (Timberwolves, Vikings, and Twins all play downtown), and nightclub scene. Lyn-Lake offers an edgy, cool twist.
City Pages (see www.citypages.com) gives a good review of what is going on and is available for free in shoping centers, cafes, groceries and bookstores.
Get around in Minneapolis
The city streets have a grid system that's helpful if you take the time to learn it. North/south roads are Avenues. Streets run east/west and generally have numbers with increasing distance from the dividing road. Nicollet Ave. and Washington are the dividing roads. Append the direction at the end of avenues such as Lyndale Ave S to indicate Lyndale south of Washington and W 27th Street to indicate west of Nicollet. Avenues run alphabetical west from Lyndale (Aldrich, Bryant, Colfax) for about three alphabets into the suburban surrounding communities, and numerical east from Nicollet Avenue (18, 19, ... 32) to the Mississippi River, where once east of the Lake Street Bridge you're into St. Paul and traveling on Summit Avenue.
See Minneapolis
Museums - Minneapolis Tourism
Museum listings are on the Twin Cities regional page.
Do Minneapolis
- Jungle Theater [Lake & Lyndale]
- Theatre de la Jeune Lune
- In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre, 1500 East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55407, tel. 612 721-2535, fax 612 721-7174. Stage and touring productions, educational programs, school residencies, and an annual May Day Parade and pageant the first Sunday in May with huge puppets and lots of community involvement.
- Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 Fourth St. S., Minneapolis, MN 612 338-6131. http://www.mixedblood.com
- Walk, bike, drive, swim or paddle around the chain of lakes running north to south along the western side of Minneapolis proper. Cedar Lake has a shady public swimming beach and an informal swimming area, Lake of the Isles has bird sanctuaries on its islands, and a public skating rink (with warming house) are groomed in the winter months; Lake Calhoun has a large public beach and boat rentals (and lessons), and Lake Harriet also has boat rentals near its bandshell.
- Hear the Minnesota Orchestra in downtown Minneapolis.
Buy
Bookstores
The Twin Cities are a hotbed of independent presses and bookstores.
- Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction and Uncle Edgar's Mystery bookstores. 2864 Chicago Avenue South @ Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55407. Uncle Hugo's tel. 612 824-6347, fax 612 827-6394; Uncle Edgar's tel. 612 824-9984, fax 612-827-6394. M-F 10a-8p, Sat 10a-6p, Sun Noon-5p. These two stores (which share one building) are a treasure trove of used and new SF/fantasy and mystery books, respectively. Uncle Hugo's is the oldest SF/fantasy book store in North America, and has a well-earned national reputation for its vast selection. The prices are reasonable and you can get an extra 10% off all purchases by buying a $4 discount card. If you're buying more than $40 worth of books, it pays for itself with the first purchase. http://www.unclehugo.com/
- Dreamhaven Books and Comics, 912 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55409. tel 612 823-6161, fax 612-823-6062. M-F 11a-8p, Sat 11a-6p, Sun Noon-6p. New and used SF, Fantasy, horror, film and art books, comics, an adults-only room. Mail order and in-store readings. http://www.dreamhavenbooks.com/
- Orr Books & Cards 3045 Hennepin Avenue at Lake, Minneapolis, MN 55406. 612 823-2408. regional and national poetry, journals, arts, cookbooks, and course reading lists for local small graduate institutes. Splendid little bookstore in Uptown.
Eat - Travel to Minneapolis
Don't miss Nicolette Avenue South's "Eat Street" centered on East 27th Street for a variety of ethnic fare.
- Cafe Lurcate. Highly recommended. $18-$30.
- French Meadows Bakery 2610 Lyndale Avenue South at 26th, Minneapolis, MN 55406. 612 870-4740 and 1-877-NO-YEAST; fax 612-870-0907. Owner and founder of this excellent bakery and cafe, Lynn Gordon, has a passion for fabulous yeast free breads, and has been an artisan baker since before that term began to be applied to high-quality individual bakers. $4-$12.
- Perkins forget Denny's, Perkins is a family-trad local area chain of restaurants serving plain old good food at all hours of the day and night. Several locations.
This article is still a stub and needs your attention. Plunge forward and help it grow!
