Travel Information for Minnesota Hotel Guests
If you are searching for an inn, hotel, motel or resort near a Minnesota attraction, amusement and theme parks, or close to shopping, cultural events, historic sites, museums and performing arts centers, or nearby zoos, a festival, a golf course, a Minnesota state park, this is where you will find it.
MINNESOTA may be known as the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes – and these are the focus of its great outdoor activities – but it is the vibrant Minneapolis-St. Paul hub (known as the Twin Cities) that provide its cosmopolitan flair. The two cities have more theaters, dance companies, and concert venues per person than anywhere in the U.S., excluding New York City. America's largest shopping center, the Mall of America, is located in Bloomington.
MINNEAPOLIS is a city of 22 lakes and 170 parks; its attractions include the American Swedish Institute, an historic museum celebrating Swedish culture, the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line with three 1900s streetcars, the Hennepin History Museum and Minnehaha Depot, the train station built in 1875; other attractions include The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, and guided walking tours at St Anthony Falls Historic District to explore the only falls on the Mississippi and industrial ruins of the flour-milling district, other attractions include the Mill City Museum, which chronicles the flour milling industry that fueled the growth of Minneapolis, and new segway tours.
St. PAUL, the capital of Minnesota, recognized for its European look and friendly people, has attractions such as The Minnesota State Capitol, The Cathedral of Saint Paul, and Historic Fort Snelling, the first major European outpost in Minnesota; other attractions include the James J. Hill House where the man who built the Great Northern Railway lived, the Minnesota Air Guard Museum, and the Science Museum of Minnesota/Omnitheater; the Wabasha Street Caves/Down In History Tours includes the Saint Paul Gangster Tour, and the Padelford Packet Boat Company's Mississippi River cruises depart from Harriet Island across from downtown St Paul. Attractions in the Twin Cities Metro Region include the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, Beaver Mountain Water Park and mini-golf at Burnsville, Cascade Bay Family Aquatic Center at Eagan, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel at Prior Lake, and the Skating Center at Roseville; Stillwater on St. Croix River is known for its antiques shops and compelling history; other attractions include the Valleyfair amusement park and Historic Murphy's Landing, a pioneer village and home to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.
Near Itasca State Park, Lake Bemidji State Park, state forest areas, the Chippewa National Forest and with 400 fishing lakes within 25 miles, BEMIDJI is surrounded with scenic beauty; students live the culture and speak the language of four different villages (French, Norwegian, German and Finnish) at the Concordia Language Villages, and less than a dozen miles from Bemidji is Cass Lake which has a recreation area at Norway Beach and Lyle's Logging Camp.
Just south of Minneapolis, BLOOMINGTON is the home of Mall of America, the United States' largest shopping and entertainment complex and Minnesota's number one tourist attraction; the Mall of America includes 520 stores and many attractions including Camp Snoopy and Underwater Adventures. Crowning the tip of giant Lake Superior in Northeastern Minnesota, DULUTH is Minnesota's largest city outside of the Twin Cities area; at the Great Lakes Aquarium visitors can dive into America's only all-freshwater aquarium and discover what's in and under Lake Superior, or spend time at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, one of the world's largest private holdings of important original documents and manuscripts; the St Louis County Heritage & Arts Center is housed at The Depot which served as Duluth's busiest railroad station and "Port of entry" to immigrants; vintage steam locomotives and their antique coaches still wait silently trackside in the Lake Superior Railroad Museum although visitors can ride the North Shore Scenic Railroad; hockey fans will want to stop in EVELETH about 60 miles north of Duluth to visit the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Visitors to GRAND RAPIDS can celebrate the life and times of Judy Garland at the Judy Garland Birthplace and Children's Museum, and discover the history of the logging era at the Forest History Center. The Edge of the Wilderness National Scenic Byway takes visitors from from Grand Rapids north to Effie.
The Ironworld Discovery Center in nearby CHISHOLM celebrates the histories and traditions of immigrants from 43 different countries who created new lives in Minnesota's Iron Range; visitors can relive the lifestyle of the fur trappers at The White Oak Fur Post in Deer River. With its five rural "Little Europe" villages Tyler, Lake Benton, Ivanhoe, Hendricks and Arco, LINCOLN COUNTY is among the areas in the Southern Minnesota region where dozens of historic sites and museums relay the stories of determined pioneers from Germany, Scandinavia and central Europe; the towns they founded are now noted for their historic architecture, antique shops, inns, and ethnic festivals.
LITTLE FALLS is the boyhood home of aviator Charles Lindbergh which is open for tours; the Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum echoes the history of a French fur post of the 1700s; historic Fort Ripley on the west banks of the Mississippi River is now Camp Ripley with the Minnesota Military Museum.
Located in the Minnesota River Country region southwest of the Twin Cities, NEW ULM is true to its German heritage with a glockenspiel (a musical clock tower clock with animated figures) and the August Schell Brewery; German festivals – including an Oktoberfest – German craft shops and restaurants add to the flavor; visitors can experience a piece of old world Europe when they visit the Brown County Historical Society. Also of interest are the Morgan Creek Vineyards offering a cycle of seasonal events that celebrate the joy of living and the art of fine winemaking.
A prominent site of Indian history is PIPESTONE National Monument where this quarry of red stone has been used for centuries by many tribes in ceremonial pipes; visitors can explore Historic Pipestone on a self-guided walking tour. Near Pipestone is Walnut Grove one of the childhood homes of author Laura Ingalls Wilder where a small museum is dedicated to her.
RAINY LAKE, RAINY RIVER and INTERNATIONAL FALLS are the home of Voyageurs National Park which has some of the oldest exposed rock formations in the world; Grand Mound, the largest prehistoric burial mound in Minnesota, is 17 miles west of International Falls.
In ROCHESTER visitors can go behind the scenes of the Mayo Clinic to learn about Mayo's historical origins, art and architecture. In the Rochester region, to the south, is Historic FORESTVILLE, an 1890s rural town with costumed guides at Preston.
To the west at ALBERT LEA is the pioneer village at the Albert Lea Museum and the Village of Yesteryear at Owatonna.
At St CLOUD on the banks of the Mississippi lie the Munsinger Gardens; among its exhibits on local history, the Stearns History Museum includes a replica granite quarry.
There are over a dozen family resorts near ANNANDALE, RICHMOND, gateway to the Horseshoe Chain of Lakes, PAYNESVILLE and GLENWOOD.
At ELK RIVER the Oliver Kelley Farm is a working farm with costumed guides and between Elk River and St. Cloud is the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
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