Visting Minneapolis (St. Paul, Minnetonka, Shakopee: rental car, where to stay, rental)

[Grant_Hobgood]

I (and 3 friends) plan on visiting Minneapolis for a couple/few days in May. We are trying to find a decent hotel, around 100 a night if possible. My general knowledge of where to stay is lacking, though I venture to say downtown would be best overall. Somewhere around the Hennepin and 7th Ave area.

I plan on visiting the Triple Rock, Fifth Element, hopefully catch a show at First Ave, and just plain walk and wander around. We're all ~25 years old, so we will want to go out to eat and/or go out at night. We really just want to experience the city a bit.

I've looked at the Comfort Inn and the Holiday Inn Express. We aren't looking for an expensive place, but somewhere halfway decent.

We will probably hit the art Museums and such, but what else (aside form the MOA) is there that should be experienced?

Is the lightrail/public transit system a fairly smooth flowing system or should we get a taxi? I think we will at least try the light rail just to see what it's about, but just wondering if we will be alright without a car for the weekend.


Any and all help is appreciated!

[MplsTodd]

I think hotel rates can really vary in the summer depending on if there is a large convention or event in town on a particular weekend or week. I'd definitely check the online services for various rates, but holiday inn express has a good location. there's also the millennium and the doubletree suites, and I think the Normandy inn (it may now be known as best western downtown). but you may also find deals at the radisson, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton etc... So check on line.

Besides art museums and rock clubs, I'd recommend that you consider exploring the city by bike. If you google 'nice ride Minneapolis' you should find info on how you can get a week pass to ride around the city. That would allow you to check out, arguably, one of the best features of Minneapolis: the city's lakes, boulevards and parkways. A great ride would be about 25 miles or so and goes from downtown to lake of the isles to Calhoun, Harriet, then over to Minnehaha Parkway, east to Minnehaha Falls, then to the River, north to the U of M then back to downtown. You can also spend a day biking to st. Paul and check out Shepard Road, Harriett Island, Downtown & lower town, plus back along Summit Avenue (mansions and colleges) and Grand Avenue (shops and restaurants).

If you like baseball, try to see the Twins if they're playing at Target Field: it's a great ballpark and the Twins absolutely have to be better this year than last!

There's also lots of theater to check out as well as lots of festivals.

The LRT is nice, but it's just one line, so it's limited and it doesn't really serve some of the most interesting areas like Uptown or the lakes area, but it can get you to minnehahapark and the MOA.

Hope you have a good visit!

[iNviNciBL3]

Go to uptown and walk around Lake Calhoun
: : : UPTOWN MINNEAPOLIS : : :
I agree with Todd, rent a bike and ride it around town
https://www.niceridemn.org/
The area around First Ave is where you want to be when the sun sets to go to a club or bar
Dinkytown is also a must when you are in town, just north of the river from downtown
Welcome to Dinkytown, Minneapolis
You could also see a show at the Guthrie
Welcome | Guthrie Theater

[xandrex]

Downtown, Uptown, and the Lakes are all great areas to check out. I'm mostly commenting to point something out in case Nice Ride does pique your interest: while it is a great way for short trips, it really isn't meant for touring the city. While you can get a short-term pass that covers the initial fee, there are also trip fees associated with the riding. In order to avoid them, you have to return your bike to a station within half an hour and to continue, you'll have to check another out. This is fine if you're sticking to the areas that have a lot of stations, but there is still a lot of the city isn't covered. You wouldn't want to be biking for a couple of hours and return it to a station, only to see you've been charged a hefty fee.

[Grant_Hobgood]

Ya, i've read a bit about the nice ride deal and it can get up there i'm told. If it's a short ride a few blocks down, it's perfect, but longer rides can be expensive.

Public transit is an honest option, is it a safe option throughout the city? What about timing/schedule? If you plan things, is it safe to bet the bus will be within a few minutes in the summer months? I've not looked at pricing, but is there a day pass you can buy to use that is limitless?

[xandrex]

Metro Transit would likely serve you very well during your time in Minneapolis. If you're in the core cities, the system isn't perfect, but works well enough to get you around, especially if you'll be centering your adventure around downtown. The light rail will get you to places like Minnehaha Park, the airport, and MOA. You can take several buses to St. Paul if you feel like exploring over there (16, 50, and--in a roundabout way--the 3), to places like the Walker/Uptown/Chain of Lakes (bus 6 and 17), the University of Minnesota/Dinkytown area (2, 3, 6, 16, 50) and Minneapolis Institute of Arts (I believe the 18).

A day pass is $6 if I remember correctly. If you're going to be there for more than a couple of days, you could even go and get a Go-To card and load it with a week-long pass. I believe those go for $22, which might save you money if you're planning on using the bus/light rail a lot for more than 3 days. If you're going to be using it sparingly, you might be best off simply paying the single fare of $1.75 for non-rush hour and $2.25 during rush hour. Those tickets are good for 2.5 hours and you can transfer as much as you want during that window.

[west336]

Ohhhh...in MAY. Definitely do (I'm not going to even both with most of Minneapolis downtown attractions, since you can easily look that up):

-Twins game (highly recommend even if you don't care for baseball)
-Chain of Lakes (even with dudes -- if you are a dude -- it's not "girly" to stroll around the lake and see all the people, especially on Lake Calhoun, and especially near Thomas Beach on the South End)
-Lake Minnetonka (for water sports, fishing, parties, etc.......if you have a car)
-Shakopee (Mystic Lake Casino, Poker Room, Horse Track, Valley Fair.....again, with a car or taxi)
-Stillwater (for historic small-town charm, antique shopping, and restaurants......depends on your demographic)
-Uptown (great restaurants, retail and bars near Lake Calhoun off Lake St.....easily accessible by cab......2nd only to downtown in terms of nightlife)
-Minnehaha Falls (Minneapolis' mega waterfall near the airport......light rail station nearby)
-St. Paul (7th St, Summit Ave, downtown museums, MN Wild hockey......light rail in 2 years, sorry!)
-"Nordeast/Dinkytown" (Minneapolis' 3rd nightlife district, which is moreso "divey" and eclectic and old school.....can walk, cab or drive, but it's close to DT)

You don't NEED a car rental, but they're like, what, $50/day? And you're bringing a few people? I'd think about the rental car and find a hotel (perhaps somewhere on the light rail) that doesn't charge for parking,.....which means not in downtown. Even downtown parking rates aren't always that expensive, so check it out. You can definitely do the town (my suggestions, anyway) without a car, but without that connection to St. Paul (2 years away) and without the SW light rail alignment (2016 projection) you can't visit many of these places without getting in an expensive cab. Your call.

Good luck -- have fun! I envy your trip (wanna visit so bad!)

[west336]

Originally Posted by Grant_Hobgood

Ya, i've read a bit about the nice ride deal and it can get up there i'm told. If it's a short ride a few blocks down, it's perfect, but longer rides can be expensive.

Public transit is an honest option, is it a safe option throughout the city? What about timing/schedule? If you plan things, is it safe to bet the bus will be within a few minutes in the summer months? I've not looked at pricing, but is there a day pass you can buy to use that is limitless?

It's safe. I think I've heard the one between the two downtowns is sketchy at times, but if it's daytime who cares?

[Laggard]

There's a youth hostel at something like 22 and 1st Ave S.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by west336

It's safe. I think I've heard the one between the two downtowns is sketchy at times, but if it's daytime who cares?

A pretty decent chunk of the buses between the downtowns are carrying mostly UM students. At night, the 16 going from DT Minneapolis towards St. Paul empties quite a bit on the East Bank. Most of the people aren't terribly sketchy either. That said, there really isn't a reason to travel between the downtowns at night as far as I can tell, anyway (at least if you're visiting, that is).