One full day in Minneapolis please advise (Minnetonka, Marshall: sales, to rent)

[62mike]

We are returning home via Minneapolis on our flight. Once I thought about it I remembered it would be a great opportunity to see the Mall of America which I have always wanted to visit.

If I could get that portion of our trip modified we would arrive preferably sometime on a Saturday and fly out on Monday to continue our trip home which basically leaves us all of Sunday to do anything.

I think the Mall is close to the airport? Therefore, we would probably stay very close since we would be flying out on Monday. Should we try and get a car for the one day or would buses or cabs be reasonable to get by?

Also, is there anything else we might squeeze in close by we should not miss?

Thank you for any help.

[MplsTodd]

The Mall of America is directly connected to the International Airport via LRT so there's no need to rent a car or take a taxi (unless you have a lot of luggage). There are dozens of hotels within 4-5 blocks of MOA, so that would probably be the easiest place to stay.

Regarding what else there is to visit, it really depends on what interests you have. If you'd like to visit Minneapolis proper, you can take the LRT northbound (from the airport or MOA) to downtown. If you like baseball, check to see if the Twins are in town. The dome is pretty ugly, but the team generally is interesting to watch. I'd suggest getting off at the Downtown East Station and walking toward the river--you can check out the Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Falls and lock&dam, plus get a great view of the city. There's also the Guthrie Theater, which is open to the public and offers an excellent vantage point of the river. If you're adventurous, you could cross the Stone Arch Bridge, walk along Main Street (on the east bank of the river), find a restaurant on Main Street or East Hennepin (Nye's, Kramarczyks, Punch Pizza, etc...) and then walk across the Hennepin Avenue Bridge to downtown, and walk up Nicollet Mall. Sunday will be pretty quiet, you can take the LRT back at the 5th & Nicollet Station, or walk further down Nicollet (it gets much more interesting after 7th or 8th Street, with sidewalk cafes etc...).

Another option is to rent a car and drive out to Lake Minnetonka and go to Excelsior, a nice little town, with a quaint main street.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

The Mall of America is directly connected to the International Airport via LRT so there's no need to rent a car or take a taxi (unless you have a lot of luggage). There are dozens of hotels within 4-5 blocks of MOA, so that would probably be the easiest place to stay.

Regarding what else there is to visit, it really depends on what interests you have. If you'd like to visit Minneapolis proper, you can take the LRT northbound (from the airport or MOA) to downtown. If you like baseball, check to see if the Twins are in town. The dome is pretty ugly, but the team generally is interesting to watch. I'd suggest getting off at the Downtown East Station and walking toward the river--you can check out the Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Falls and lock&dam, plus get a great view of the city. There's also the Guthrie Theater, which is open to the public and offers an excellent vantage point of the river. If you're adventurous, you could cross the Stone Arch Bridge, walk along Main Street (on the east bank of the river), find a restaurant on Main Street or East Hennepin (Nye's, Kramarczyks, Punch Pizza, etc...) and then walk across the Hennepin Avenue Bridge to downtown, and walk up Nicollet Mall. Sunday will be pretty quiet, you can take the LRT back at the 5th & Nicollet Station, or walk further down Nicollet (it gets much more interesting after 7th or 8th Street, with sidewalk cafes etc...).

Another option is to rent a car and drive out to Lake Minnetonka and go to Excelsior, a nice little town, with a quaint main street.

Excellent suggestions! Come and see St Paul, too! Contrary to the beliefs of many outsiders, we are NOT part of Minneapolis, and we have our own unique attractions! We are just a 15 minute drive from downtonw Mpls or MOA!

[cybersense]

Um - they have to get to and from the airport from moa and walking is not an option.

if you stay at a nice hotel near the MOA, they will often offer shuttle buses (vans) that will take you to MOA and to the airport either for free or for a small fee. Check that out with your hotel when you make arrangements. Ask them specifically what they have available for going to MOA and to get to the hotel and back to the airport.

[62mike]

Just what I was needing to know regarding our short stay and location.

Thanks again.

[golfgal]

You could stay at the Country Inn and Suites across the street from the MOA, and across the street from the light rail stop. It is a great location, you won't have to worry about a shuttle if you don't want to (but one is available). You can hop the lightrail into Minneapolis and visit downtown. Fort Snelling is on the light rail so you could stop there if you are history buffs.

[acesgrinned]

If you only have a day to explore Minneapolis, PLEASE don't spend it @ MOA. It's just a store...with other stores in it. Minneapolis has such much more to offer than stores you can see where you live. Trust me, it's not that big of a deal, (unless you have shopping issues, don't laugh my ex did) Try Fort Snelling Park, the Twins, Stone Arch, State Fair, Renaissance Festival, and every weekend there is some type of festival going on. The is much more/better things to do here than walk around a mall.

[saved1986]

Mall of america is a joke. Do not waste your time. As much as I hate minnesota (I lived there 3.5 yrs), there are some very cool things there. May I suggest the following:

Check the internet or ask on this board: Minneapolis has a great live music scene, and I do mean great. Check to see if a band called "Umbrella bed" is playing, they are awesome.

For eats: There is place called Lotus (vietnamese), one by U of M campus on oak street and one on grand avenue. AWESOME. Also on the corner of Lyndale and Lake, try a place called It's Greek to Me.
Grand avenue is also a place that is cool to spend a few hrs just walking around.

[fashionguy]

Agree that MoA is nothing special. It is just a suburban mall and doesn't have much more variety than a mall in a small town. It is large because it has stores like Dollar Tree, Best Buy (originally Sports Authority), Marshalls, Payless, Old Navy etc stacked in it. You know, the stuff you would find in a strip mall of a small town. And it has like 4 Lids stores and many others that are repetitive. It improved during the last two years with Levis, Nike, Lacoste, American Apparel, Burberry and Tumi opening their doors, and Christian Audigier to open, catching up with other city malls, but nothing much. It quickly becomes the best mall in the Twin Cities but compared to the larger metro areas (even Somerset Collection of suburban Detroit), its store collection still pales. Imagine that the Twin Cities didn't have a Nike store until last year, and it still lacks tons of national retailers now (including the most common ones you can find in any large city like Adidas, Kiehl's, Calvin Klein, etc.). It is just not a good place for shopping. If you want to go on a shopping trip go to the largest cities (any one of the top 15 metro areas excluding Riverside, plus San Diego), or the tourism ones like Las Vegas and Orlando. They have much more options to choose from, both higher and lower end. Their same-name stores are also much larger. You can find much better deals due to the variety of choices of the priced down items despite the sales tax.

On the other hand, State Fair doesn't open in like 2 months. And besides, I think it is over priced. If you are not Minnesotan, I doubt you would share the pride.

Originally Posted by acesgrinned

If you only have a day to explore Minneapolis, PLEASE don't spend it @ MOA. It's just a store...with other stores in it. Minneapolis has such much more to offer than stores you can see where you live. Trust me, it's not that big of a deal, (unless you have shopping issues, don't laugh my ex did) Try Fort Snelling Park, the Twins, Stone Arch, State Fair, Renaissance Festival, and every weekend there is some type of festival going on. The is much more/better things to do here than walk around a mall.

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree that the MOA isn't anything exciting. Unless you live somewhere that lacks much shopping it's the same stuff you'll find most other places, just on a bigger scale than most malls (there is no sales tax on clothes, though, which can add up depending on where you normally shop). If you're into malls or want to see it just to say that you did, then yes, it's a very easy visit from the airport.

I've got to stand up for the State Fair, though - while it's only on for a limited time, it's definitely one of the highlights of a trip to MN if you were going to be in the area during its run. It's one of the largest in the country, and a lot of people (non-Minnesotans) actually visit MN to visit it, so I think it does carry a lot of appeal for even those not from the state. It's classic Midwestern fair heritage at its best and offers some of the best people watching opportunities around.