Minnesota may be known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but there’s so much more to this state than water recreation. In the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, visitors will find thriving art, music, and literary scenes as well as restaurants that garner national attention. Minneapolis was even named among the most bike-friendly cities in the world, meaning you could spend your entire time there outdoors, exploring the sights via beautiful “bikeways.”
Beyond the cities, the expansive region of Northeast Minnesota offers small towns and art colonies alongside the pristine nature of the Boundary Waters. And though Northwest Minnesota is often considered the path less traveled, it has a lot to give in the way of nature and culture, including lakes, rivers, and a popular arts center.
To help you plan the perfect trip to the North Star State, we’ve rounded up the best things to do across Minnesota, from museum-hopping and beer tasting to canoeing, hiking, camping, and more. Keep reading, then get busy planning your Midwest adventure.
The Twin Cities
Minneapolis is filled with aquatic playgrounds, like the Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska.
Courtesy of Meet Minneapolis
Bde Maka Ska
A trip to the Land of 10,000 Lakes wouldn’t be complete without spending some time on, well, a lake—even if you’re only visiting the cities. In Minneapolis, everyone heads to Bde Maka Ska, the largest of five in the city’s Chain of Lakes. Located in the Uptown neighborhood, the 401-acre lake is surrounded by parkland and trails, making it a favorite of locals for ice fishing in the winter and swimming, biking, and volleyball games in the summer. Along the shore are rental options for nearly every water sport, including sailing, kayaking, and paddleboarding, plus lockers for stashing your stuff when you’re out on the water. After a fire destroyed the lakeside pavilion in 2019, a $6.5 million replacement opened in October 2023, complete with a new Jamaican restaurant and plenty of Indigenous art.
Surly Brewing Co.
One of the first breweries in Minneapolis, Surly set the stage for all the places that opened in its wake by helping to pass legislation in 2011 allowing breweries and distilleries to serve alcohol on-site. It’s still going strong today and offers some of the most beloved brews in the region, like the Furious IPA and the Hell lager. Surly operates out of a sprawling space near the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus; guests can sample a rotating tap list in the beer hall or order New Haven–style apizzas upstairs.
Claes Oldenburg’s “Spoonbridge and Cherry” has become an unofficial symbol of the city.
Photo by NoonVirachada/Shutterstock
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Located next door to the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden features more than 60 works by big names like Roy Lichtenstein, Alexander Calder, Sol LeWitt, and Robert Indiana. At its center stands Claes Oldenburg’s iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry, which locals regard as an unofficial symbol of the city. Also worth checking out is a newer work, Okciyapi, by Twin Cities–based artist Angela Two Stars, which is dedicated to the concept of Indigenous language revitalization. The city’s art scene is exceptional, and you can pair a visit to the sculpture garden with stops at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Frank Gehry–designed Weisman Art Museum, or the Walker Art Center, which offers screenings, live performances, DJ-led parties, and a seasonal rooftop mini golf course.
Paisley Park
In 1987, Prince built this 65,000-square-foot dream estate and music studio, about 20 minutes southwest of downtown Minneapolis on what used to be a cornfield. Over the years, he welcomed fellow artists, like Madonna and Lizzo, to record albums in the space, and after his death, Paisley Park was officially opened to the public as a museum, with tours that take fans into his studios, soundstages, and archives. If you visit the area in spring 2025, you can catch the stage adaptation of Prince’s film and album Purple Rain, which will debut at the 1921 State Theatre before making a planned move to Broadway.
One of Minneapolis’s oldest parks, Minnehaha is home to limestone bluffs, a 53-foot waterfall, and a legendary dog park.
Photo by Kurt Carlson/Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board
Minnehaha Regional Park
One of the unique things about the Twin Cities is just how much nature is part of the urban landscape. Few places exemplify this better than Minnehaha, one of Minneapolis’s oldest and most popular parks. Here, visitors will find limestone bluffs, river overlooks, and a majestic 53-foot waterfall that freezes in winter. Explore the area via various walking and biking paths, or bring your furry friend to the epic dog park. There’s also a disc golf course, picnic area, playground, volleyball court, and wading pool, making the park perfect for family outings.
Guthrie Theater
One of America’s greatest regional theaters, the Guthrie occupies an architectural marvel by Jean Nouvel that sits among the historic mills on the banks of the Mississippi River. The building itself is as dramatic as the plays inside, with such features as an amber glass box that juts out of the building and offers views of the riverfront, and a 178-foot-long cantilevered Endless Bridge that hangs over the highway below. Over the years, the Tony-winning theater has staged performances by the likes of Patrick Stewart, Morgan Freeman, Kristin Chenoweth, James Earl Jones, and Angela Bassett.
Bring the family to the Bell Museum for wildlife dioramas, a green roof, and a state-of-the-art planetarium.
Courtesy of the Bell Museum and University of Minnesota
Bell Museum
Minnesota’s official natural history museum, the Bell in St. Paul features a digital planetarium, wildlife dioramas, outdoor learning experiences, and more. Visit the state-of-the-art planetarium to explore the far reaches of the cosmos, then head to the permanent galleries to learn about the origins of the universe, the diversification of life on earth, and how University of Minnesota researchers are working to create a better future for our evolving world. Children love the Touch & See Lab, a first-of-its-kind experience when it debuted more than 50 years ago; now, visitors get hands-on access to items like fossils, honeybee hives, and plants. Nature lovers will want to head to the green roof and observatory deck, home to native plants, a geology exploration area, and a solar station.
American Swedish Institute
Set within in a 1908 châteauesque mansion (aka “the Castle”) once owned by Swedish immigrants, and an adjacent modern building, the cultural center houses rotating exhibits dedicated to historic painters, Nordic fashion, and more. The American Swedish Institute hosts cooking classes, language lessons (Swedish and Finnish), artists’ talks, parties (like summer crayfish feasts), and handicraft workshops, where you can learn how to embroider, weave, carve wood, needle-felt, or even make Sámi herbal remedies. During your visit, stop into Fika café for Swedish meatballs, smörgåsar (open-faced sandwiches), cardamom bread pudding, and Nordic-inspired cocktails, like the lingonberry-tinged Cosmic Skåling or the Bloody Swede, made with aquavit and beet brine.
Northeast Minnesota
Voyageurs National Park is best enjoyed from a canoe, as it once was by the French-Canadian fur traders who worked and lived here.
Photo by Alexanderschmitt1998/Shutterstock
Voyageurs National Park
One of the least visited national parks in the United States, Voyageurs takes its name from the French-Canadian fur traders who plied these waters by canoe in the 18th and 19th centuries. The park, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, sprawls across 340 square miles of lakes, forests, and streams and is best explored by boat. From the water, you’ll often see moose and beaver, and you may even catch the sound of a gray wolf howl on the wind. Since 2020, Voyageurs has also been an International Dark Sky Place, and it’s one of the best places in the Lower 48 to see the aurora borealis, plus other nighttime specials like the Milky Way, satellites, and shooting stars.
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, referred to as the BWCA or simply “the Boundary Waters,” draws canoeists from around the world—and for good reason. Located on the Minnesota–Canada border, the area encompasses more than 1 million acres in the northern section of the Superior National Forest and features over 1,100 lakes, 1,200 miles of canoe routes, 12 hiking trails, and thousands of campsites. The nature here is pristine yet rugged, with lakes cut from granite and surrounded by old pine growth. Since planes flying below 4,000 feet are prohibited in the BWCA, the area is also blissfully silent, offering a kind of solitude rarely found in the U.S.
Let the kids climb all over the art at Franconia Sculpture Park—it’s encouraged.
Courtesy of Franconia Sculpture Park
Franconia Sculpture Park
Located on 50 acres of prairie in the idyllic St. Croix River Valley, Franconia Sculpture Park is a popular day trip from the Twin Cities. Open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 365 days a year, it’s completely free to explore—which may be why it sees nearly 200,000 visitors a year. Unlike at most art museums, guests here are encouraged to touch and climb the sculptures, making it a fun, interactive way to spend the day with family. If it’s too cold to play outdoors, consider dropping by for community arts programming like kids’ sculpture classes, live music, and artists’ talks. The park also runs an active artist residency, which helps to continually supply the grounds with new, large-scale sculptures.
Grand Marais Art Colony
Artists from all over the country come to learn from the renowned teachers at the Grand Marais Art Colony. Nestled between Lake Superior and the Superior National Forest, the center offers studio instruction in painting, printmaking, clay, and glassworks, as well as tiered classes for students of all levels. While some classes run for several days, many are just a few hours long and make for a perfect afternoon activity. Practice your color theory and drum leaf binding, or sign the kids up for youth lessons in clay sculpture, screen printing, and origami. The center also holds regular open studios, when you can drop in to see work by various artists-in-residence.
Beyond the beautiful rooms and gardens, Glensheen Mansion hides a scary secret.
Courtesy of Glensheen Mansion
Glensheen Mansion
The most popular historic home in Minnesota, Duluth’s 27,000-square-foot Glensheen Mansion features 39 rooms, beautiful 20th-century craftsmanship, and 12 acres of gardens—but that’s not why people visit. Lovers of the macabre stop by to see where Elisabeth Congdon, the heiress to her family’s large mining fortune, was murdered along with her nurse in 1977. After being donated to the University of Minnesota, Glensheen opened as a historic house museum in 1979, with details like Chester Congdon’s top hat in a closet, his wife Clara’s letters in a desk drawer, and bedsheets organized in a linen closet by the Congdons’ second-floor maid nearly 100 years ago. Tours, which cover everything from the attic and third floor to the servants’ wing, respectfully leave out the murder scene, but guides are willing to share details afterward.
Superior Hiking Trail
The SHT, as it’s known to locals, is perhaps the most famous hiking trail in Minnesota—not to mention one of the most well-known in the United States. The footpath stretches for more than 310 miles from the Minnesota–Wisconsin border to just short of the Canadian border, offering incredible scenery and glimpses of moose and other rare wildlife. The southernmost segments offer easy day hikes, backpacking, and trail running out of Duluth. Farther north, the trail extends along the North Shore of Lake Superior, passing through charming towns like Grand Marais and Lutsen.
Northwest Minnesota
Catch your own fish, then cook it for dinner, all in Zippel Bay State Park.
Photo by Paul Stafford/Explore Minnesota Tourism
Zippel Bay State Park
Lake of the Woods is a must-visit county for any traveler to Northwest Minnesota, especially for Zippel Bay State Park. With about 3,000 acres of nature to explore, Zippel Bay has pet-friendly campsites and a sandy beach as well as excellent fishing, hiking, and bird-watching. The park is also popular in the colder months, when it transforms into a winter wonderland with ice fishing, snowmobiling, and 12 miles of groomed cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails. If you’re visiting in the summer and planning on doing some fishing, know that there’s a convenient fish-cleaning station where you can easily transform your day’s catch into your evening’s dinner.
Far North Spirits
Just 25 miles from the Canadian border in the tiny town of Hallock, Far North Spirits is the northernmost distillery in the contiguous United States. While you might think the distillery’s remote location holds it back, it’s actually what inspires owners Michael Swanson and Cheri Reese, who rely on Northern Minnesota’s agricultural abundance to craft their premium, heritage spirits. In fact, the husband-and-wife team are among only a handful of estate distillers nationwide who also grow their own grains. Using sustainable methods, they produce a handful of beautifully bottled gins, rums, vodkas, and whiskeys, all of which possess a uniquely Minnesota character. Try them at Far North’s stylish Cocktail Room, where you can order the spirits neat or mixed into well-crafted drinks.
Itasca State Park
Named for its lake—which serves as the starting point for the Mississippi River—Itasca is the oldest state park in Minnesota and the second oldest in the U.S., behind Niagara Falls. During the summer, locals flock here for hiking, camping, fishing, and exploring old-growth pine forests. History buffs can visit the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center, which features interactive, outdoor displays about the river, while those eager for a good meal can grab a table at the Douglas Lodge, which opened in 1905. In the winter, it’s worth planning a visit around the park’s candlelight event, when you can snowshoe on trails illuminated by candles and warm up around a bonfire with marshmallows and hot drinks.
Southern Minnesota
The Spam Museum is dedicated to the canned meat and has a can’t-miss gift shop filled with excellent branded merch.
Photo by Jacob Boomsma/Shutterstock
Spam Museum
Lovers of quirky museums can’t do much better than this ode to canned ham in the town of Austin, home to the headquarters of parent company Hormel Foods. The museum walks through the history of the company (including early-1900s ham delivery wagons) with exhibits on international varieties and recipes and kids’ play areas. Best of all, perhaps, is the gift shop, where you can pick up Spam-branded jerseys, hoodies, trucker caps, piggy banks, and more, with a special collection of Hawaiian-themed items featuring a cartoony musubi print.
National Eagle Center
The town of Wabasha, on the banks of the Mississippi River, calls itself “the Eagle Capital of America,” with hundreds of bald eagles wintering here. Because of the unique geography of the river in these parts, it doesn’t see as much ice as other areas, so eagles can continue to fish, and it sits along a popular flyway for migratory birds. Since 1999, the town has been home to the National Eagle Center, which moved into a shiny new space in 2007. Once here, you can meet rescued raptors, stroll through exhibits, or head out into the field on a coach bus or tour boat to see bald and golden eagles, tundra swans, and other migrating waterfowl.
Plan your trip to Minnesota:
>> Required Eating: 10 Foods Not to Miss in Minnesota
>> The Best Hotels and Resorts in Minnesota for a Truly Local Stay
>> The Perfect Road Trip on the King of Trails Scenic Byway
This story was originally published in 2021 and was updated on August 28, 2024, to include current information.
