jorge_z

While my favourite U.S. City is Portland, Oregon, my current focus is on visiting states that I have never visited before. So, while I've been to 25 other continental US States, I've never been to Wisconsin, or Minnesotta.

I'm planning on traveling this next November. Which of the two cities would you recommend? For instance, which one has the most things to do and see, and which one is a better value (for instance which has less expensive accommodation).

I'm leaning towards Minneapolis. I picture it as the larger of the two cities, plus I saw the movie Fargo so I could at least visit those small towns depicted in the film. Thanks.

PrairieHikerI

Minneapolis is much better than Milwaukee. Still, the former is not very exciting for a major American city. Then again if you found Portland, OR to your liking, Minneapolis would satisfy you. There are not many outstanding things to see/do there.

tomfuller

Are you coming from Portland or somewhere else? How long would you want to be in either city? You might want to stay in St. Paul instead of downtown Minneapolis. You can get to either city on an Amtrak train if you didn't want to fly.

bald0ne

I lean towards Milwaukee. Because of being on the lake. Maybe a bit more history there. A trip up to "The Thumb" might tip the scales towards Milwaukee.

jorge_z

I like the Amtrak idea, though it's only five days but I think that it can be done, thanks

tom_mn

Yes, the metro area is over twice as large. Minneapolis/St Paul is kind of unusual because it has been the 16th largest US metro area for many decades. Most cities grow or shrink in size and influence. Considering it is the coldest large metro area, in a time when everyone (globally) seems to glorify dripping from sweat in Florida as the ideal human habitat, and still maintains its national standing, is something. There never has been much industry, while Milwaukee is a former industrial city reinventing itself. It's a different flavor.

Fargo is a weird representation of the state. The car dealership from the movie was replaced with the Best Buy corporate headquarters right after the movie was filmed. Anyway was it mostly filmed in Brainerd? This is a 2+ hour drive, well, you will see some rivers and lakes on the way. This is a local tourism area of lake cabins. Tom Cruise once had a resort home there. There are prettier areas to visit in the state unless you want to waterski.

Minneapolis highlights (skipping past major league sports teams which are generic) are the 2 main art museums which are quite good, and the theater scene which is locally driven since there are no tourists to speak of. There's also a high level of finer music like a symphony, a chamber orchestra, and the nation's liveliest choral music scene. The Capitol in St Paul was recently spiffed up and makes a nice free tour. The Lowertown area of downtown St Paul is interesting to walk around.

There's is stuff to do in Milwaukee like the art museum, the lakefront, a nice downtown historic quarter, the greenhouse domes.

Neither city attracts many tourists which is interesting on one level because some cities are driven by tourists and dominated by tourists. This probably makes lodging more expensive in both places.

tom_mn

Adding to above about Minneapolis: If you like to bike you could do different trails every one of the 5 days and not do them all. There are rental places.

PrairieHikerI

Check out Linden Hills and ride the Como-Harriet streetcar line. "Just steps away from the line, the commercial hub of the neighborhood thrives with fabulous cafes and a vast array of indie shops." Just 30 minutes northeast of the metro area is Lindstrom. Known as “America’s Little Sweden” one may still hear the old Smaland dialect spoken by older residents. Eat Swedish food at the Swedish Inn or buy Swedish baked goods at the Scandanavia Bakery.

tomfuller

Depends on where you are coming from. You can go to either and spend 2 days and then take the train to the other in a few hours. There are several trains per day from Chicago to Milwaukee if you flew into Chicago. Wisconsin Dells is a good tourist attraction if you want a boat ride.

tom_mn

No boats running in November.


Are you coming from Canada? Then you know what November in the north can mean. All cultural activities will be in full swing with summer over, however.

HappyTrvlr

Visit Minneapolis over Milwaukee! It has the Walker( contemporary art museum) and the Minneapolis Museum of Art. Situated on the Mississippi River, U of MN is there, Hennepin Ave, good dining, Twins and Vikings stadiums, Target Center for Timberwolves are all downtown.