Lake City or Red Wing MN
 

My husband and I will be in Rochester, MN this summer visiting his elderly uncle and we would like to take a side trip. Is Lake City or Red Wing a good place to go? I would like to stay one or two nights someplace. I know that we could drive up to Minneapolis/St. Paul, but I thought maybe these towns might be more interesting.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

I've never been to Lake City, but Red Wing is a charming town overlooking the Mississippi. Lots of antique stores, restaurants and B&Bs, very nice for a short stay

We've been to both and they're both very pleasant, but I'd also choose Red Wing. It's larger and has more activities and options. As you probably know, Lake City's claim to fame is that it's the place where water skiing was invented, but it's quite small and isn't as interesting as Red Wing IMO.

Thank you for your help.

Have either of you stayed at the St. James Hotel in Red Wing?

Have you considered Northfield? It's a very charming college town on the Cannon River, with cute shops, good restaurants and a gorgeous arboretum (at Carleton College).

Anyway, if not Northfield, then yes, I agree that Red Wing would be a fine choice, you'd enjoy it!

Red Wing hands down.

Also agree about St. James Hotel.

Oh I thought someone else brought up the St. James. I've stayed there many times, it's really nice although not cheap. I live in New England now, but when I lived in Chicago, Red Wing was one of my favorite midwest weekend destinations. They have a Red Wing Pottery
Fair there in July and its really hard to get a hotel.

Red Wing has great antique shopping if you're into that

Now that I think about it, the St. James was getting pretty expensive, for us anyway, toward the end. We stayed at a
nice inn the last time we were there. It was very pleasant.

http://www.goldenlantern.com

Thanks. I looked up both Northfield and the Golden Lantern and they both look great.

I like the idea of antique shopping in Red Wing.

I vote for Northfield. It's a great small town with plenty of downtown shopping. You really can't go wrong, in my opinion!
http://www.visitingnorthfield.com/pages/

I've stayed at the St James Hotel in Red Wing, and although it is very nice--do NOT stay on the train/river station side of the building. Beautiful view, but you'll be up all night!

Lake City is nice to drive through and stop at, but I wouldn't stay overnight--not much to do (or maybe I missed it).

Have fun!

Lake City is basically a lunch stop and a little walk whereas Red Wing is definitely nmore tourist oriented. Here's another totally different idea you might enjoy. Go over to the Wisconsin side of the river and visit there--Stockholm and Alma are interesting stops--and the scenery is bettr on the Wisconsin side of the river. Another totally different idea for a summer trip. Go south of Richester to Lanesboro which is a cute town in Amish country. There are B & Bs, and if you are into biking there is a marvelous bike trail. You can also rent canoes there for trips on the Root River.

Red Wing.

La Crosse, Wisconsin is a little over an hour away and on the Mississippi. There are several B&Bs located in the old lumber baron homes as well as downtown & mall area hotels. Cute downtown, great restaurants-try Piggy's or Buzzard Billy's; also hiking and biking.
The Mall of America is about an hour away in the Twin Cities if the weather is really bad.