lincasanova

We will probably stop a couple nights in Minneapolis this summer. I am not too sure I want to stay in the downtown area as I do not relish paying high parking fees. So, keeping that in mind, which other areas would be a better drive into town, or not too difficult access to what the Minneapolis area has to offer?

This is just a quick stop on our way to visit friends in Duluth and will be driving in from Lake Delton, Wisconsin..

Hotels are very reasonable ( under $50) in all areas, even downtown.

The areas are
Downtown
Airport- Bloomington
East
West
Eden Prairie
Mall of America
Oakdale

Thanks!

minnehappylis

I would stay downtown, but I understand the parking deal.
If you stay at Mall of America, you can catch a light rail into downtown and leave your car parked.
Oakdale and Eden Prairie are not good choices in my opinion; too far.
Bloomington is an easy drive into areas, but it is a strip mall suburb.
My favorite part of our city is the stone arch bridge area along the Mississippi downtown.
We have outstanding museums and theater if you have time/interest. The Mpls. Institute of Arts has works by all of the notables and free admission and parking. The Walker has a cool bldg., modern art and a fun sculpture garden to stroll through. The Russian Art Museum is also excellent. The Guthrie Theater is world reknowned if you have time for a play.
I hope you enjoy our city; as you can see by my name I love it!

tchoiniere

i stayed near the Mall of America last year. It was an easy drive into Minneapolis but parking was a significant issue. If you stay outside, take the light rail in. Enjoy Minneapolis as it is a nice city.

lincasanova

Thank you. I will be looking into this. Thanks for the suggestions.

lincasanova

Do they still have "Do the Town parking"?

And what exactly is a parking "RAMP"?
I see alot of info about that... but can't figure it out.
They seem to have some good rates for the day.

I'd better investigate to see if any Mall of America hotels charge for parking, too.. And if we take the llght rail from the Mall, where do we park?

tchoiniere

You park at the mall. MOF hotels dont charge for parking.

Jess_M

A parking ramp is what we Minnesotans call a parking garage

dfr4848

I didn't know "ramp" was Swedish for "garage". Or is it Norwegian?

lincasanova

Thank you for that clarification. who would have known?

WhereAreWe

I don't know what the parking rates for hotels are since I live here. How bad are they? And what are the daily rates for the ramps? (I usually only pay evening rate)

Personally, I would just pay for parking for a couple nights and have the convenience of the car close by. Light rail to/from MOA is fine, but you're sitting at your hotel without a car then. Public transportation in Minneapolis is OK but with just a couple days in town, I wouldn't waste time trying to figure out the bus schedule and riding it around town. I guess it really depends on what you plan on seeing while in town - if you're staying in the immediate downtown area you'd be fine parking remotely and walking everywhere, but if you want to do more than that I'd pay for parking downtown.

BigRuss

I'd stay downtown. Minny's downtown is actually really nice. And if you're only dropping $50/night downtown, how much is exorbitant for parking fees? Even a normal city rate like $20/night would make the stay only $70. That's pretty cheap.

lincasanova

After seeing some of the reasonable ramp rates .. seems we WOULD be better off downtown .. especially if we are lucky with a Priceline room. Thank you all.

bratsandbeer

I like Eden Prairie but there isn't a lot of choices for hotels. We stayed in Chanhassen at Americinn and it was okay. There are many good restaurants in the Eden Praire area.

I am not fond of downtown Mpls. But if you are going to do something downtown it may be the best.
Have you thought of one of the Northeast suburbs? Then you are in a good spot to head out of town to Duluth.

If you are going to Mall of America that area may be easy - the IKEA store is close by too.

The traffic can be heavy during rush hour anywhere in the Twin Cities.

Cali

We frequently travel to Mpls. and then on to Duluth and we almost always stay in the MOA/Airport Zone or in Eden Prairie. It is not difficult to head up north from there. We go up 169 to 10 to 35W North and totally bypass downtown. There are a lot of restaurants out in that zone too. If you like to be downtown, there are many choices for hotels and restaurants there too and you can get right on 35W and head North from there. Have fun.

lincasanova

We ended up getting the Hyatt downtown both visits and enjoyed the hotel and the area. We were able to do OK with on street parking and once in a lot for the morning at an early bird rate. There is also a $5 parking lot two-three blocks away.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

BTW, we LOVED Minneapolis and were very impressed all 'round with the scenery,green spaces and easy access elsewhere.

tchoiniere

Glad it worked out for you. I will be coming back to Minneapolis at 1 point to go to the new stadium. Will make sure to have more time the next time I come.