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    Recommended Reviews - Mill City Museum

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    Shortbread cookie recipe in the Baking Lab!
    Raisa B.

    Stopped in today as a chaperone for my kiddo's field trips, and we had such a blast! The staff running the different areas of the museum were so friendly and knowledgeable, they handled the questions well, and they were really great with the kids. So many different, interactive activities, and so much great information about Minneapolis and the history of the flour mill industry. I will definitely be back with my other kiddo. So much fun!

    Joy Q.

    I loved the museum experience and thought it was well worth the ticket! The museum did a great job at showing the industry and changes throughout the years which was tied to the history of the city . The highlight was the interactive guided theatre experience. All staff are super nice. I appreciate it all the angles it explored from one single flour factory. The top floor deck has an amazing view of the city and the river front as well as the bridges . This facility is great for tourist and locals, adult and children.

    Outside of mill city museum
    Sef E.

    Great scenery in and outside the museum! Lots of street parking around the area too. Very nice museum with lots of history. Pricing varies depending on which exhibits you want to see. There is the mill city farmers market on Saturday mornings as well! Great experience. They also have a cafe inside as well, plus tons of access to nearby restaurants.

    Gina A.

    Attended a catered event here. What a great venue for a large group. The museum itself was truly interesting. If you get a chance take the elevator. Also go up to the top floor deck the view is stunning.

    Coco G.

    As museums go, this one is highly interactive and interesting, appropriate for all age groups, educational, and architecturally interesting as well. We learned all about the Great Mill Disaster of 1878 when a flour explosion destroyed the original Washburn A Mill, including a small scale demonstration of how such an explosion can occur. We learned about the history of the flour industry and even got samples of freshly baked white chocolate lemon bars in their baking lab on site. And so much more! Come check it out.

    View from the top of the tower
    Lizzie B.

    Very cool, unique museum! While the museum focuses mostly on the history of milling in the city, there is also a lot of general Minneapolis history. Each entry gets a time to tour the "Flour Tower" - an elevator type exhibit with a different story to tell on each floor. It ended at the top of the building with amazing views of the river! If you time your visit right, you can even get samples of sweet treats at their baking lab. Fun water-based activities for kids and adults alike to learn more about milling and the power or water. Would recommend.

    Great dichotomy between old and new
    Bryan M.

    Though the museum's architecture is pretty Stark and impressive, especially the dichotomy between old and new, besides the story that is told in the elevator tour and just after, and the view from the top, this museum didn't really hold my attention for long. It seemed like the bottom area was mainly for kids so I think I spent a total of 5 minutes down there. The elevator tour was interesting but not at all what I expected. I thought as each doors opened, the area would be a renovated part of the old museum as it was in the past but instead it was recreated and seemed kind of phony and childish. The very top was as I was hoping it would be and the docent gave us a good history story. After doing that you are free to stay up on the viewing balcony as long as you like which I took full advantage of as the day was perfect and the view was great. The 15 minute movie on the history of Minneapolis was a little interesting, but again, not something that could have held my interest for much longer. I forget how much I paid, maybe $25, but that was far too steep of a price in my opinion especially when you can get pretty much the exact same view from two different perspectives at the Guthrie theater just a short walk away, for free.

    Ruth C.

    We had a great experience at Mill City Museum. Such interesting history on the flour mills in the minneapolis area. Price is reasonable. There are plenty of exhibits: hands on and even a "test" kitchen" where we got to try some brownies :) The elevator ride and history tour was great! The views from upstairs are beautiful. You can park on the street (pretty cheap). Definitely put this on your list of things to do in Minneapolis!

    Main entrance
    Scott P.

    This is an excellent museum on history specific to the city of Minneapolis, and the mills that helped shape the city's early days. We came here on a Saturday afternoon in March. My 9 year old son was wary of visiting a second history museum in one day (first was Minnesota History Center) but he absolutely loved it here. At one point he declared Minnesota to be way cooler than NJ, where we are from. The interactive space is great if you have kids, especially the area that allows them to experiment with water and how mills generate power using the river. Many other reviewers have noted the Flour Tower, but here are my two cents: I have been to many, many museums in my day, and I can say without a trace of exaggeration that this exhibit was one of the most creative, well done, informative exhibits I have ever seen. The seamless blending of audio from first person accounts and sound effects, stationary visuals mixed with video projected on walls, all making use of the historic building itself... it was all incredibly impressive and is not to be missed. This was my first time here and I can definitely recommend this place to other history buffs.

    Gabriel S.

    Amazing place to learn about the history that built our state and our nation. We did a 3-hour guided tour and went through the green elevator where you go up and see a living history of the mill city museum we also did the building of the city is in 19 minutes flat which was really good. When you go up in the elevator to the top of the green elevator you realize that this was just one of many flower companies that build on the river to use the power of the river and grind the mill that was then delivered all over the world. Really good historical elements on the different processes that evolved over time and making flour and all the different products that we need to globally around flour as the base. They have a water lab where you get to see how the hydroelectricity of the water that comes from the dams created power the flour mills. So much stuff to see and learn and do you could probably spend an entire day there I got to spend 3 hours with one of my son's classes and it was amazing. I would cherish the time to go again if I end up helping on another field trip.

    Kimberly F.

    We were looking for things to do with my parents on a hot day. This place didn't disappoint. There was something for all of us. We leaned about processing flour and the history of the building. The elevator experience was interesting as well as the quick history video. We loved the views from the top of the building. There are things for kids to do and plenty to learn. There is a test kitchen that was giving out samples. There is a nice gift shop. It was fun, interesting and we learned something.

    River view from top floor
    Jake D.

    Informative in a creative way. Probably took us 1 hr - 1.5 hr to learn everything. The ticket price is not bad so it was worth it.

    View from flour tower
    Robert W.

    Mill City Museum was a super cool museum that I visited a few months ago with my brother. We are both adults, but this museum has plenty to offer for both children and adults. This museum walks you through the history of Minneapolis as a major mill industry center. There are more traditional exhibits with plenty of material to read, but also plenty of interactive things for kids and adults. The highlight is this elevator tour that takes you through the different levels and times in history of the area. It is super exciting and at the end, you are at the top of the museum which has a beautiful view of the city (see my pictures). I'd say 1-2 hours is about the right amount of time to spend here - highly recommend.

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    1 year ago

    If I could give it a 10 star review I would. Went here for a field trip one of the best field trips I had

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    We took the guided tour and it was really cool. It's something you have to have tickets for but worth it. I highly recommend it!

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    Such a great place to spend an afternoon! Very interesting and interactive. My son really got into it!

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    Ask the Community - Mill City Museum

    Review Highlights - Mill City Museum

    Each entry gets a time to tour the "Flour Tower" - an elevator type exhibit with a different story to tell on each floor.

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    minneapolis trolley tour - Pics from the tour

    minneapolis trolley tour

    4.7(20 reviews)
    1.5 miLoring Park

    We did the Candlelight Ghost Tour and had such a great time! Our guide was so fun! We started at…read morethe Pillsbury Club which is in the gorgeous Pillsbury Mansion across the park from the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The wood work inside is beautiful! At the appointed time we loaded our trolley where we got our "ghost glasses" and our candles and away we went. We were entertained with stories of the old mansions and landmark around downtown Minneapolis. We got off the trolley at a couple of stops to see some of the haunted places and hear the stories. It was a chilly night but the trolley was warm and they also provided blankets to keep toasty. I will be going back for some of their other tours. If you are new to the area, want to do something different for a date night or just want to learn some fun history about Minneapolis, I recommend this tour. It was so fun!

    We enjoyed this tour of Minneapolis. I never knew this city had so much history especially with the…read moremills. Learned a lot about the area, the parks and lakes and architecture. This is a family owned business and they do a pretty good job of running. The tour guide was very informative about the places we were passing by. They offer a variety of tours, but we opted for the narrative day tour. It was a good amount of time for the tour, not too short, not too long. There is street parking and also they said you could park at the church across the street. The pillsbury house is the meeting point. It looks like they do tours as well but i didnt inquire about it. They do have ADA accommodations as well.

    Photos
    minneapolis trolley tour - The waiting room

    The waiting room

    minneapolis trolley tour - Pics from the tour

    Pics from the tour

    minneapolis trolley tour

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    300 Clifton Bed and Breakfast - Beautiful room in the home.

    300 Clifton Bed and Breakfast

    3.5(23 reviews)
    1.6 miLoring Park

    EEK! Bed Bugs in the blue room in the Carriage House. Recently stayed here and woke up one morning…read morewith bites above my knee and found 3 dead bugs on the sheets. It was a Saturday and no one was in the office and the owners are not listed on the website, plus NO phone number on the website. Finally I saw a worker loading a van and told him and he responded immediately texting the owner. They were full that night and couldn't put me in another room and offered to find a local hotel (which later they reneged on); the worker said they did call for inspection and said repeatedly they would reimburse my stay for the inconvenience. It was annoying not to have any communication with the owner and only when I got home on Sunday did they email to say there was nothing (who knows if that is true) and no mention of a refund. Very disappointed.

    Our stay at the Clifton 300 was fantastic. We stayed in the Crystal Mansion room, which was…read moreabsolutely beautiful. Everything about Clifton 300 was impressive. The staff were extremely nice and accommodating. I had help bringing my bags upstairs to our room, they walked us through everything and offered help any time we needed it. We reserved the haunted movie lounge, which was a very unique experience. The hot tub was excellent and very peaceful. It rained while we were in the hot tub but it was covered very well and only elevated the experience! The koi pond is so beautiful and relaxing, and we loved enjoying the entire property. Highly recommend staying here! Also, don't forget to book a trolly tour! Such a unique experience, and the tour guide has such a fun personality it was incredible!! 10/10 Would stay again and again!

    Photos
    300 Clifton Bed and Breakfast - Fairy tower!

    Fairy tower!

    300 Clifton Bed and Breakfast - Looking at the veranda from the English Garden. Magic all around!

    Looking at the veranda from the English Garden. Magic all around!

    300 Clifton Bed and Breakfast - Shared third floor bath

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    Shared third floor bath

    Foshay Museum And Observation Deck - Exit door to the observation deck

    Foshay Museum And Observation Deck

    4.2(48 reviews)
    0.8 miDowntown Minneapolis

    I used to work across the street from the Foshay - was there about ~9yrs and never checked out this…read moregem. I did go during Doors Open which is probably the busiest time to go. They have 1 elevator that goes straight up to the 30th floor. The details on the doors and around the building were amazing. Once you get up to the 30th floor there's a small museum where you can learn more about the tower. Then you take a few stairs up to get out to the observation deck. I will say it's pretty tight up there. Not ideal for big groups that can't separate. Each direction has a look out otherwise you can just look through the bars. For sure a cool place to visit at least once.

    I love learning about a building's history, so it's nice that the Foshay Tower has this small…read moremuseum to share theirs. The building was built in 1929 and was modeled after the Washington Monument in DC. At the time it was the tallest building in the Midwest and it stayed that way for 48 years. Wilbur Foshay was an art student turned businessman who made his money with utility companies. Just six weeks after the building opened, the great depression started and the building was auctioned off. Foshay was accused and convicted of fraud, sent to prison, then later pardoned and let out early. The building was offices for many years, until 2006 when it was turned into a hotel. The observation deck at the top gives a great view of the city. You can walk a full 360° path around the 30th floor exterior. It is a little narrow, can be slippery in inclement weather, and needs some TLC (to remove graffiti etc). It is $18 to visit, or free if you are staying at the hotel. They've always charged a fee to ride the elevators: in 1929 the fee was $0.50. Adjusting for inflation that would be about $9.50 today. I think the $5-10 range would be more appropriate for a visit. It doesn't take too long to experience the whole thing, maybe an hour at most.

    Photos
    Foshay Museum And Observation Deck - Buildings

    Buildings

    Foshay Museum And Observation Deck - Pardoning of Mr. Foshay

    Pardoning of Mr. Foshay

    Foshay Museum And Observation Deck - Great views

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    Great views

    IDS Center

    IDS Center

    3.9(18 reviews)
    0.7 miDowntown Minneapolis

    The IDS center is the center of downtown Minneapolis. It is the hub of the skyways everything you…read moreneed right downtown and the IDS is in the center of it very comfortable very inviting friendly environment. I love it.

    Back in 1973 a friend and I crashed the grand opening ceremony and I recall walking away with a…read moreglossy multi-page booklet, a complementary hard hat (not remotely useable) and various other minor swag. The Philip Johnson designed IDS center seemed glittery, glamorous, exotic and impressive. I will admit to being a bit awestruck. Over the years I have innumerable fond memories whether entering at street level, walking in on the skyway level, sitting out on a balcony overlooking the Crystal Court or very occasionally parking below and taking in the scenery from the long lost observation level. In fact, at the risk of TMI I proposed to my late wife in 1978 while seated at a corner window table at the then still newish restaurant Windows on Minnesota (another casualty of change). Back in the day my father used to describe the IDS tower by slowly raising his middle finger. He dismissed it as "the box that the Foshay Tower came in." Well... that was then and this is now. My most recent memories are of of a tired, sparse, neglected and lonely place. Maybe an homage to glories past but one that has decidedly seen better days. Perhaps it is inevitable that as downtown Mpls has changed and become significantly repurposed structures such as the once inspiring IDS have lapsed into a rather sad reality. A veritable shadow of itself. I'm left with some great memories however!

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    IDS Center
    IDS Center - Look up

    Look up

    IDS Center

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    Walker Art Center - Skyway

    Walker Art Center

    3.9(259 reviews)
    1.7 mi

    2 stars with context *with* strollers and a young family, the movement/fluid from one room to the…read morenext was torture. Same with finding a changing station, I cut my hand in the airplane-feel bathroom on floor M, which isn't marked floor M within the elevator. I remembered my visit with my oldest in the summer and thought this family Saturday would be a great winter experience. It wasn't, but I personally enjoyed the sculpture room and Lineage exhibits! Recommend the walker during summer and with older children when forced inside.

    Dropped in last night for their free Thursday evening admission. All I had to do was check-in at…read morethe front desk and receive a small medallion to wear. They even had a fun free craft going on in the basement, all supplies included and snacks! Yay! I just took an explore at my own pace through a couple of exhibits. The docents are a little creepy... I know they're just doing their job by standing there staring at you or following you around (probably because guests are bad at respecting the rules), but yeah, I found them a little distracting/detracting from the experience. Oh well. I just tried to ignore it and focus on the art as best I could. Moving from room to room and spiralling up gradual stairways will kind of get you lost inside the building. It's large and has multiple floors. The space will shift from cozy to grandiose at a moment's notice. If you don't like being lost, grab a map before you go in. If getting lost is a fun part of the experience for you, then by all means, just enjoy following your nose like I did, haha! I happened to be there on opening night for the new kid's exhibit they added, where you are encouraged to touch as part of exploration. It's not terribly large, but I like things that encourage imaginative play. Shame I saw one lady just staring at her cell phone like a drone while her kid played beside her. There are all-gender bathrooms on the ground floor by the lobby, and additional restrooms scattered throughout the center (when you stumble across them, lol). There are also coat closets for you to hang your coat if you don't need it; they keep the center nice and warm inside! There is an occasional water fountain as well, which is a godsend since they do not allow you to carry ANY drinks (even recloseable water bottles like Hydroflasks) into the exhibit spaces. There are also a couple of gift shops. The one in the lobby has affordable things, the one deeper in on the second floor is like modern art for your home + a wall of books. There are a couple of theatres inside, along with a full restaurant (y'know, if you have money for fancy-schmancy things like eating, oops). For parking you have a couple options: you can utilize the surface lot for $5 and it'll last you until midnight, or you can use the underground lot for $8. Depending on the weather conditions, that extra $3 might make it worth it to you to choose the underground space. On a chilly Thursday November evening, I still chose the outdoor lot and there were plenty of parking spaces available. There is also the option of squeezing into parallel parking along Vineland and using the meters. Obviously, the sculpture garden is also right next door to explore at any time of day for free. I highly recommend it, if only to take a quick selfie with the Cherry & Spoon or blue Cock.

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    Walker Art Center - Hummus and pita

    Hummus and pita

    Walker Art Center - Art as of 7/25

    Art as of 7/25

    Walker Art Center

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    Hennepin History Museum - It is a profile painting of a woman wearing a headscarf, looking upward, expressing hope, reflection, and spirituality.

    Hennepin History Museum

    4.6(9 reviews)
    1.5 miWhittier

    Located right by the MIA...this is a very unique and interesting museum...that I didn't even know…read moreabout until I came here for an art workshop. Came here actually for an interesting art workshop called "Create 'Unexpected Art' with Becka Rahn" which involved creating images and computers and the final product would be a swatch of material from an image that I created!Which is to be mailed to the participant via mail.. which I haven't yet received...I took this workshop with a past participant who was raving about it ... I really did enjoy my experience and I am so looking forward to my finished product! $5 gets you in and also a tour of the museum/mansion.. oh what a deal.. and like Rhonda G. says below... it's really like having a Downtown Abbey right here in Minneapolis! FREE Parking that's connected to the museum, too! Look forward to attending more interesting events here in the future!

    If you are a native Minneapolite - or even just a transplant / convert - check this place out. It's…read morekitty-corner from the MIA so you can make a day of museum hopping followed by a meal at one of the many restaurants along nearby Eat Street (Nicollet Ave). For a minimal fee, you'll be able to check out the fantastically-curated exhibits that explore different topics relevant to Hennepin County's history through photographs, textiles, paintings, videos, audio-recordings, sculptures, artifacts, and more. It is a full-sensory experience in a historic mansion that cannot and should not be missed. In addition to traditional exhibitions, they have unique and fun programming - which sounds like it will be more frequent according to an article I read recently about the new director! Plus, the mansion is available as a venue rental. I even considered it for my upcoming wedding! The biggest downsides (and biggest complaints I had while working there) are 1) the fact that the building is not handicap accessible and 2) the lack of air conditioning in the summertime. It's an unfortunate reality about many historic buildings but even more so for HHM...as a non-profit and lesser-known museum, lots of funding is needed to facilitate the appropriate and allowed retrofitting while still protecting the historic integrity. Admittedly, I am a bit biased in my love of this place. When I graduated with my B.A. in cultural studies and comparative literature, I began scouring the Twin Cities for non-profit gigs, especially those in the Arts. I landed my first post-college job as a museum administrator at the Hennepin History Museum despite having never stepped foot in the mansion or even knowing of its existence. It was an amazing experience and I learned a lot, but the most valuable thing I learned was what an exceptional gem HHM is. Please do not miss out on the opportunity to explore!

    Photos
    Hennepin History Museum - We cover the history of Minnespolis and all of Hennepin County.

    We cover the history of Minnespolis and all of Hennepin County.

    Hennepin History Museum - Woodwork detail: one of many in our historic building.

    Woodwork detail: one of many in our historic building.

    Hennepin History Museum - Check out our event schedule for programs like this recent panel discussion with the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus.

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    Check out our event schedule for programs like this recent panel discussion with the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus.

    Mill City Museum - landmarks - Updated May 2026

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