After cancelling twice, I'm finally getting to stop in Minneapolist/St Paul. My friend and I will be staying in St Paul but would like to see a bit of Minneapolis too--downtown near the Guthrie & also the restaurants; & perhaps Dinkytown (am not quite sure what that is). (We won't have time to go further afield; but I plan to come back!) Can anyone explain how to get from the area around the capitol in St Paul to these areas in Minneapolis by bus? and about how long it would take on a weekend? Do buses run Sundays, if that is the day we decide to go?
I am resigned to taking a taxi to/from the train station. Does anyone know if taxis are always there when the westbound EB comes in (around 10:30 PM if on time), or should we phone in advance?
Thanks!!!!
Posted by reich (Member # 2564) on :
There are taxis when the EB arrives, I cheated and walked around the outside of the station and grabbed a taxis from the back of the line to St.Paul. See the transit systems info at metrotransit.org for info. I think the #16 runs every 15 minutes between St. Paul & Minneapolis on University Ave. which is 1 1/2 blocks from the station also. We took that to the station in the morning, but felt more comfortable taking the taxis at night. I think the CVB included two bus tickets in the packet for info, and then we got a 24 hour pass from a vending machine at the light rail stop in downtown Minneapolis.
Posted by mgt (Member # 5479) on :
The local transport has an excellent route-planner. Simply type in your starting point and destination, with an indication of the time you want to travel and you will be provided with several options. You can then either copy the info from the screen or get a print-out. The advantage of this system is that all information is bang up to date, important because when we were there in the summer of 2009 there were considerable engineering works on the Minneapolis Hiawatha line.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
Where will you be staying in St. Paul? I work downtown there and could provide info on what you could walk to. Currently St. Paul's Union Station is accessible by skyway, but 4th Street in front of it is very torn up for LRT construction and not pedestrian friendly.
Best choice for travel between downtowns is the 94 express bus that takes about 20 minutes on the freeway. The very frequent 94B also loops by the capitol and runs at least every 1/2 hour, even on Sunday. The 16A University Ave bus is slow (1 hour +) and does not run by anything scenic, but is the closest a bus gets to Amtrak.
There is a 3B Como Bus that runs through Dinkytown (45 min from St. P) and connects both downtowns. It is not a very direct route and goes mostly through residential areas (mine, in fact). Dinkytown is much closer to Minneapolis on the 3B (15 min).
Dinkytown is a commercial area centering around 14th and 4th adjacent to the University of Minnesota Main Campus. Most of the people you will see there are students and it is typical of any commercial area near a large campus. The story is one of the older buildings there said "Gradnik" on it, which translated into dinky town in English and the name stuck. It has a history of trendy culture change. A then-unknown Bob Dylan played coffeehouses there just about the time I started college. Just lots of small shops and eateries, nothing spectacular. Annie's Parlour has decent burgers. The campus mall, about 3 blocks south has some very nice architecture.
The area around the Guthrie Theater is very interesting. It is along the Mississippi about 3 blocks from the 94 bus and 4 blocks from Hiawatha Light Rail. There is a very good (pay) museum in the old mill buildings. What I recommend most (if weather permits) is a walk (or buggy ride) across the Stone Arch Bridge (google it), built by the "Empire Builder", Mr. J.J. Hill, just so folks could have a spectacular train ride into Minneapolis in front of St. Anthony Falls. Also within sight is the I-35W bridge that replaced the one that collapsed 3 years ago.
All of the above could be easily seen in a day. Also, there is always a Hiawatha Light Rail trip to the Mall of America, if you like shopping centers the size of a small planet. In summer I would recommend a stop at the 50th St LRT station to see Minnehaha Park and Falls, and on a Sunday, the "Princess Depot": http://www.nokomiseast.org/hood/hoodies/recreation-m.html#depot.
I hope you plan to come before our infamous winter sets in. Brrrrr.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
I'll add that the omelots at Mickey's Diner in St. Paul are HUGE.
Went off my diet for the day to have one this past July.