Millions of visitors are drawn to the Twin Cities each year for its eclectic variety of culture, sports, entertainment and shopping. Advantages include negligible pollution, low crime rates, affordable housing, and people known for their friendliness. Minneapolis and St. Paul are growing centers of commerce and industry with major corporate headquarters in electronics, computers, food processing and milling, retailing, medicine, transportation and forest products industries.

The Twin Cities is an exciting dynamic area; check out these links and see for yourself!

• Minneapolis Visitor's Association
  
  
• Roseville Visitor's Association
  
  
• St. Paul Convention and Visitor's Authority
  
  
• Twin Cities Tix

Minneapolis

There are many places to explore in Minneapolis.  Some of these include:

• Nicollet Mall, a scenic 12-block pedestrian thoroughfare, in the heart of downtown Minneapolis.
  
  
• The historic Warehouse District is bursting with art galleries, antique stores, gift shops and coffee houses to explore.
  
  
• The Mississippi Riverfront, originally called St. Anthony, the birthplace of Minneapolis, features walking tours, the impressive St. Anthony Falls and Stone Arch Bridge, and many of the oldest buildings in the city renovated into shops and restaurants and the new home of the Guthrie Theater.
  
  
• Dozens of locales to hear live music from jazz to classical to rock, numerous dance clubs, and more than 275 restaurants of all ethnic varieties in the downtown area alone.  Check out the CityPages for current events around town.

St. Paul

St. Paul is a charming, historic, family-style city, recognized for its European look and friendly people. It boasts some of the world's finest culture and architecture, yet is only minutes away from picturesque parks and rural settings. Also in St. Paul are:

• Festival of Nations - Minnesota's largest multi-cultural celebration which showcases 100 ethnic groups,
  
  
• Minnesota State Fairgrounds, located adjacent to the St. Paul Campus,
  
  
• Padelford Packet Boat Company, sternwheel riverboat cruises on the Mississippi
  
  
• St. Paul Skyway System, the longest publicly-owned skyway in the world totalling five miles, throughout downtown
  
  
• Town Square Park, one of the world's largest indoor public parks featuring waterfalls and tropical plants
  
  
• Minnesota History Center, an architectural gem overlooking St. Paul, is a great place for a fun outing
  
  
• Explore lively exhibits from "Minnesota A to Z." Minnesota Transportation Museum exhibits examples of rail and water transportation historically found in Minnesota.

Arts and Culture

Cultural activities thrive in the Twin Cities. The Minnesota Orchestra is based in Minneapolis and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is based at the Ordway Music Theatre, in downtown St. Paul. Northrop Memorial Auditorium on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus features prominently in the Twin Cities dance scene through its Northrop Dance Series.

Live drama has long thrived in the Twin Cities, which support seven professional theaters and numerous smaller ones, many in the acclaimed Hennepin Theater District. The Twin Cities features more theater seats per capita than any other U.S. metropolitan area outside New York City! The city's regional theater jewel, the Guthrie Theater, consistently presents critically-acclaimed contemporary shows as well as the classics. More than 30 smaller theater venues sprinkled throughout the city present farcical ballets, cabarets, comedies and other unique performances. During the summer, the Minnesota Centennial Showboat presents melodrama in the sternwheel paddleboat converted to a theater and moored on the Mississippi below the Minneapolis campus.

Minneapolis' 35 museums have something for everyone. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, with its 80,000+ piece collection, displays an encyclopedic collection of world art from antiquity to the present. The Walker Art Center, a world-class contemporary art museum, highlights contemporary painting, sculpture, and prints.  Exhibits at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Science Museum of Minnesota with its Omnitheater, and the Minnesota Children's Museum attract interest in St. Paul.

Moviegoers will find a world of foreign films (rarely shown commercially in the Twin Cities) at Minnesota Film Arts.

Several seasonal diversions in and around the Twin Cities attract natives and tourists alike: the Minneapolis Aquatennial in July, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, held during August and September, is a bustling 15th-century village filled with hundreds of costumed villagers, craftsmen and nobles, and the St. Paul Winter Carnival which starts the last week of January.

Sports

The Twin Cities are home to several major sports teams. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis is a multipurpose entertainment and meeting facility, and is home to the Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Vikings and University of Minnesota Gophers Football teams. The Target Center entertainment complex houses the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team. RiverCentre, St. Paul's convention and entertainment complex, is home to Minnesota's National Hockey League team, the Minnesota Wild. The St. Paul Saints, St. Paul's Northern League baseball team, play their games outdoors at Midway Stadium, near the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus.

Outdoor Activities

Opportunities for outdoor activities abound. Within the Minneapolis city limits alone are 22 lakes and 170 parks. The lakes are connected by a parkway system extending over 54 tree-lined miles, with separate bicycle trails and running paths. Winding through the Twin Cities is the Mississippi River, which offers many water related recreational sports, and has bicycle trails, walkways and scenic drives along both banks. 

Getting Around

Transportation connections in the Twin cities include major highways (Interstate 94 and 35), Amtrak railroad, a major east-west line running from Chicago to Seattle, and the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, which is ranked 15th busiest in the world. The Northwest Airlines/KLM Alliance is based here.  Connecting the airport, Mall of America and downtown areas of the Twin Cities is the Light Rail Hiawatha commuter train system.