Minneapolis in 2 days: 15 stops matched to opening days

A Minneapolis 2-day itinerary of 15 stops from the NomadSwipe app's 497 stored places: the Mill District and Hennepin Avenue on day one, south Minneapolis on day two. Every start time is checked against stored opening hours, and Thursday to Sunday work for both days.

Disclosure: I built NomadSwipe (Android), and I wrote this guide. Ratings, review counts, addresses and opening hours are the values stored in the app's Minneapolis place data, read on 6 November 2026. Every stored row was last updated between 20 and 28 April 2026, so treat them as a snapshot.

The plan at a glance

• Day 1, the Mill District to Hennepin Avenue: breakfast at Hen House Eatery, the Mill City Museum, Mill Ruins Park, the Guthrie Theater, lunch at Sawatdee Thai Restaurant, the Brave New Workshop and the State Theatre, dinner at Spoon and Stable and a late stop at the Dakota.
• Day 2, south Minneapolis: Minnehaha Falls, lunch at Sonora Grill, the American Swedish Institute, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, dinner at Taqueria Los Ocampo and a night at Icehouse.
• Days of the week: both days work Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and day two also works on Wednesday. Day one has a swap for Wednesday and a drop for Monday and Tuesday. Day two fails on Monday, and on Tuesday only Icehouse needs dropping (see the weekday table).
• Distance: day one adds up to about 5.6 km by straight line between stored coordinates, with no leg over 1.4 km. Day two adds up to about 10.9 km with two long legs of 3.4 and 3.8 km, so plan a ride for those. These are not walking times.

A deck where sights lead, but most have no reviews

Of the 497 places in the Minneapolis deck, 223 are sights by my grouping, 162 are restaurants and cafes, 47 are hotels or other lodging, 23 are bars and 42 are other places. The sights span ten stored categories, but only 87 of the 223 have a stored rating above zero. Just 32 of them are rated 4.0 or higher with at least 100 stored reviews, and 31 of those sit inside a rough box around the Twin Cities. This plan uses ten sights from those 32, plus five places to eat chosen by the same rule: Mill City Museum, Mill Ruins Park, the Guthrie Theater, the Brave New Workshop, the State Theatre, the Dakota, Minnehaha Falls, the American Swedish Institute, the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Icehouse. Five of the ten are theatres and music venues, because that is where the deck's well-reviewed sights are.

• Prices are left out. I did not source ticket prices, reservation rules or tour times from official pages this run, so check each place's own website the day you go.
• Some well-known names are missing. A title search found no card for the Walker Art Center, the Sculpture Garden, Spoonbridge, the Stone Arch Bridge, the Basilica of Saint Mary, U.S. Bank Stadium or the Chain of Lakes (details in the findings).
• Add your own pins. Anything you want that the deck lacks is yours to add on the map yourself.

The same method on another deck is in the Chicago 2-day itinerary, and the filter I use to cut a deck to a short list is in our step-by-step way to build a first-day shortlist.

Which days of the week work

I parsed the stored weekly hours of the 12 stops that have them with a script, set a suggested start time for each, and tested every weekday. A stop fails a day if its stored hours are closed or do not cover the start time. The Guthrie Theater, the Brave New Workshop and the State Theatre have no stored hours, so the script cannot test them.

Day one fails on one stop on each of its three bad days. The Mill City Museum is stored as open Thursday to Sunday only, from 10 AM, so the 10:30 start works on those four days. On Wednesday, swap it for the Weisman Art Museum (stored as a museum, 4.2 from 336 reviews, open 10 AM to 5 PM on Wednesday), about 1.7 km from Mill Ruins Park by stored coordinates. The Weisman is stored as closed on Monday and Tuesday, so on those days I drop the slot and keep the rest. Day two is harder on Monday, when the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the American Swedish Institute are both stored as closed. The Museum of Russian Art is stored as open on Monday from 10 AM to 5 PM, but it is 6.5 km from Sonora Grill by stored coordinates, so I did not build that swap. On Tuesday only Icehouse fails, so skip it and finish after dinner. Any two consecutive days from Thursday to Sunday work in either order, and day two on a Wednesday followed by day one on the Thursday works too. Hours also change on public holidays, so confirm before you go.

Day 1: the Mill District to Hennepin Avenue

Day one stays in one part of downtown, on and near the Mississippi riverfront and Hennepin Avenue. By straight line between stored coordinates, the farthest pair, the Guthrie Theater and the Brave New Workshop, is 1.65 km apart, and going stop to stop adds up to about 5.6 km. The longest single leg, 1.39 km, is from dinner to the Dakota. Times below are my suggested start times.

1. 9:00, Hen House Eatery: stored as a restaurant at 114 8th St S, 4.3 from 3,851 reviews, open 7 AM to 3 PM from Monday to Friday and 7:30 AM to 2 PM at the weekend, so 9:00 leaves plenty of room before the museum.
2. 10:30, Mill City Museum: stored as a museum at 704 2nd St S, 4.6 from 1,756 reviews. Stored hours are 10 AM to 4 PM on Thursday and Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday and Sunday, and closed from Monday to Wednesday. 1.12 km from breakfast.
3. 12:00, Mill Ruins Park: stored as a park at 102 Portland Ave, 4.4 from 152 reviews, open 6 AM to 10 PM every day. Only 0.13 km from the museum.
4. 12:30, Guthrie Theater: stored as a theater and concert hall at 818 2nd St S, 4.7 from 1,327 reviews, with no stored hours, so I cannot say whether you can go in. 0.18 km from the park.
5. 13:15, Sawatdee Thai Restaurant - Minneapolis: stored as a restaurant at 607 Washington Ave S, 4.5 from 13,224 reviews, the most reviewed card I use. Open 11 AM to 9 PM every day. 0.32 km from the theater.
6. 15:30, Brave New Workshop: stored as a theater and concert hall at 824 Hennepin Ave, 4.5 from 218 reviews, with no stored hours. 1.33 km from lunch.
7. 16:00, State Theatre: stored as a theater and concert hall at 805 Hennepin Ave, 4.2 from 203 reviews, with no stored hours either. Only 0.06 km from the Brave New Workshop. The afternoon is left loose on purpose, since two of my stops have no hours to plan around.
8. 18:00, Spoon and Stable: stored as a restaurant at 211 1st St N, 4.5 from 2,156 reviews. Open 4 PM to 11 PM Monday to Wednesday, from 5 PM on Thursday and Friday, 4 PM to 11:30 PM on Saturday and 10 AM to 2 PM plus 4 PM to 11 PM on Sunday, so 18:00 fits every day. 1.09 km from the State Theatre.
9. 20:00, Dakota: stored as a theater and concert hall at 1010 Nicollet Mall, 4.1 from 692 reviews. Open 5:30 PM to 9 PM Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, and 5:30 PM to 11 PM on Friday and Saturday, so a 20:00 start leaves an hour on the early nights. 1.39 km from dinner.

Day 2: south Minneapolis

Day two runs from east to west along the south side of the city, and it is far more spread out than day one. The farthest pair, Minnehaha Falls and Icehouse, is 6.98 km apart by straight line, and going stop to stop adds up to about 10.9 km. The longest leg is 3.84 km, from the falls to lunch, and the next is 3.36 km from lunch to the Swedish Institute. The last four stops are within 1.6 km of each other. I read no transit source this run, so I give straight-line distances only and no travel times. Times below are my suggested start times.

1. 9:00, Minnehaha Falls: stored as a tourist attraction at 4801 S Minnehaha Park Dr, 4.6 from 514 reviews, open 6 AM to 10 PM every day.
2. 11:30, Sonora Grill: stored as a restaurant at 3300 Lake St E, 4.3 from 694 reviews. Open 11 AM to 9 PM from Sunday to Thursday and 11 AM to 10 PM on Friday and Saturday, so 11:30 is just after opening. 3.84 km from the falls.
3. 13:30, American Swedish Institute: stored as a museum at 2600 Park Ave, 4.6 from 633 reviews. Open 10 AM to 4 PM, to 8 PM on Thursday, and closed on Monday, so a 13:30 start leaves two and a half hours on most days. 3.36 km from lunch.
4. 15:15, Minneapolis Institute of Art: stored as a museum at 2400 3rd Ave S, 4.8 from 2,852 reviews, the most reviewed sight in the deck. Open 10 AM to 5 PM, to 9 PM on Thursday, and closed on Monday. A 15:15 start leaves 1 hour 45 minutes on most days, and much longer on Thursday. 0.72 km from the Swedish Institute.
5. 18:30, Taqueria Los Ocampo: stored in the deck's lowercase "mexican_restaurants" category at 801 Lake St E, 4.6 from 6,919 reviews. Open 10 AM to 10 PM Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, and 10 AM to 4 AM on Friday and Saturday. 1.43 km from the museum.
6. 20:30, Icehouse: stored as a theater and concert hall at 2528 Nicollet Ave, 4.0 from 686 reviews. Open 6 PM to 11 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 6 PM to midnight on Friday, 3 PM to 1 AM on Saturday, 3 PM to midnight on Sunday and closed on Tuesday. 1.54 km from dinner.

Where the stored hours bind

These are the stops whose stored hours decide the start time or the weekday.

What I left out, and why

• Other cities' cards. The deck mixes in St. Paul, Bloomington and further out. I kept to Minneapolis addresses. The Science Museum of Minnesota (St. Paul, 4.5 from 1,354 reviews), SEA LIFE at Mall of America (Bloomington, 4.0 from 2,027) and Paisley Park (Chanhassen, 4.4 from 1,182) all pass the rating line, but they sit in other towns.
• The State Fair cards. Two cards carry the Minnesota State Fair name, one for the Creative Activities Building, with the same 4.6 rating and 1,774 reviews and the same address. Their stored hours are 8 AM to 4:30 PM Monday to Friday and closed at the weekend, which does not read like fair hours to me, so I did not use them.
• Sights with no stored hours. Wabasha Street Caves (4.3 from 332 reviews), Varsity Theater, Turf Club, Fitzgerald Theater and Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden have no stored hours. I used only three such cards, the Guthrie, the Brave New Workshop and the State Theatre, and kept the rest out.
• Escape rooms. Three of the 32 well-reviewed sights are stored as tourist attractions but are escape rooms or game rooms by name, such as Mission Manor in Minneapolis (4.7 from 123 reviews). I did not read booking terms this run, so I left them out.
• Art galleries. The deck has 19 art gallery cards and none passes the 4.0 rating and 100-review line.
• Hotels. 47 of the 497 places are hotels or other lodging, and one has stored hours, so I skipped them for a day plan.
• Thin parks. Gold Medal Park (4.3 from 74 reviews) is near the Guthrie but falls short of 100 reviews, so I used Mill Ruins Park (152) instead.

Getting around between the stops

• Day one is mostly compact. Four of its eight legs are 0.06 to 0.32 km by straight line, and the four legs of 1.09 to 1.39 km, to the museum, to Hennepin Avenue, to dinner and to the Dakota, are the ones to plan a ride for. Streets make the real walk longer than the straight line.
• Day two needs two rides. The 3.84 km leg from the falls to lunch and the 3.36 km leg from lunch to the Swedish Institute are the ones that need a ride. The last two legs, 1.43 and 1.54 km, are short hops. Transit routes, fares and times are left out because I did not read an official page for them this run.
• In the app: each card shows its distance and opening status, and the list sorts by rating, distance or A to Z.

How I would swipe the Minneapolis deck

I built NomadSwipe, so this is the method I would use, not a trip I already took. I would open the Minneapolis deck and swipe right on the museums, theatres and the falls and on a few places to eat, and left on the rest, because the deck holds 88 park cards with few ratings, several cards from other towns and a handful that are not in Minnesota at all. I would check any card with a missing rating or hours before saving it. Then I would open the map to see which saved places cluster. In this deck they fall into two clusters: the riverfront, Hennepin Avenue and North Loop addresses downtown on one side, and the Lake Street, Park Avenue and Nicollet Avenue addresses in the south on the other, about 3.6 km apart between their centres, and those became my two days. The closed-day pattern above is the part to check last, because a good cluster can still land on the wrong weekday. NomadSwipe is Android only.

Planning another city? See the 2 days in Chicago, the 2 days in New York City, the 2 days in Las Vegas, the 2 days in Vienna, the 2 days in Lisbon, the printable travel itinerary template, an app to plan a trip on a map, how to save places for a trip or a travel swipe app.

Questions about this Minneapolis plan

Can I follow this Minneapolis plan on a Monday or Tuesday?

Day one does not work on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday as written, because the Mill City Museum is stored as closed from Monday to Wednesday. On Wednesday, swap it for the Weisman Art Museum, which is stored as open 10 AM to 5 PM that day and sits about 1.7 km from Mill Ruins Park by stored coordinates. On Monday and Tuesday the Weisman is stored as closed too, so drop the museum slot. Day two does not work on Monday, because the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the American Swedish Institute are both stored as closed. On Tuesday, drop Icehouse, which is stored as closed, and end with dinner at Taqueria Los Ocampo. The stored hours were read on 6 November 2026, so confirm them before you go.

Which days of the week work for both days?

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday work for both days, so any two consecutive days from Thursday to Sunday work as written, in either order. Day two on a Wednesday followed by day one on the Thursday works too. All 12 stops that have stored hours are stored as open at their suggested start times on those days. The Guthrie Theater, the Brave New Workshop and the State Theatre have no stored hours, so the check cannot test them.

Why are the Walker Art Center, the Sculpture Garden and the Stone Arch Bridge not in the plan?

A title search of the app's Minneapolis data found no card for the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Spoonbridge, the Stone Arch Bridge, the Basilica of Saint Mary, U.S. Bank Stadium or the Chain of Lakes. Target Field appears only as a Station Plaza card with no rating. I cannot match any of them to opening days, and I did not add them from memory. If one is why you came, add it as your own pin and check its hours on its official page.

How were the 15 stops chosen?

I picked cards by hand from the app's Minneapolis data with a stored rating of 4.0 or higher and at least 100 stored reviews, then checked each suggested start time against the stored weekly hours. Three stops, the Guthrie Theater, the Brave New Workshop and the State Theatre, have no stored hours, so I kept them for their ratings and their position on the walk. Day one stays within 1.7 km and day two spreads over 7.0 km, both by straight line between stored coordinates.

Findings, method and sample

Sample and method. I read the NomadSwipe app's place data on 6 November 2026 with read-only queries. Minneapolis is stored as one destination row, "Minneapolis (Minnesota)" in the USA, which holds 497 cards. I grouped them by place ID, which gives 497 distinct places and 484 distinct titles (case-insensitive), because the same venue can appear under more than one place ID. The counts below are of the 497 places. An empty stored hours list counts as no stored hours, and a stored rating of 0 counts as no rating. I measured distance in a straight line between stored coordinates. Every row was last updated between 20 and 28 April 2026.

• Of the 497 places, 254 have a stored rating above zero, and 201 of those are rated 4.0 or higher (79%). 104 are rated 4.5 or higher (41%). The median stored rating among the 254 is 4.3.
• I grouped the places by stored category into buckets I defined myself: 223 sights (tourist attractions, theaters and concert halls, parks, art galleries, historic sites, museums, gardens, amusement places, zoos and aquariums), 162 restaurants and cafes, 47 hotels and other lodging, 23 bars and 42 other places. The bucket totals sum to 497. Sights are 45% of the deck.
• The sights come in ten stored categories: park (88), tourist attraction (36), theater and concert hall (34), museum (28), art gallery (19), historic site (5), garden (5), zoo (4), amusement place (3) and aquarium (1). I counted category names case-sensitively and did not merge lowercase variants such as "tourist_attraction" or "landmark" (3 cards). Of the 223 sights, 131 have stored hours (59%) and 92 have none, and 87 have a stored rating and reviews (39%). 136 have neither.
• Sight cards are thin on reviews. 32 of the 223 sights are rated 4.0 or higher with at least 100 stored reviews, 24 of those 32 have stored hours, and 31 lie inside a rough box around the city. No art gallery card passes that line, and the 88 park cards produce only two that do, Mill Ruins Park (152 reviews) and Clifton E. French Regional Park in Plymouth (163).
• 282 of the 497 places have stored weekly hours (57%). Of those, 66 show Monday as closed (23%) and 75 show Sunday as closed (27%), and 118 show at least one closed day (42%). Among the 131 sights with hours, 29 show Monday as closed, 36 show Sunday as closed and 51 show at least one closed day (39%). Of the 47 lodging cards, one has stored hours.
• Landmark search: titles were searched for the Walker Art Center, the Sculpture Garden, Spoonbridge, the Stone Arch Bridge, the Basilica of Saint Mary, Target Field, U.S. Bank Stadium, the Chain of Lakes and Mall of America. None returned a sight card for the landmark itself. Target Field matched only a Station Plaza and Amphitheater park card with a rating of 0, and the Mall of America search matched only SEA LIFE and the Museum of Illusions. First Avenue, St Anthony Falls and Como Park Zoo and Conservatory exist as cards but have no stored rating and review count.
• 483 of the 497 places fall inside a rough box around the Twin Cities (latitude 44.7 to 45.2, longitude -93.6 to -93.0), and 14 fall outside it. The outside cards include the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska (4.7 from 784 reviews), The Main Cafe in Stillwater, a cinema in Lake Zurich, Illinois, a Fargo cinema and cards titled Visit Indy, Visit Detroit and Visit KC. The box also takes in St. Paul, Bloomington and Plymouth, so I picked stops by address, not by the box alone.
• I chose the 15 stops by hand: cards with a stored rating of 4.0 or higher and at least 100 stored reviews (lowest rating 4.0, fewest reviews 152), chosen to keep each day in one area and fit the stored opening days. They are three museums, one park, one tourist attraction, five theaters and concert halls, four restaurants and one Mexican restaurant, across six stored categories. They are not simply the 15 highest-rated cards. The 100 line is mine, not a rule in the app.
• Using straight-line distance between stored coordinates, day one totals about 5.6 km (longest leg 1.39 km, farthest pair 1.65 km) and day two about 10.9 km (longest leg 3.84 km, farthest pair 6.98 km). The centres of the two days are about 3.6 km apart. These are not walking times.

Limits: the ratings, review counts and hours are stored values from April 2026 that may have changed since. The Guthrie Theater, the Brave New Workshop and the State Theatre have no stored hours and are not weekday-tested. The suggested start times are mine and are checked only against stored hours. The Wednesday swap is checked against stored hours by hand, not by the script. I left out ticket prices, reservation rules, transit fares and travel times, and I did not copy any third-party review text. I did not read official sites this run.

Sources

• Place data: the NomadSwipe app's Minneapolis places (names, categories, ratings, review counts, addresses, coordinates and weekly hours as stored), read 6 November 2026. No third-party pages were used.