Minnesota Twin Cities Suburb Summer Travel Guide

For some people, being in the heart of any largely populated cities is frightening. But not all the time does one have to stay in the cities to find something to do. Minnesota can be a great place to visit. And despite what some people may think, you can still have good food, fun, laughter, and entertainment in what many think to be nothing but a big icicle on the top of the United States.

Bloomington
Bloomington is the home of Mall of America. When people come to visit Minnesota their first impression may be is that Mall of America is in Minneapolis or St. Paul. Mall of America is no joke. In fact, if someone would spend 10 minutes in each store available, it would take someone 86 hours to get through. That is a LOT of shopping!

Mall of America also has a lot of attractions inside including rides, mini gulf, Underwater Adventures, and flight simulators. In addition to Mall of America there is Water Park of America, which is a large indoor water park and hotel right next to the mall.

If you enjoy theater, there is the Bloomington Civic Center. Tickets can be purchased at their Bloomington Civic Center website.

Bloomington is the largest suburb of the Twin Cities with a population of approximately 90,000 people. And you shouldn't have a problem booking a hotel here (unless maybe it's the holidays) with about 6,900 hotel rooms with more on the way!

Overall, if you are looking for a great city to spend time in, this is where to go. You will definitely feel the "Minnesota Nice" here, and have Minneapolis / St. Paul at your fingertips along with all the other great suburbs.

Shakopee
Traveling here may seem like a bit of stretch if you plan on traveling to the Twin Cities, but if you are staying in certain suburbs anyway this will only be a quick hop on over to this city. (example: 10 minutes from Eden Prairie and Chanhassen)

Shakopee does have that smaller town feel. But there are big things to do here, especially in the summer time. Shakopee has Valley Fair Amusement Park. Tickets are $36.95 for adults and $14.95 for children and seniors. A regular season pass is $79.95.

At Valley Fair you can enter both the water park and the regular amusement rides. There are also bands that often make their way around the streets of this park. There's bumper cars and boats, Antique autos, Ferris Wheels, Go-Karts and many other family style rides. For those into thrill rides there is the Wild Thing, Excalibur, Corkscrew, and Skyscraper. Just to get an idea of these rides, the Wild Thing's (pictured in this article) highest point is 207 feet and the Corkscrew has loops and moments of being upside down on the tracks,

Thrill rides not for you? Not a problem. Perhaps you want to try something different then the Minnesota State Fair. Shakopee also has a yearly Renaissance Festival. This festival starts mid August and goes to the end of September. This is a festival where you are immersed in the Renaissance time period. People are dressed up, and you can certainly come dressed up too. There are free showings of comedy and other types of entertaining shows. There's lots of singing, beer testing, and merchandise. If you always wanted to have a big smoked turkey leg, here's your chance. And head on over for some beer testing or jousting afterwards. Any age can have fun here, but some showings do have a rating not for kids. They even have elephant and llama rides.

Apple Valley
Apple Valley is home of the Minnesota Zoo. There is a large number of animals here and the Great Clips IMAX Theater is also here. A monorail gives you a top view of the animals so you can also see them from a different point of view. An example of a few animals of the many at this zoo include raccoons, coyotes, gray wolves, tree kangaroos, meerkats, red pandas, and Amur (Siberian) tigers. Children under 2 years old are free. Tickets can be purchased as either zoo only or zoo and IMAX theater combo. A regular zoo adult ticket is $14 while a children's ticket (3 - 12) is $8.

If you are seeking other great cities to travel through during your suburb travels, there are plenty of other nice cities to explore such as Roseville, Eden Prairie, and Edina. Among all these cities you will find lots of taxi, bus, and limo services.

In the summer time, Minnesota can get very hot and humid. So if you are worried about your hair a lot, you may want to figure out what to do during all the humid days. You won't have to worry about earthquakes, but there are often severe thunderstorms and sometimes even tornados. If you have never encountered this kind of weather before, prepare and learn what to do in those situations when visiting. Know that in a tornado you need to be away from windows, off the road, and in the lowest floor possible (preferably basement).

It's not always a snow storm in Minnesota! It can be a fun and easy going place to visit. Minneapolis / St Paul is a great place to be, but if you want to avoid the skyscrapers and be able to see the stars at night the suburbs have a lot to offer. It's your cities, away from the Twin Cities. I only touched upon a small portion of what this area has to offer, but hopefully this gives you a great place to start.