LOCATION: Minnesota, the 32nd state of the US, is the largest state by land area in the Midwestern US and is in the sub-region known as the Upper Midwest. The capital is St. Paul, which sits on the Mississippi River. Other prominent cities include Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, Rochester and Bloomington.

NORTH CENTRAL/WESTERN REGION

Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center: Photographs, recordings and an award-winning documentary chronicle the construction of the 76-foot, hand-built Viking ship Hjemkomst, and its 6,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic in 1982.

Oliver H. Kelley Farm: Step into this working 1860s farm and see farmhands and animals at the barn.

Headwaters Science Center features hands-on exhibits, a live animal collection and special science-related programs.

Mille Lacs Indian Museum: Trace the journey of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe American Indians and know how they settled in Northern Minnesota.

Stearns History Museum: Discover the legend of automaker Sam Pandolfo and see a 1919 Pan Automobile.

Minnesota Fishing Museum and Education Center is dedicated to preserving the heritage and history of freshwater fishing in Minnesota.

TWIN CITIES/METRO REGION

Historic Murphy's Landing is a living history village of the 1800s. There are more than forty period buildings that have been moved to this 88-acre site for their restoration.

Mall of America is the nation's largest retail and entertainment complex, located in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is the US's largest professional dinner theatre and 13th largest in the nation.

Walker Arts Center takes a global, multidisciplinary, and diverse approach to the creation, presentation, interpretation, collection, and preservation of art.

Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, also known as The Quackery Hall of Fame, the museum is the world's largest display of what the human mind has devised to cure itself without the benefit of either scientific methods or common sense.

Also visit:
American Swedish Institute
Minnesota Transportation Museum
Science Museum of Minnesota
Minnesota Children's Museum
Minnesota Museum of American Art
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minnesota History Center
Bell Museum of Natural History
Landmark Center

NORTHEASTERN REGION

Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center: Enjoy film shows, model ships and exhibits featuring the commercial shipping of Lake Superior and the Duluth-Superior Harbor.

International Wolf Center sits in the heart of the Superior National Forest in Ely, Minnesota. Watch a pack of wolves eat dinner or enjoy a dog sledding adventure.

Great Lakes Aquarium: The 62,000-square-foot aquarium showcases 70 species of fish, plus birds, reptiles, amphibians and river otters in five habitat exhibits around Lake Superior and 19 satellite tanks.

Other tourist attractions:
Hockey Hall of Fame
Saint Louis County Heritage and Arts Center
Lake Superior Zoo
Forest History Center
North West Company Fur Post
Renegade Comedy Theatre
Lake Superior Railroad Museum
Ironworld Discovery Center
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

SOUTHERN REGION

Commonweal Theatre Company: Run by artists, the company is committed to making live theatre accessible to as many as possible.
Jeffers Petroglyphs: These are islands of uncovered rock, where American Indians left carvings -petroglyphs- humans, deer, elk, buffalo, turtles, thunderbirds, atlatls and arrows. They tell a story that spans 5,000 years.

Spam Museum: In Austin, Minnesota a 16,500 square-foot SPAM Museum opened in September 2001. Visitors are shown a variety of interactive and educational games, fun exhibits and remarkable video presentations.

Niagara Cave is one of the most fascinating and unique geological attractions in the Midwest. During the one-hour guided tour, visitors will witness a waterfall, nearly 60 feet high, stalactites both delicate and massive, calcite flowstone, fossils that have been dated to over 400 million years old, and a wedding chapel in which over 300 weddings have been performed, plus much more.

Other tourist attractions:
End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum
Lac Qui Parle Mission
Minnesota Agricultural Interpretive Center
Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site
Sheldon Theatre
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
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National Parks

Grand Portage National Monument: - Located on the magnificent shore and boreal forest of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota, Grand Portage National Monument preserves a vital headquarters of 18th, 19th and 20th century fur trade activity and Ojibwe heritage.

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a narrow corridor of land on either side of the Mississippi River extending from Dayton, MN on the north boundary through the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and downstream to Hastings, MN.

Voyageurs National Park - The Park lies in the southern part of the Canadian Shield. The topography of the park is rugged and varied; rolling hills are interspersed between bogs, beaver ponds, swamps, islands, small lakes and four large lakes.