Museums & Educational Attractions in Minneapolis, MN
We list 14 museums & educational attractions across the Minneapolis area. Compare prices, hours and age ranges in one place, then pick the one that fits your day.
Sorted by distance from the middle of Minneapolis, nearest first. Those are straight-line miles, so every drive is longer than the number on the card.
Mill City Museum is a national historic landmark built within the ruins of what was once the world's largest flour mill in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Families can…
Norway House is a forward-thinking, international business and culture organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota dedicated to establishing, renewing, and advancing…
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Hennepin History Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota offers programs and exhibits focused on local history. The museum features nearly 50 videos on interesting local…
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Walker Art Center is a contemporary art museum in Minneapolis presenting groundbreaking work across visual and performing arts, film, and design. Families can…
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The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, housing more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world…
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Weisman Art Museum is a campus art museum for the University of Minnesota located in Minneapolis on the Mississippi River. The museum houses a collection of more…
American Swedish Institute is a museum and cultural center in Minneapolis, Minnesota that features exhibitions, a historic mansion, a café, and a destination…
Bell Museum is Minnesota's official natural history museum and planetarium located on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in Saint Paul. Families can…
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The Bakken Museum is an interactive science museum located on the West shore of Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Families can explore exhibits focused on…
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The Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, houses a collection of more than 700 radios, televisions, and video games, with some…
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The Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis collects, preserves, and exhibits Russian art and cultural artifacts spanning paintings, sculpture, folk art, Soviet-era…
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Museum of Illusions – Mall of America is an interactive museum in Bloomington, Minnesota where visitors experience perspective-changing rooms, mind-bending…
Paisley Park is Prince's historic home and studio located in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a suburb southwest of Minneapolis. Originally completed in 1987 as a creative…
The Hallberg Center for the Arts is owned and operated by the Wyoming Area Creative Arts Community (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) in Wyoming, MN. With over a dozen…
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Where a card says no price or no hours listed, the venue does not publish it. We would rather leave the gap than fill it with a guess. Prices come from each venue's own website, and we publish one only when the figure appears on the page we took it from. Tell us if we are missing one you know.
Which one, by age
Two children three years apart do not have to be a compromise. The age line on every card shows what that venue serves.
Mill City Museum
Best here for two to five, 1 miles out, listed ages 3–12 and admission $12.
The Bakken Museum
Best here for six to nine, 4 miles out, listed ages 6–12 and admission $10.
Walker Art Center
Best here for ten and up, 1 miles out, listed ages 3–16 and admission $12.
Free museums & educational attractions in Minneapolis
One place on this page gets you in free. That makes a short trip easy to justify on a day when nobody is sure how long they will last.
Weisman Art Museum
Free to get in and 1 miles out.
By town
Most of these are not in Minneapolis proper, and the town is usually what decides whether a place is worth the trip.
Museums & Educational Attractions in Minneapolis
9 of them: Mill City Museum, Norway House, Hennepin History Museum, Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Institute of Art, the closest 1 miles from the middle of Minneapolis and 6 with a published admission price.
Planning a visit
These run from 1 to 28 miles out from the middle of Minneapolis. Hours move with the season and with school holidays, so check the listing before you set off. If you run one of the places on this page, you can claim it for free and keep its hours and prices right.
Before you go
Grip socks. Almost every venue requires them for children and several require them for adults. Most sell them at the door for a few dollars. Bringing your own is cheaper and means you are not buying a fourth pair.
Check whether adults pay. It runs from free to full price and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you.
Weekday mornings are the toddler rush. If you want space, aim for after two on a school day. Weekend mornings are the busiest hours of the week almost everywhere.
Ninety minutes is the realistic ceiling for most children under five. There is rarely a gradual wind down. Leaving with time left on the clock is not wasted money, it is a better afternoon.
Call ahead in school holidays. Several of these venues run camps and private events that close open play with no notice on the website.
Looking somewhere else in the metro? Browse every kid-friendly place in Minneapolis.
Other things to do in Minneapolis
Museums & Educational Attractions in nearby cities
Common questions about museums & educational attractions in Minneapolis
How many museums & educational attractions are there in Minneapolis?
We list 14 museums & educational attractions within 29 miles of Minneapolis, MN. Every one is a published listing with an address we checked.
Which museums & educational attractions in Minneapolis publish their prices?
7 of the 14 here do, and each price was checked word for word against the venue's own page before we published it. The rest do not publish one, so their card says no price listed rather than carrying a guess.
Are any museums & educational attractions in Minneapolis free?
Yes. One place gets you in free: Weisman Art Museum.
How did Mini Navigators choose these museums & educational attractions?
We list every one we have within 29 miles of the center of Minneapolis. Each is a published place with an address we geocoded and checked, and the business can claim its listing to keep the hours and prices current.
Do adults have to pay?
It varies more than you would expect, from free to full price, and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you. The price on each card is what it costs to get a child in. Where a venue publishes an adult price it is on the listing, and where it does not we have left it out rather than assume.
Do I need to book ahead?
Usually not for open play, but several venues cap capacity at weekends and during school holidays, and some close open play entirely for private events. Where a venue has its own booking page, the listing links straight to it.
What should I bring?
Grip socks, a water bottle, a change of clothes for anyone under four, and a plan for leaving before the meltdown rather than after it.
What else is there to do with kids in Minneapolis?
Minneapolis has 13 categories of kid-friendly places on Mini Navigators, from playgrounds and museums to splash pads and zoos. The Minneapolis hub lists all of them.
Listings last checked August 21, 2026.