Yes, and a long stay is the best way to do it. Minneapolis has four museums worth building a week around, three of them free or nearly free, and none of them requires you to own a car. Here is how we point guests at Oakland’s on 9th toward each one, with the hours and prices as the museums themselves list them right now. Hours change, so give each museum’s page a quick look before you head out.
Mill City Museum: the one you can walk to
Set inside the ruins of the old Washburn A Mill, Mill City Museum tells the story of the flour that built Minneapolis. It sits at 704 South 2nd Street, right by the river, and it is the museum closest to our front door. We walk guests down to the riverfront on the route in our guide to walking to the Stone Arch Bridge, and the museum is right on the way.
Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, veterans, active military and college students, and $8 for children 5 to 17; kids 4 and under and MNHS members are free. Tickets are sold in person only, with no advance sales online or by phone. There is no museum lot, so leaving the car at home is no hardship.
Minneapolis Institute of Art: free, every day it is open
Mia at 2400 Third Avenue South says it plainly: general admission to the permanent collection is always free. It is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, stays open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays, and is closed Mondays, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For a month-to-month guest, that means you can visit for an hour on a slow afternoon, come back next week for a different wing, and never pay an entry fee.
Walker Art Center and the Sculpture Garden
The Walker is at 725 Vineland Place. Adult admission is $18, seniors $16 and students with ID $12; anyone 18 and under is free, as are EBT cardholders. Thursday nights run until 9 p.m., and admission is free on the first Saturday of the month. The galleries are closed Monday and Tuesday and on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve and Day.
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden next door is free and open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight, which makes it the easiest cultural stop in the city for a morning walk or an evening stroll.
Weisman Art Museum: free, and on the river
The Weisman, at 333 East River Road on the University of Minnesota campus, offers free admission all the time. It is open Wednesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Monday and Tuesday. If you are staying with us for a University of Minnesota program or a Medical Center rotation, it pairs neatly with the campus side of town.
Getting there without a car
Mill City is the walk. For Mia, the Walker and the Weisman, enter your start and end points in the Metro Transit trip planner and check the live service alerts that day rather than trusting a route from memory; a rideshare is the easy fallback. Since Mia is closed Monday and the Walker and Weisman are closed Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday through Sunday is your museum window, and Thursday evening is the sweet spot for both Mia and the Walker.
We are one block from the skyway, not connected to it, so on a cold day you will walk a block outdoors first. Our guide to how the skyway works covers the routes, and the Central Library guide is another free rainy-day option.
A furnished studio makes the museum habit easy
Every studio at Oakland’s on 9th comes furnished with a full kitchen, and WiFi, utilities, heat and laundry are included, so you can pack a lunch, spend the morning at a gallery and be back at your desk by afternoon. Stay a night, a week or a month, with no contract, in an 1889 brownstone at 215 South 9th Street.
Ready to plan your stay? Book your studio here or call us at (612) 314-5124. Traveling with someone who wants the mansion experience instead? Our neighbors at 300 Clifton and the Pillsbury Club run mansion tours you can pair with a museum day, and the Minneapolis Trolley Tours sightseeing rides leave from the Pillsbury mansion.
Keep reading: Can You Cook Thanksgiving Dinner in a Furnished Studio in Downtown Minneapolis? A Month-to-Month Stay With a Full Kitchen