Find Your Fam Jam

For decades, the capital city has been a favorite Minnesota family getaway. It’s a playground and learning hub for kids big and small.

Here are some ideas for finding your jam while you’re in town.

MAKE IT AN EVENT

Plan your stay around one of the Twin Cities’ famous gatherings, like Flint Hills Family Festival, Festival of Nations or the Minnesota State Fair. Music lovers will find free outdoor concerts for all ages all summer long in places like Como Park, the Minnesota History Center and Mears Park. For the dramatic, there’s Circus Juventas or big stage performances at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Chill out in a family-friendly and dogs-welcome brewery or break out sleds, skis or skates here in one of the nation’s top-ranked parks systems.

Como Park Zoo & Conservatory

SAINT SMALL

Tiny tots will dig the Minnesota Children’s Museum, where kids ages 1 - 10 and older can create, play and imagine. There’s more to explore at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, with its animals, gardens, amusement rides and more — all nestled among the rolling hills and trees of a gorgeous and expansive city park where you can golf, kayak, bike or simply lean back in the grass against an old oak tree.

Bell Museum

LIVE AND LEARN

Overlooking the Mississippi River downtown, the Science Museum of Minnesota attracts visitors from around the Midwest for unique, hands-on learning — from dinosaurs and space to the human body and beyond. Plus, the onsite Omnitheater amps the experience with a 70-by-90foot movie screen. The new Bell Museum, Minnesota’s official natural history museum and digital planetarium, is home to high-tech exhibits and famous wildlife dioramas, including some mammoth Ice Age creatures.

Science Museum of Minnesota

ALL ABOARD, TRAIN LOVERS

This is your town. Young ones love a visit to the Minnesota Transportation Museum’s historic Jackson Street Roundhouse for Tots & Trains Wednesdays or a vintage caboose train ride on Saturdays. Tinker around at the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum. Use the historic Union Depot to arrive by Amtrak or enjoy the picnic area where the trains come and go from the historic building.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE FUNPARK

A baseball game at CHS Field is just plain fun. Home of the St. Paul Saints, the Minnesota Twins’ AAA minor league affiliate, the ballpark is known for shenanigans, slapstick and surprises. Find it in Lowertown near the Metro Green Line and Farmers' Market.

Love pro sports? Come see Minnesota United FC for MLS soccer at Allianz Field, the Minnesota Wild for NHL hockey at Xcel Energy Center or the Minnesota Whitecaps for NWHL hockey at TRIA Rink.

For a different kind of funpark, try Can Can Wonderland for art installation mini-golf, arcade games and more. Or come at night (without kids) for a slightly wilder scene.