Cheap Date Ideas in Minneapolis

Wander the galleries at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where more than 100,000 works span 5,000 years, and stop somewhere along the way to trade opinions on what you are seeing. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 5pm, with Thursday hours running until 9pm.

Walk through the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and point out your favorites among more than 40 works, including Spoonbridge and Cherry. The installations change over time, and the garden stays open year round.

Take a slow lap through the 1.5-acre Lyndale Park Rose Garden by Lake Harriet, where fountains sit among the flowers, then keep walking around the lake if you want to extend the date. The garden is open from 7:30am to 10pm, and the surrounding park from 6am to midnight.

Turn the date into a little friendly competition at Up-Down Arcade Bar in Uptown. More than 50 arcade games from the 80s and 90s share the space with pinball, four skee-ball alleys, Nintendo 64 and life-size Jenga and Connect Four. Guests must be 21 or older. The bar is open Monday through Friday from 3pm to 2am and Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 2am.

Wander Midtown Global Market together, then pick lunch from different vendors and share it. The international marketplace has restaurants, gifts and both fresh and prepared foods, so you do not have to commit to one menu. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 8pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm, though individual stalls set their own hours.

Spend a free museum date at the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus, where you can join one of the weekly tours together. Merciless: Indigenous Lands Since 1776 runs from September 26 to May 16. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm and Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm.

Walk across Stone Arch Bridge with Saint Anthony Falls in view, then continue onto the nearby trails and parks if you want to keep going. The bridge is open from 6am to 10pm unless otherwise posted.

Spend a Saturday morning browsing the stalls at Mill City Farmers Market, an outdoor riverfront market in the Mill District with entertainment along the riverfront. In October, the outdoor market runs Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. From November through April, it moves indoors on the first and third Saturdays.

Bring a book, a hammock or a picnic to Boom Island Park in Northeast and settle in with a view of the downtown skyline. The parking lot closes at 9pm.

Take the short 0.4-mile trail to Minnehaha Falls, where a lookout sits above the path, then extend the walk on either of the two additional trails in the park. The falls are worth a visit in every season.