Discover Bloomington

Bloomington combines a widely known destination for leisure and entertainment with insights into the city’s history. Mall of America® makes the area especially interesting to visitors: it features dozens of attractions, including the state’s largest aquarium. Those planning a trip with children can also consider a range of experiences—from rides to hands-on design challenges. When choosing a vacation rental, it is therefore helpful to think ahead about what you want to focus on during your stay.

Attractions and Family Experiences

Nickelodeon Universe® is the first indoor Nickelodeon theme park in the United States. Spanning seven acres, the park offers rides, entertainment, and dining. This provides a clearly defined leisure program alongside the other attractions at Mall of America. Families can decide which of these different options to focus on, whether they want to center their stay more on rides and entertainment or on other leisure activities. The Works Museum offers a different focus: it is dedicated to hands-on engineering for children ages five to twelve and their families. Interactive experiences and design challenges make hands-on tinkering the focus there.

Nature experiences may also be of interest: at Richardson Nature Center, visitors can get an up-close look at the birds of prey, reptiles, and amphibians that live there. This offers a different thematic experience from rides or engineering challenges. If you’re traveling with children, their interests can help guide your plans: would they rather observe, create, or enjoy entertainment? This can help you define the kind of trip you want more clearly, without trying to fit every experience into a single activity.

Getting to Mall of America

One specific connection is described for arriving by air: the Hiawatha Line (Route 55) runs from both terminals of Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport to Mall of America; the journey takes 12 minutes. If you plan to use this connection, you can factor it into your arrival-day plans. Tickets for Nickelodeon Universe® are available online, at Nickelodeon Universe sales outlets, at self-service kiosks in the park, or at Mall of America guest service desks. These are several ways to incorporate ticket purchases into your travel preparations.

City History at Pond House and Old Town Hall

You can also discover Bloomington through its history. The Gideon and Agnes Pond House was built in 1856 as a Federal-style brick house and is the central building in Pond-Dakota Mission Park in Bloomington, Minnesota. Since restoration work was completed in 1995, the City of Bloomington has maintained the house as a museum. Those interested in historic architecture and local history will find a tangible connection to the city’s past here.

Another historic site is Old Town Hall, one of the few surviving buildings from Bloomington’s 19th-century architecture. The building houses a history museum with artifacts and exhibits about Bloomington’s past. Together, Pond House and Old Town Hall offer different ways to explore historic buildings and the city’s history. When choosing your vacation rental, this cultural focus can matter just as much as the leisure options: what counts is which experiences you want to prioritize during your stay.

For the broader travel overview: Minneapolis.