The train station is away from any main roads, but close to three places that have residents or…read moreguests staying in them. Bloomington Central Station, unlike most stations, has a pedestrian park with great landscaping around it, so a person can relax a few short yards from the station in beautiful surroundings. It is also a safe place to wait at even during late night hours. In the cold winter months overhead heaters are available to use. There is no bathrooms at this location.

Replenish your bus pass or pick up a schedule of any of the many routes in the cities…read more A quick efficient transaction with usually duty-full employees, not warm and fuzzy, not rude either. I'm not using the service as much as before so card credit lasts a long time. The transit is required for city living, who wants to drive downtown and walk through the parking ramps?

MSP delta training facility. Has a decent cafeteria the front area is a bit cold due to the Feb…read morecold season

The US Bank Stadium Station is the first light rail station going West that serves both the Blue…read moreand Green lines. Thus in this way, one can get to the football stadium from both Mall of America/Airport AND St Paul. It has an elevated walkway to allow crossing of the street, but it is closed during non-game days.

Time management why say doors are go by to open at 2:30 and keep us waiting outside in the heat…read moreit's now closer to 4

Serving as the main light rail stop during our multi-day stay in downtown Minneapolis, the…read moreGovernment Plaza Light Rail Station is the closest to the courthouse and city hall area of downtown. Both light rail lines (Blue and Green) stops here, though there is an earlier stop (US Bank Stadium stop) that could be easily used for transfer. Cost is $2 for a 2.5 hour ticket, and this station has self-serve ticket kiosks to purchase Go-To tap cards. None of the stops have gates, instead having tap stations nearby the entrances to indicate payment. We used this station to come/go to the airport and used it to take the Green line to go to St Paul as well. Most people will get off on the north platform (coming from St Paul or the Airport) and wait to board the train from the South Platform ( going either South or East). The train consistently ran every 10 minutes, and the digital display accurately showed which train and arrival times.

Light rail station in downtown, Government Plaza is on Fifth Street between Third and Fourth…read moreAvenue. The platform is slightly elevated, but not excessively so. It is not an "island" platform, meaning that the train doors open on the right side rather than the left to a center platform. There are ticket vending machines available. Minneapolis Light Rail is a proof of purchase system - you must have a valid ticket available to present to a ticket inspector. Unlike nearby stations, auto traffic is not permitted through this section of Fifth Street.

Ruth is exceptional. She has planned multiple trips for us and our family. Every single time we…read morehave the best experience. She managed the travel, the transfers, the tours. She excided all expectations. We stayed right on the Grand Canal, right by transportation, the Duomo, the museums. It was remarkable. 5 stars

Highly recommended and knowledgeable, travel agency! Owners, Lenore , Miller, and daughter,…read moreJennifer have experience and knowledge that you want to listen to, people who have traveled the world and you can get excellent advice from. They have a Cruise expert on site, just remember having to talk to someone who's been there is always very helpful when booking a tour or a cruise.lTrust me, I worked there for 20 years in my early days and won't trust anyone else !

Loved!! This experience is all what you make of it. My husband gifted my family this train ride as…read moreour Christmas gift and none of us have kids. Is this geared more towards kids? Absolutely. Did we still purchase first class seats and have a blast? Absolutely. Do you have to pretend you're going to the North Pole? Another absolutely. This event sells out every year. From arrival, the Union Depot was popping with festive decor, a few kiosks selling varying gifts, there was a permanent gift shop with cute travel items for Amtrak or air, along with 1881 Eating House, Choo Choo Bob's Train Store, an independent book store and even a bike repair shop which had a hidden coffee shop inside. There was lots of seating and I'm so proud that the space is getting leveraged. The entire depot reminded me of London. Tickets were clearly labeled and once you signed in, tickets were given along with boarding instructions. With first class, we had bigger seats, hot cocoa and gift bags at the end of the trip. Throughout the entire ride we had entertainment galore. First was a little introduction on train whistles and safety followed by a juggling elf (she was seriously so awesome), then a ukulele musician, a snow fairy who had the best entertainment from rapping to granting wishes, and then of course Santa. Kids (and adults) are given 1 letter to write to Santa so that when he visits the cars, he can collect them. My family kept ours and will be mailing it to our grandpa who was slated to come on this trip but couldn't. The ride is not far at all and the train moves slow. There are varying stopping points and so much exterior entertainment from elves dancing to the grinch stealing gifts to a little dog that would pop up and down the windows via a puppeteer. Thank you to the volunteer staff of 261 who rely on this particular event (largest fundraiser) to preserve the vintage railroad cars. For being a volunteer effort, every part of this experience ran smoothly allowing for this to be a core memory for years to come. The staff was welcoming and friendly and would answer any questions passengers had. The experience lasts roughly an hour, yet there is so much to explore in downtown Saint Paul once completed. My group did all the interior shops listed above and ate a late lunch at 1881 Eating House. The European Christmas Market was also going on outside (we didn't take advantage due to the cold temperature). 10/10 recommend the North Pole Express!

The North Pole Express is a Chrismas themed train ride at the Union Depot that transports you to…read morethe Northpole under magical circumstances. Those circumstances are you using your imagination and the train only goes 100 ft down the tracks. Right off the bat, if you don't have children old enough to interact with this experience it is not worth your time and money. Experience: To get to the train you have to first go inside the Union Depot to a ticket booth to get your train tickets. Nothing fancy or anything about it, you just walk up, show your QR code and you are on your way. After that you got to the boarding dock and get on the car that is colored coated to your class. Once on board you are welcomed by a friendly usher that helps transport you to the magic of the express. She pointed to where we could sit and once we picked a seat we really enjoyed the lights, garland, and christmas music playing. Also the woman in our car was very friendly, funny, and played more adult with us cause we brought an 8 month old and she didn't know what was going on anyways. She was by far the best part of the experience. Now, here is where the train started to lose its magic. We heard the whistle blow and we thought we were off to the races to go to some far off land! Little did we know is that far off land is less than a minute away down the tracks. The train stops abruptly and our usher points out the window at some inflatables and shipping containers painted to look like houses. We asked if this was it and she said yes, but it goes back and forth about 4 times. We were disappointed but they did try to make it a good time. Everything the trained moved back and forth a magical guest would come into our car. A snow fairy, a conductor that plays train music, a juggling elf, a singing elf, and then Santa himself. You can tell they were trying their hardest to make it enjoyable and some of the guest were far better than the others. The snow fairy in particular was very enjoyable and fun to talk to. In the meantime of guests coming into your car stuff happens outside at Santa's workshop as well. Mainly the Grinch stealing presents and stuff which was actually kind of funny to watch. Otherthan than that there really wasn't that much else going on. Overall: This a a fun family experience to get your kids ready for the holidays. You get to go on a "train ride", meet some elves, make a wish list, and visit Santa all in one go. The downsides are for the adults on the train. There's nothing to do, not much to look at, and everything is pretty kid safe that it makes your mind go numb. We will probably do this again as our child gets older, but again, if you don't have kids you should probably skip this experience all together.

We used "Around the World in Katie Days" for a trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in June 2024. We…read morehad some very specific requirements. We wanted a hotel that was downtown, close to a specific neighborhood (we have family that live in the area and wanted to be close) and because we rented a car (we wanted to go to Gettysburg, Valley Forge and the Poconos), the hotel needed to have parking (which it turns out is usually rare and expensive in downtown Philly--who knew!). Katie found us a great vintage hotel that met all the requirements. She booked it for us and sent us an itinerary for the dates of our stay. We had a wonderful experience. Everything was ready for us.

Katie helped us find a hotel and car rental for our recent trip to Boston. We got both for a great…read moredeal and hassle free, we had an amazing time being able to walk to all the local hot spots! Highly recommend!