18 Experience Gifts in Minneapolis That Shine Up North in 2025

Experience gifts in Minneapolis turn the city into the present — a cooking class in the North Loop, glassblowing with a Northeast artist, or a tasting tour that winds through the neighborhoods where the city’s culture is written in food.

According to Axios, Minneapolis’ seven cultural districts tell their stories through art, food and community, reflecting the influence of Indigenous, Black and immigrant residents. Gifting someone an experience in those spaces means you’re not just giving them a fun night out, you’re connecting them to the people and traditions that make the city what it is.

From outdoor adventures to hands-on creative classes, these experience gifts in Minneapolis don’t just entertain. They give your recipient a story rooted in the city itself.

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• Unique Experience Gifts in Minneapolis
• Best Experience Gifts in Minneapolis
• Experience Gifts in Minneapolis for Adults
• Luxury Experience Gifts in Minneapolis
• Experience Gifts in Minneapolis FAQs

Unique Experience Gifts in Minneapolis

1. Cooking Classes

Cooking classes in Minneapolis make the city’s food scene the gift. Led by expert local chefs, you’ll learn professional tips, tricks and techniques to recreate some of your favorite comforts, dishes inspired by world cuisine and something new you’re sure to love.

For the foodie in your life, it’s a way to taste the city while making memories together. If you're more the homely type, online cooking classes are also available. You'll still learn chef-approved techniques, but from the comfort of your own kitchen.

2. Learn Photography

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to take better photos, photography classes in Minneapolis will help you explore the city from a different angle. Taught by local photographers, classes cover the basics and essential techniques to take show-stopping pictures.

Whether it’s capturing the Stone Arch Bridge at golden hour or practicing portraits in the Sculpture Garden, these classes give a creative friend a great experience gift in Minneapolis.

3. Create Your Own Pottery

Get your hands dirty and unleash your creativity with pottery classes in Minneapolis. You’ll learn beginner techniques to throw clay on a wheel to make bowls, vases and more. 

Or practice hand-building techniques to make sculptures. After glazing and firing, you’ll take home a handmade piece you can display and admire. In a city known for its thriving arts districts, it’s one of the experience gifts in Minneapolis that also supports local makers.

4. Dogsledding Tour

Few experience gifts in Minneapolis capture the spirit of Minnesota winters like a dogsledding tour. Just outside Minneapolis, these adventures let you lean into the snow instead of hide from it. For families, couples or friends who embrace the season, it’s a gift that feels as bold and unforgettable as the landscape itself.

Best Experience Gifts in Minneapolis

5. Theater Tickets

Minneapolis has a thriving art scene, including the performing arts. And the city has serious range, from Guthrie productions overlooking the river to smaller troupes staging bold new work. If you’re looking for one of the most memorable experience gifts in Minneapolis, consider giving theater tickets to see a local troupe put on a show.

6. Minnesota State Park Pass

For the outdoorsy friend, a Minnesota State Park pass is a year’s worth of weekends. From waterfalls at Minnehaha to trails that wind through lakes and forests just outside the city, it’s a gift that opens the door to dozens of adventures without leaving home turf.

7. Museum Membership

A membership to Minneapolis’s many museums makes a great experience gift for kids in MN and anyone who likes art. From the Walker Art Center to the American Swedish Institute, they're are more than just everyday exhibits to explore. 

A membership means your recipient can come back again and again, catching new shows and favorite collections without the ticket price adding up. It’s a gift that keeps their curiosity fed all year long.

8. Day at Nickelodeon Universe

If you’re looking to give kids an unforgettable present, a day at Nickelodeon Universe won’t disappoint. Tickets here will be fun experience gifts for kids in MN as they ride and meet their favorite Nickelodeon characters.

Go all in with tickets that make for memorable experience gifts for kids in MN with rides and characters, making an unforgettable gift ideas for families, but also for the friend who loves a little nostalgia. It’s Minneapolis at its most over-the-top, in the best way.

Experience Gifts in Minneapolis for Adults

9. Yoga, Pilates and Fitness Passes

If your friend’s idea of a good day involves a yoga mat or a spin bike, fitness passes make wonderful experience gifts in Minneapolis for adults who like to keep fit. Minneapolis is full of studios with every style imaginable — from hot yoga to reformer Pilates — so you’re not just giving a workout, you’re giving them an excuse to try something new and keep moving in a way they’ll actually enjoy.

10. Minnesota Twins or Vikings Tickets

Know a sports lover? Then these are the experience gifts in Minneapolis for him. Get tickets to a Minnesota Twins or Minnesota Vikings game so they can see their favorite team win in person. Bonus points if the game is against a rival team.

11. Tour and Dance at The Wabasha Street Caves

The Wabasha Street Caves in nearby St. Paul mix history with nightlife. A guided tour through Prohibition-era hideouts followed by swing dancing makes for a unique experience gift near Minneapolis that’s equal parts story and celebration — perfect for friends or couples who love a night with a twist.

12. Ticket to Chanhassen Dinner Theater

Enjoy dinner with a show at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. Between the food, the music and the performance happening around the tables, it’s a gift that feels both old-fashioned and indulgent. It makes for a classic date idea in Minneapolis for couples or even close friends.

13. Afternoon Tea

Spend an elegant afternoon at The Lynhall, enjoying a delicious afternoon tea. Teas served with sandwiches and pastries in a stunning dining room turn a couple of hours into a celebration — perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, or just treating a friend.

14. Paint and Sip

Unleash your inner artist while enjoying your favorite drink at a fun and relaxing paint and sip in Minneapolis. It’s one of those experience gifts in Minneapolis that works equally well for date nights or for friends who need a laugh — the kind of fun that comes with comparing masterpieces at the end.

Luxury Experience Gifts in Minneapolis

15. Staycation

A staycation in Minneapolis feels like a reset button. Think boutique hotels downtown or a rented lake house for the weekend. Staycation ideas make for luxury experience gifts in Minneapolis that work especially well for couples — a chance to step away from routine without stepping too far from home.

16. Day on the Slopes

Spending a few days on the slopes will be an unforgettable experience gift in Minneapolis for her. Rent a cabin or a room at a ski resort and spend the days snowboarding or skiing and the evenings in the luxurious restaurant. Complete the gift with day passes or annual passes or pair it with après-ski dining and you’ve got a full luxury escape.

17. Luxury Spa Day

Few gifts land as well as a spa day. In Minneapolis, where long winters can take their toll, a few hours of facials, massages and quiet is more than pampering — it’s a reset. Whether it’s for a couple, a close friend or someone who just needs a break, it’s a way of saying they deserve time that’s purely theirs.

18. Flying Lessons

Flying lessons turn the Minneapolis skyline into a gift. Instead of just looking up at the planes, they’ll take the controls and see the city from above — lakes, rivers and all. It’s bold, memorable and one of those experience gifts in Minneapolis that instantly becomes a story to tell, whether you give it to a couple or someone chasing a bucket-list dream.

Experience Gifts in Minneapolis FAQs

How to Surprise Someone With an Experience Gift?

Part of the fun of experience gifts in Minneapolis is how you reveal them. While you obviously can’t wrap the physical experience, you can wrap the gift certificate, experience gift card or gift coupon and give that as a present.

You can also reveal that experience gift in a unique way. For example, if you’re giving them a gift on Christmas, give the experience through a tree ornament. Or give items associated with the gift. If you’re going on a beach trip, gift a new beach bag or towel.

Or, since they’ll be making memories, gift a Polaroid camera along with the experience. This can make for fun experience gifts in Minneapolis for couples, groups of friends and families to document their time together.

Is Minneapolis Famous for Anything?

Minneapolis is known for many things, one being the abundant shoreline thanks to the many lakes, creeks and the Mississippi River. So, there are plenty of water-related options for experience gifts in Minneapolis.

The city’s art scene is just as gift-worthy. From the Walker Art Center to the Sculpture Garden and local theaters, a ticket or membership becomes an open invitation to explore creativity year-round.

And then there’s the food. Where else can you gift someone a taste of the original Jucy Lucy — or spend an afternoon apple picking where the Honeycrisp was born? Minneapolis is full of experiences that reflect what the city does best, and gifting one is like handing someone a slice of its story.

Experience gifts in Minneapolis do more than fill a weekend. They tie celebrations to the city’s culture, food and landscape, making memories that last far longer than anything in a box. Whether you’re a creative, a sporty person or simply looking to try new things, there are experience gifts in Minneapolis for you to take part in. 

For even more fun experience gift ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!