From Wikitravel

Rochester is a city in the state of Minnesota that is home to the world famous Mayo Clinic. It is about 80 miles (130km) SE of Minnepolis/St Paul. Cold in the winter and warm sometimes hot in the summer. Population approaching 100,000, with more in the surrounding areas. The city hosts numerous out of town visitors coming for treatment at the Mayo Medical Center and has a well developed infrastructure to deal with its many visitors.

Contents 1 Get in 1.1 Air 1.2 Driving 1.3 Train 1.4 Bus 2 Get around 3 See and Do 4 Buy 5 Eat 6 Drink 7 Sleep 8 Get out

Get in

Air

• The Rochester International Airport (RST) is located 10 miles south of Rochester along Highway 63. Due to the large number of visitors to the Mayo Clinic, there are more flights than in comparibly-sized cities, approximately 15-20 per day. Northwest has flights to/from Minneapolis/St Paul and Detroit. American Airlines also offers direct service from Chicago O'Hare. There are several car-rental companies located at the airport. Taxis are relatively expensive, approximately $25 between downtown Rochester and the airport. Shuttle service is available, timed to meet each arrival. Some hotels also provide shuttle service. Make sure you fly into Rochester, MN not Rochester, NY!
• The Minneapolis Saint Paul Airport (MSP) is located approximately 90 minutes drive Northwest of Rochester. A major airport, it has flights from most major cities. Dominated by Northwest. Two companies, Rochester Express and Rochester Direct, offer shuttle service between MSP and Rochester.
• When flying in to Rocheter, it is worth checking flights into both airports. Flights in to and out of Rochester are typically slightly more expensive (about $50); however, as with all things related to airfares, this varies widely, and I've seen airfares anywhere from Rochester over twice as much to Rochester being cheaper.

Driving

• Rochester is near the intersection of I-90 and Highway 52.

Train

• There is no train service into Rochester. The closest station is 45 minutes drive away in Winona.

Bus

• ADDME

Get around

There is a public bus system, but it is likely not to be useful to the visitor. If you are only going to the Clinic, you may not need a car as most hotels provide (free) shuttle service to the Clinic. However, most visitors will need a car to get around.

See and Do

Other guides

• Post Bulletin's (the local newspaper) list of upcoming events. The best source for looking for things to do.
• Explore Minnesota
• Rochestermn.com A privately-owned guide
• Official City Website

Sites of interest for touring

• Tour of Mayo Clinic Both general tour and art tour. Both are very interesting. Also can pickup a brochure from any Help Deck for a self-guided tour.
• Tour of Assisi Comminity Center. Call (507) 280-2180 ext 180 for information.
• Mayowood Mansion
• Plummer House

Theatre and Art

• Art Center
• Rochester Repertory Theatre
• Jon Hassler Theater Nationally recognized theatre in the middle of nowhere.
• Feast & Footlights Dinner Theatre. Fall only. (507) 288-4440 TODO: call and get 2006 schedule.
• Mayo Civic Center (?)

Live Music

• The Oak Center General Store Live music Saturdays November - April
• Blue Club down south
• Many local bars have live music on weekends, main ones are Dunn's Brothers (north), Kathy's Pub

Comedy Club

• Goonies

Movies

• The 14-screen Chateau is located on the NE side
• The 12-screen Cinemagic is located on the NW side.

Sports Parks

• Quarry Hill Nature Center There are lots of trails and parks to explore.
• Oxbow Park and Zoo.
• Chester Woods. About 20 minutes drive east of town.
• Whitewater Park Beautiful park about 45 minutes drive. Take highway 14 to St Charles, then North on Hwy 74. Located 3 miles south of Elba.
• Carley State Park Smaller park, but closer. Approximately 15 miles northeast of Rochester, or 4 miles south of Plainview on Wabasha County Road 4.

Other

• Barnes & Nobles(Chateau Theatre) The historic Chateau theatre was remodeled into the best Barnes and Noble book store you will ever see. Its a must see in downtown Rochester.

Buy

• The Apache Mall, located southwest of downtown, is the main (indoor) mall. Major deparment stores are Macy's, Herberger's, Sear's, and J.C. Penny's. Also contains about 60 other smaller stores. However, there are not any stores here that you wouldn't see any most any other mall.
• The Galleria is home to most of the unique and interesting stores. Conveniently located in downtown just two blocks east of the Clinic. It is, unfortunately, rather small, only about a dozen stores, but well worth the visit if you want something different.
• Rochester also has the normal assortment of chain stores, such as Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Home Depot, Menard's, Fleet Farm, etc.

Eat

Fine Dining -- the top

• Broadstree Cafe What I consider to be the best restaurant in town. Three blocks north of downtown. website
• Chardonnay. Excellent french food served in an old victorian house. Wine Spectator award of excellence wine list. Four blocks West of downtown, along 2nd street SW.
• Prescott South
• Jaspers Downtown
• City Cafe Downtown website
• Michael's Downtown. Local favorite. Go for the pictures of famous people on the wall who have eaten there. The food is traditional mid-west american, nothing special.

Casual Dining -- one level down

• Teresa's Unfortionately located in the Ramada, it serves deceptively good food.
• Redwood Room About as hip as Rochester gets.
• Westfire Grille west side
• The Metro In the Radison (downtown).
• Canadian Honker Fresh fish Friday and Saturdays. Across from St. Mary's
• Oak Room In the Marriott downtown. Good food, but you feel like you are eating in a hotel lobby.
• Some chains: in town Red Lobster, TGIF, Outback

Other

• Whistie Binkie's British-style pub. Great beer selection, good bar good, OK regular food. One location on the north side, one on the south side.
• Pho Hoa Vietnamese
• Sytje's Pannekoeken Dutch food (well, mostly American, but go for the Dutch food). Great for weekend brunch. One branch downtown, one branch south.
• Daube's
• India Garden Indian
• Zorba's Greek.

Italian / Pizza

• Victoria's A local restaraunt which serves a wide variety of Italian foods. Mostly your standard American-Italian food, but huge portions.
• Romano's Macaroni Grill also has a location here, as does Olive Garden. [I much prefer Mac Grill.]
• Billoti's also serves Italian and is very popular for pizza.
• Nick & Willies has the most interesting toppings in town. Either "personal" size, or only take-and-bake for their larger size.
• Green Mill has deep-dish and stuffed pizza, in addition to a large menu of other items.
• There are a huge number of other pizza places, too many to list here. Look in the phone book.

Mexican

• Dos Amigos 5 blocks southeast of downtown
• Azteca South of downtown
• El Carambas East side of town

Chinese

• Hunan Garden (not to be confused with Hunan Wok across the street or Hunan on South Broadway). Best in town, but still somewhat Americanized
• Sky Dragon is the only Chinese Buffet left.
• Other sit-down places include China Dynasty (south side) and Great Wall (north side)
• Many takeout places, inclding China King, China One, China Star, Great China. All about the same to me.

Sandwiches

• City Market Gourmet sandwiches
• Panera
• Erbert and Geberts

Family / Informal

• Roscoe's Barbeque has two locations in Rochester: A stand at 603 4th St. SE which only offers outdoor seating and is closed during the cold months, (507)285-0501. And a restaurant at 4180 18th Ave. NW which is open year-round, (507)281-4622.[1] Tasty BBQ, award-winning ribs, and home-made rootbeer.
• Famous Dave's
• John Hardy's
• Newt's The best burger location in Rochester. Also see Beetles Bar and Brother's
• Green Mill
• Chipotle Fresh burritos. Two locations.
• Buffet places: Golden Corral and Old Country Buffet.
• The normal chains: Perkin's, Baker's Square, Denny's, Culver's The Ranch is a non-chain similar to these.
• Buffalo Wild Wings

Coffee / Cafes

• Dunn Brothers 2 Locations. One in the TJ Maxx Plaza and another on Elton hills drive. Coffee & Breakfast.  :-)
• Caribou Several locations, including one in the Mayo Subway system.
• Starbucks
• Mugby Junction Drive through

Drink

Sleep

Due to the large number of visitors to the Mayo clinic, and their unique needs, there is a wide range of sleeping arrangements to fit almost any budget or need, from low-end to high-end, from short-term to long-term, from standard hotel rooms, to rooms with kitchettes, to fully furnished apartments. While there are some hotels spread-out through-out the city, most of the hotels are grouped downtown (by the clinic), along SW second street (by Saint Mary's), and along South Broadway (where most of the cheaper, non-chain ones are located).

Below are only a sample of the available hotels. Most of the cheaper, non-chain hotels are not listed.

Downtown. Many of the downtown hotels are connected to the clinic, and to the rest of downtown, via a network of above-ground enclosed skyways and below-group passages (called subways). This is very useful in the winter!

• Radisson.
• Oak Tower. High-end long-term stays.
• Holiday Inn Express, 220 South Broadway, Phone: +1 507 252-8200, [2]. Note that the Holiday Inn Express is downtown and is fancier than the Holiday Inn.
• Rochester Marriott Mayo Clinic Area, 101 First Avenue SW, Phone: +1 507 280-6000, Fax: +1 507 280-8531, [3].
• Kahler Grand Hotel. Older hotel, so on the plus side it has a lot more character than the other hotels, but on the minus side some rooms are in need of renovation. [In another Rochester-weirdness, in spite of what the names might imply the Kahler Executive is NOT the nice one.]

Downtown -- not connected to the clinic

• Residence Inn by Marriott Rochester Mayo Clinic Area, 441 West Center St NW, +1 507 292-1400, Toll-free: +1 877 623-7775, Fax: Phone: +1 507 536-5020, [4].
• Best Western Soldiers Field Tower and Suites, 401 6th Street SW, Phone: +1 507 288-2677, Toll-free: +1 800 366-2067, Fax: +1 507 282-2042, [5].

By Saint Mary's

• Courtyard Rochester St. Mary, 161 13th Ave, Phone: +1 507 536-0040, Toll-free: +1 800 504-1035, Fax: +1 507 536-0050, [6].
• SpringHill Suites Rochester Mayo Clinic Area/St. Mary's, 1125 2nd Street SW, Phone: +1 507 281-5455, Toll-free: +1 800 678-9894, Fax: +1 507 285-9641, [7].
• Staybridge Suites, 1211 Second St. Sw, +1 507 289-6600, [8].

South Broadway

• Holiday Inn, 1630 South Broadway, Phone: +1 507 288-1844, [9].

Other Locations

• Microtel Inn, 4210 Hwy 52 North, West Frontage Road, Phone: +1 507 286-8780 Cheap rates for Mayo patients. Free shuttles to Mayo,free long distance, free breakfast and free internet. [10]
• Motel 6, 2107 West Frontage Road, Phone: +1 507 282-6625, Fax: +1 507 280-7987, [11].
• Rochester Microtel Inn & Suites, 4210 Hwy 52 North, v+1 507 286-8780, Fax: +1 507 286-8885, [12].

Get out

• Minneapolis / Saint Paul
• Mississippi River : Winona, Lake City, Red Wing
• Spam Museum Yes, really. Hormel is headquarted in Austin, MN, about 45 drive from Rochester. For an experience you can't get anywhere else, give this one a try.
• Forestville / Mystery Cave
• Niagara Cave
• Lanesboro When there, check out the fish hatchery. Also near the Bluff Country.

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