Duluth is an incredible city for a wedding—and to explore as a wedding guest visitor. Below, Gus’s Uncle Dave and Aunt Dina, who live in Duluth, offer ideas for making your wedding visit as fun and productive as possible.

Greetings from Duluth, on the shore of Lake Superior, the Great Inland Sea! Here’s a fun fact about Duluth: Duluth is built upon the rocky remnants of an ancient rift (where the continent tried to rip itself in half) that was later filled with meltwater from the last ice age; presto: Lake Superior! Because of the rocky terrain there is considerably more elevation to this landscape than typically found in the Midwest. Duluth streets tend to contour along the hillside or go straight up or down the escarpment. The Radisson Hotel, where many of you are staying, is located at the bottom of the hill. Sacred Heart Cathedral, where the wedding and reception will be taking place, is about halfway up the hill. Skyline Parkway is the road at the top of the hill, and well worth a drive or walk, especially since you will be here when fall leaves will be only a few weeks past peak color. We love this city, with its rugged and spectacular lakeside environment, and we know you will too! Hopefully, you’ll have an extra day or more to explore some of the awesome things Duluth has to offer (other than the wedding!!) To that end, we want to offer a few recommendations. You’ve come all this way; we encourage you to make the most of it!

Breakfast or brunch: The Duluth Grill. Featuring a bewilderingly diverse and creative menu and fantastically friendly and efficient wait-staff, the Duluth Grill is top of our list for local fare. Located in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, at the 27th Avenue West exit off Interstate 35W. This restaurant’s popularity generally means waiting for a table, but you can call ½ hour ahead of your estimated arrival to put your name on the waitlist and significantly reduce the time to be seated. https://duluthgrill.com

Lunch: Northern Waters Smokehaus. Located in the basement of Canal Park’s DeWitt-Seitz bulding, this sandwich shop and deli raises the bar in terms of what can be experienced between slices of bread. Sit inside or outside, or take your sandwiches for a picnic on the Lakewalk or the beach at Park Point. The deli counter features tasty on-site-crafted smoked fish and meats. https://northernwaterssmokehaus.com/

Brunch or dinner: The New Scenic Cafe. Duluth’s favorite location for “foodie” dining. Features a creative and innovative menu. Reservations recommended, especially for dinner. Pricey, but worth it if you appreciate culinary adventure! Located about 15 minutes north of Duluth along the North Shore. You can dress to the nines here, or slum it in shorts and a t-shirt. Open Wednesday through Sunday. https://www.newsceniccafe.com/

Lunch or dinner: Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake. A remarkable recreation of an English pub with an excellent beer selection and superb sandwiches, nachos, and soups. https://www.sirbens.com/

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner: At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café. Also more upscale in terms of price and menu offerings, but a favorite of many in the university district, and just up the street from our house; stop in and say hello! https://www.astccc.net/

Bent Paddle Brewing. The zenith of Duluth craft brewing creativity and quality. No food in this tap room, but a food truck or two is often outside, or many local Lincoln Park restaurants will deliver take-out orders here!

https://bentpaddlebrewing.com/

Ursa Minor Brewing. Great beers and perhaps the finest wood-fired pizza in the city. Extensive seating both inside and out. https://www.ursaminorbrewing.com/

Thirsty Pagan Brewing. Located just across the harbor in Superior, WI. The finest thick crust pizza in the area. https://www.thirstypaganbrewing.com/

Love Creamery. Locations in both Canal Park and the Craft District in Lincoln Park. Delicious and innovative ice creams, including a large selection of vegan options. Yum!!

Duluth’s Best Bread. A local bakery with selection of handmade croissants, pastries, and pop tarts, located downtown, just six blocks east of the Radisson Hotel.

Duluth Coffee Company. Best morning Joe in Duluth, breakfast available next door, and across the street from Duluth’s signature bakery (see above)!

Vikre Distillery. A magnificent craft gin and whisky distillery featuring delicious cocktails. The interior is a masterpiece of steam-punk copper piping and well-appointed tasting booths. Located in Canal Park at the foot of the aerial lift bridge.

Enger Park. If you only have time to visit one place in Duluth, this should be it. Not a large park, but a crown jewel in Duluth’s extensive park system, Enger Park is a terrific place to orient yourself and view the layout of the area from a birds-eye perspective. Enjoy incredible vistas of the lake and city from the top of the stone lookout tower (five flights of stairs) or from the pavilion perched just above the parking lot (one short flight of stairs or ADA ramp). There is also a Japanese garden here, and the celebrated Superior Hiking Trail runs right through the park. https://duluthmn.gov/parks/parks-listing/enger-park/

Lake Superior Marine Museum. Located at the foot of Duluth’s iconic aerial lift bridge, this combined visitor center and museum is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Minnesota. It contains fascinating artifacts and displays chronicling the history of Great Lakes shipping, including a scale model of the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck! Free admission. They’ll also let you know the shipping schedule, so you can step outside and view any huge ships departing or arriving through the adjacent shipping canal. Maritime museum website.

The Great Lakes Aquarium. The largest freshwater aquarium in the world is located adjactent to Bayfront Park in the Duluth Harbor. A great option if the weather for outdoor activities is unfavorable. https://glaquarium.org/

Lake Superior Railroad Museum. Located just a block or two from the Radisson hotel, this is another great rainy day option, or place to entertain kids, or just geek out if you’re a train aficionado! https://lsrm.org/

Gleensheen Mansion. Duluth’s grandest historic mansion. Offers several different daily tours, including nighttime lantern tours on Fridays and Saturdays in October. https://glensheen.org/

Easy:

The Lakewalk. A paved pathway leading from Canal Park all the way to Brighton Beach on the northern outskirts of the city, the Lakewalk is a must-do stroll for taking in waterfront scenery in Duluth. The most popular section, from Canal Park to 21 st Avenue East, is entirely along the water’s edge.

Park Point beach. Minnesota Point is the slender, seven-mile-long sand bar (the world’s largest baymouth bar) on the other side of Duluth’s aerial bridge. The neighborhood of Park Point is here, and the entire beach on the lake side is accessible and open to the public. Access points range from cross-streets to the beach house at the Park Point Recreation Area located near the far end of the point. One caveat: steer clear of any three-leaved vegetation. Poison ivy is a common ground cover here, but easy to avoid, if you know it’s there.

Waabizheshikana Trail. Contouring the edge of the estuary beneath Spirit Mountain Recreation Area, this trail is located well away from the lake (so it is often 10 degrees warmer here) and features incredible river and wetland views, including waterfowl and other birds. No hills!

Moderate to challenging:

Hawk Ridge. This hilltop path is part of the Duluth Traverse mountain bike trail, but also a multi-use trail, so shared by boots and bikes. It features incredible lookouts over east Duluth neighborhoods and Lake Superior. One of the most spectacular autumn bird migrations in North America occurs annually along this ridge, right around the time you will be here!

Congdon Park. A short, hidden gem of a trail, best accessed from 4 th Street, featuring catwalks over a creek in a tight, remarkably secluded canyon. https://duluthmn.gov/parks/parks-listing/congdon-park/

Hartley Park, Chester Park, or Lester Park. All of these Duluth city parks have extensive and beautiful trail systems (the Superior Hiking Trail passes through all three). Lester features river and waterfall views, Chester follows a steep cascading creek down the hill and then back up the other side. Hartley is forested hills and wet meadows, but with a great lookout from Rock Knob. There is also a perfectly flat and relatively straight trail at Hartley along Old Hartley Road. https://duluthmn.gov/parks/parks-listing/

Duluth is a biking mecca. There are extensive and superb trails for both road biking and mountain biking. In terms of mountain biking, Duluth is one of only six gold-level ride centers in the world. Bikes (including ebikes) can be rented at Ski Hut Adventure Center ( https://www.skihut.com/ ), located beneath Spirit Mountain. From that rental shop, the Munger Trail, an old railroad bed converted to paved trail can be riden for miles and miles south out of Duluth. Just up the hill at Spirit Mountain, another old railroad bed converted to trail, the gravel covered DWP Trail, can be ridden through the hills to Mission Creek. A highlight of this trail is a hundred-yard-long tunnel through Ely’s Peak! Spirit Mountain is also a mountain biking trail center (one of five in Duluth) featuring both lift assisted downhill riding and single track trails including the Duluth Traverse, a forty-two mile spine trail that runs from one end of the city to the other! If you are traveling to Duluth by car and can transport your bikes, it opens up an enormous amount of trail possibilities.

If you have a car and a little extra time, a road trip north from Duluth along scenic Highway 61 is a worthy outing, reminiscent of driving the Maine coast. Rocky shorelines and beaches abound for agate picking, state parks at Gooseberry river, Tettegouche river, and Split Rock river offer waterfalls, cliffs, and a lighthouse to explore, and Lake Superior is omni-present, indistinguishable from an ocean, other than being made up entirely of fresh water (three quadrillion gallons; one tenth of the world’s supply).

Both Canal Park and the Craft District have a concentration of unique shops and galleries. We recommend Siiviis gallery (https://www.siiviisgallery.com/ ) near the aerial lift bridge, and Duluth Pottery & Tile (https://www.duluthpottery.com/) in the Craft district.

If you need help or desire additional info about specifics on this list or other Duluth related information, we are here to help! Help finding trailheads, help nailing down plans or making reservations, or just a Duluth contact in case of emergencies, do not hesitate to reach out. We can’t wait to meet you at the wedding, and we can’t wait to welcome you to Duluth!