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Have you been dreaming about your next vacation? It’s spring break season, and summer is approaching. That may have you thinking about your next trip, whether it’s a trip with friends, family or yourself. 

You don’t have to go far to have a great time. 

Luckily, there are plenty of day trips and staycations you can take right here in Minnesota. 

, a Twin Cities publication for news, arts and culture, and 

, the executive editor of new media and food at 

, about their favorite hidden gems for travel in and around Minnesota, and how to plan a short getaway.

Here is a list of cities, places, and activities our guests, callers and readers shared with us.

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

View Indigenous art at Fargo’s Plains Art Museum

 is inside a renovated turn-of-the-century warehouse in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. The Museum offers approximately 12 special exhibitions along with smaller exhibitions each year featuring art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Its permanent collection contains approximately 4,000 works including national, international, regional fine art, and ethnographic objects. Plains Art Museum is the largest and only accredited art museum in North Dakota.

: We drove up (from Minneapolis) on a Saturday and we did 24 hours in Fargo. We went to go see some music, then we went to dinner and did some bar stuff, and then the next day we went vinyl record shopping. They have a Plains Art Museum that is spectacular. We saw Indigenous art. We walked around and then we went to this brewery, 

Hiking and rafting with your dog in Northern Minnesota

 is just off Interstate 35 near Carlton in northeastern Minnesota. Take a walk across the iconic Swinging Bridge which sways above the St. Louis River, visit Oldenburg Point for Civilian Conservation Corps structures and glorious views over the St. Louis River valley and explore the Thomson Pioneer Cemetery which dates back to the late 1800s.

: I do a lot of day tripping based around my dog, who is big and loves being outside. It's a lot of state parks. I really like going to Jay Cooke, which is a state park. If you head up that way, it’s really close to 

, which is one of my favorite spots to grab a burger and sit on the patio. 

There are these inflatable rafts called pack rafts. They pack down to a foot by a foot and you can latch them to a rack on your bike and then ride somewhere, inflate them and raft somewhere and then bike away.

.” It's in Brainerd on Saturday, June 3. It's an easy day trip out of the cities or wherever you're coming from. We offer three different routes — a long route if you're more serious about it and routes as short as 12 miles if you want to take the kids or if it’s your first time on a bike. Anyone can do it. We have great rest stops and someone will pick you up if you have trouble.

Whiskey on the rocks in southern Minnesota

: I can advocate for the southwest part of the state. Go ahead because it is gorgeous down there. There are like 2-billion-year-old rocks (at 

) and I might be a rock nerd but I'm telling you, there's something about the beauty of these bluffs. The way that they change color, the light, you just get this shimmery look to them. The water that goes through rock then becomes really good for brewing and distilling. If you go down to Spring Grove, they have 

, which has some of the best whiskey in the state if you ask me.

Sometimes I would take my son and a few of his friends during spring break to this little local business in Richfield called the 

. Give each kid five bucks and they will spend two to three hours. They walk in the door and there are little buckets that each kid can get kind of like their own little Easter egg hunts but for rocks, and if they bring them up front, the guy at the desk has stories of every rock.

My partner and I, and sometimes friends, go down to La Crosse which is in Wisconsin, so not Minnesota, but right over the river. There's a fabulous four-star hotel called 

. It was an old candy factory right on the river in the main area. They make their own chocolate, there's a little restaurant and there's this little cafe with a wood burning fire on the top. They've got a rooftop deck and it's really well done. You feel like you're in Paris. They have free bikes to ride up and down the river, you can walk to all the little breweries, restaurants, vintage stores, etc. There's hiking too, there’s the 

. We go like twice a year. Highly recommend it. The staff is fabulous. And you won't regret it.

Explore the Minnesota border in Lake Pepin 

: I went there on a reporting assignment in a previous job and I had never been to 

. So it is right there on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. And it's just gorgeous. You can do sail boat rides, go shopping in cute boutiques and candy stores. It was maybe an hour and a half from the Twin Cities.

 (in White Bear Township). It has really nice trails and they have a really nice play area for kids with a stream that goes through the whole thing and they can play in the sand. They've got an old prairie house and barricades and they do sledding in the winter.

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are bringing the 

 back to St. Paul on June 4. It’s being planned by volunteers, including almost all businesses along the avenue who are coming together to make it happen. It's just one day — there's going to be beer gardens and several stages of live music. There's going to be a parade and a children's area with bounce houses, petting zoos and all that good stuff. 

I wanted to highlight the game of disc golf. That's something that I usually like to do on weekends. I also bring out the dogs and stuff. It's a relatively cheap sport to get into. (Disc golf courses) are scattered around pretty much anywhere. One place I like to go down to is 

Explore Niagara Cave and Mystery Cave in southeastern Minnesota

A few years ago, my wife and I took the kids down to some caves called the 

 (in Harmony) and there's one very close to it called 

 (in Spring Valley). Niagara Cave, I think, is private. But so you just have to pay a fee.

 is a spot that so many people have as a destination either from their childhoods or they were taken there as kids or with friends but it's really a town that comes alive in the summertime. The Otter Tail River goes through and they have 

 — it is one of those two-hour river glides. The tubing down here is a little more raucous; the tubing up north is a little more family friendly. 

 They have a huge state park up there and it's turning 100 this year. What I like really about Bemidji is it's like the cool pine mists of everything, more of a relaxed place. 

 is one of those undersung places too. Rapids Brewing Company is a great brewery that's up there and they also have a location down here in the North Loop. They have the Mesabi Trail up (in Grand Rapids) too. And by the way, if you ever want to get on an ATV you can get up there and get on a four wheeler.

Go fishing in the trout capital of Preston

. So lots of fun things to do for day trips, but I really wanted to plug, trout fishing opener comes up in April and we have a lot of streams open for that. Also, disc golf is becoming a really popular activity for us down here so we just opened 18 holes of disc golf course before winter hits. 

: Camping gets you into nature in a very visceral way. It's just a totally different shift from a lot of the other staycations that you would do. We go to Interstate State Park a lot which is right on that border of Wisconsin and Minnesota, it’s super easy to get there. (The reservations) are a completely unsung resource. 

for biking and it was unbelievable biking up there. But then, after biking and a hot day, we jumped into the 

 and someone had some snorkeling gear. So we were able to snorkel and it was like we were in a different world because the water was so clear. You could see these big trees underwater. We rented some paddleboards and we just were absolutely hooked. We can't wait to get back up there.

Escape the routine in the Twin Cities metro

. It’s maybe five minutes away from the airport, but it feels like you're very secluded. It's right where the Minnesota and the Mississippi rivers meet. And it truly is almost like a pike-shaped little path. You can do about like a 5 mile hike. It's very flat. And in the winter, if you are a cross country skier, a lot of the trails are converted to cross-country ski trails.

: I'm a big “walk in the woods” kind of gal. If you're going with friends, there's actually a preserve out in the Long Lake area called 

 and it's right outside the metro. It's part of the big woods system that used to be a part of the whole state. There are trails and people have built little wood sculptures there. It can be romantic, if you want to take somebody.

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Have you been dreaming about your next vacation? There are plenty of day trips and staycations you can take right here in Minnesota. MPR News host Angela Davis talked with two journalists about their favorite hidden gems for travel in and around Minnesota and how to plan a short getaway.

Have you been dreaming about your next vacation? There are plenty of day trips and staycations you can take right here in Minnesota. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two journalists about their favorite hidden gems for travel within the state and how to plan a short getaway.

MPR News with Angela Davis - Planning your next vacation? Try these Minnesota day trips

A lighthouse is framed below a pink cloudy sky

Planning your next vacation? Try these Minnesota day trips

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