When it comes to American culture, the Midwest can sometimes get short shrift. But culture is everywhere, and the Midwest is no exception.
From fine arts museums to immigrant festivals, visitors to these five Midwestern cities will find a wealth of activities and opportunities that embrace the history, spirit and values of the people who live there.
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is famous for the Indy 500, the largest single-day sporting event on the planet, and the city is considered the amateur sports capital of the world. While sports culture is definitely culture, there’s a lot more to Indiana’s capital than auto racing and title-winning teams.
“We do love our sporting events,” said Clare Clark, senior communications manager for Visit Indy. “But Indianapolis has a lot more to offer, and nearly 80% of the nation’s population can get to us within a day’s drive. Alexander Ralston, who platted our city, apprenticed under the architect of Washington, D.C., when the capital was being designed. American Legion Mall mimics the National Mall, and we’re second only to Washington in the number of war monuments and memorials.”
Ralston is interred at Crown Hill, a 555-acre cemetery that’s the third largest in the country. The lushly landscaped parcel features an impressive Gothic stone gate and an arboretum with more than 11,000 trees. Crown Hill is also the final resting place of racing legend Erwin George “Cannon Ball” Baker, who won the first race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as President Benjamin Harrison and America’s first “Public Enemy No. 1,” John Dillinger.
Clark recommends that groups schedule a tour of the Scottish Rite Cathedral, a grand example of neo-Gothic architecture and the largest structure of its kind in the world. The Masonic Lodge, a National Historic Landmark, features more than 100 painted glass windows, intricate wood carvings and a massive 54-bell carillon.
Few state parks are found in urban downtowns, but the 250 acres of White River State Park are an Indianapolis exception. Groups can enjoy the Central Canal by swan boat, kayak or gondola; visit the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art; and engage with more than 1,200 animals, including orangutans, elephants and giant tortoises, at the Indianapolis Zoo.
Food is culture, too, and the city is excited to be included in the new Michelin Guide American Great Lakes edition, which debuts in 2027. In the meantime, groups should tuck into a pork tenderloin sandwich at the Slippery Noodle Inn. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, it’s the state’s oldest continually operating bar. Surf-and-turf lovers will enjoy a meal at St. Elmo Steak House. Founded in 1902, it’s world famous for its spicy shrimp cocktail.
Galena, Illinois
Although tiny in comparison to Chicago, which sits 160 miles to the southeast, the city of Galena, Illinois, has a longer history and plenty of cultural draw. Galena was founded 11 years earlier than Chicago and is celebrating its bicentennial this year, but the area was settled long before by Native Americans. Three states can be seen from one of the earthen mounds (now called Horseshoe Mound) that Indigenous tribes constructed near the present-day town.
Galena’s well-preserved 19th-century architecture makes it perfect for history buffs, while other offerings (it’s the home of Kraft Cheese and Red Stripe Beer) will attract lovers of classic Americana.
“When visitors come, they don’t just see a destination,” said Fallon Oldenburg, vice president of marketing for Galena Country. “It’s like an experience altogether, and experiential tourism is really huge and important for making memories and for overall well-being.”
No fewer than eight Civil War generals called Galena home, including U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant. The Italianate home gifted him by grateful citizens in 1865 still stands, as does the 1826 Dowling House, the region’s oldest surviving building. The mid-1800s Main Street features more than 125 shops and restaurants and looks like a movie set; in fact, visitors may recognize it from the 1989 baseball hit “Field of Dreams.”
Oldenburg recommends a one-hour narrated tour from Galena Trolley Tours and taking time to explore some of Galena’s other offerings.
“We have outdoor adventures including goat trekking, where you can go hiking with goats, and a beekeeping experience, where you can get up close and personal with bees and learn about how they literally keep us all alive,” she said. “We also have a group-friendly farm tour, where you can learn about what life is like on a farm, then enjoy ice cream or lunch.”
St. Louis
As the “Gateway to the West,” St. Louis is steeped in culture, from vibrant museums to a world-class botanical garden. The City Museum is a weird and wonderful artist-built playground that’s delighted kids of all ages for 25 years. On the more classical side, the St. Louis Art Museum offers free admission, and its 30,000-plus works cover 5,000 years of human arts from around the globe.
At 630 feet, the Gateway Arch is the country’s tallest man-made monument. It features a new museum and visitors center and acres of parkland. The 4-minute tram ride to the top rewards guests with expansive views of the city and the Mississippi River, stretching across to Illinois. On that side of the river, archaeology buffs will want to explore Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. The largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico, the city was at one time larger than London.
While major cities like London boast some of the finest botanical parks in the world, so does St. Louis. The Missouri Botanical Garden is the nation’s oldest continuously operating botanical garden; it spans over 79 acres and has nearly 30,000 plants from around the world. With indoor and outdoor displays, it’s stunning in any season.
After exploring, groups will want to find time to eat. From toasted ravioli to St. Louis-style pizza to gooey butter cake, St. Louis offers tasty options. Groups will enjoy feasting on Italian specialties in The Hill neighborhood, discovering international flavors along Grand Avenue and sampling iconic frozen custard “concretes” at Ted Drewes.
Detroit
Whether visitors know Detroit as Motor City or Motown, the automobiles and music that have come out of Michigan’s largest city have definitively shaped American culture — and that’s only the beginning of Detroit’s cultural legacy. Established as a New France trading post in 1701, the city is rich in history. By 1920, it was the fourth-largest city in the country, a position that it held for decades.
Founded the same year the city was settled, the Basilica of St. Anne de Detroit is the second-oldest continuously operating Catholic parish in the United States. The city is awash in grand architecture, including the Fisher Building, an ornate skyscraper often called “Detroit’s largest art object.” Free tours are available of the marble- and mosaic-gilded “Cathedral of Commerce,” where groups can also see a performance at the building’s magnificent Fisher Theatre, which hosts Broadway productions, films, comedy shows, musicals and more.
The world-class Detroit Institute of Arts boasts 100 galleries containing 65,000 masterpieces, including the Detroit Industry Murals, a series of frescoes that Mexican artist Diego Rivera called his finest work; a tile relief from Babylon’s Ishtar Gate; and the first Van Gogh painting exhibited in a U.S. museum.
Music lovers must spend some time at Hitsville USA, the Motown Museum. Visitors can stand in Studio A, where artists like Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and the Four Tops recorded many of their immortal hits. Food aficionados will want to taste their way through the city’s Eastern Market, the largest outdoor farmers market in the country that’s been operating since 1841. And no visit to Motor City would be complete without a stop at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Stretching across 250 acres, the massive complex is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s best museums.
Minneapolis
Minneapolis has cultural institutions that rival those in cities twice its size — and many them offer free admission. The Minneapolis Institute of Art opened in 1915 with only 450 works on display. It now features more than 90,000 pieces from six continents and is one of the largest art museums in the country. The Walker Art Center focuses on contemporary works, while the adjacent Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the largest of its kind in the U.S. The campus of the University of Minnesota is home to the Weisman Art Museum, housed in a striking stainless steel and brick building designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. Admission to all these institutions is free.
The state of Minnesota has always boasted a vibrant immigrant culture, from Scandinavian homesteaders in the 1800s to new citizens arriving from around the globe today. In St. Paul — the other twin in the “Twin Cities” — the Little Mekong Night Market offers tastes from the state’s 20,000-plus Burmese immigrants, along with traditional arts and crafts. The summer months explode with local festivals, celebrating culture from Sweden to Somalia, along with art fairs, musical extravaganzas and more. In the suburb of Chanhassen, music lovers will want to tour Paisley Park, the home and recording studio of the pop icon Prince.
