Excelsior offers several distinct reasons to visit: commercial charter boats, a designated historic district, a trolley ride, and The Commons with its open recreational spaces. When choosing accommodation, it helps to first decide what you want to focus on during your stay: Would you like to take a cruise, see historic sites and transportation history, or spend time outdoors?
Waterways and Charter Cruises
Excelsior serves as a port of call for several commercial charter boat operators. The boats offer a range of public and private cruises. The Port of Excelsior also provides public, paid docking access for visitors arriving by water. These are two different uses to consider when planning: You can choose a cruise as an activity or reach Excelsior by water and use the public docking access. If you are planning a specific cruise, check the schedule and availability for your travel dates.
Historic Downtown and Trolley Ride
The Excelsior Downtown Historic District is designated as a Heritage Preservation Site and includes 74 structures and one site, the Port of Excelsior. The designation thus distinguishes between the 74 structures and the one site. Historic Water Street and the many historic homes in the surrounding area also continue to draw visitors to Excelsior. This lets you distinguish between a clearly defined historic district and the town’s broader history.
The Excelsior Streetcar Line offers a trolley ride along half a mile of track on the former route of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway. It is located downtown on Water Street between Third Street and George Street. At the depot, visitors can view a photo gallery featuring hotels, trains, paddlewheel boats, and landmarks from the 19th century.
The Commons: Park, Events, and Beach
The Commons is a 13-acre park with open recreational spaces and picnic areas. It hosts an annual art fair, and The Commons bandshell features several concerts during the summer months. The distinction matters for planning: the art fair is held annually, while the concerts are specifically scheduled during the summer months.
According to the city, the public swimming beach at The Commons is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day; during the swimming season, the beach is open seven days a week. Swimming is at your own risk, and there are no lifeguards. Check the latest beach information before planning a visit.
The Regional Trail and Travel Planning
The Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail passes through Excelsior and is part of a route more than 15 miles long between Hopkins and Carver Park Reserve. The trail is cleared in Excelsior during the winter. The more-than-15-mile distance refers to the entire route between the two endpoints, not just the section in Excelsior. Alongside the half-mile of track on the trolley ride, this highlights two different scales: a short ride on the former railway route and a regional trail that passes through Excelsior.
If you don’t have one particular reason for visiting, you can weigh history, charter cruises, the park, and the Regional Trail as different priorities.
Discover more destinations: St. Louis Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Rogers, Plymouth, Osseo, Minneapolis, Mound.
For the broader travel overview: Hennepin.
