# Winter Wonderland at the Minnesota Ice Castles > The Ice Castles in Minnesota offer a magical winter experience for locals and visitors, featuring impressive ice structures that include tunnels, slides, and sculptures, all illuminated with colorful lights. Located near Lake Minnetonka in Excelsior, this family-friendly attraction invites guests to walk through stunning ice formations, complete with sparkling icicles. To fully enjoy the experience, visitors are advised to dress warmly and consider bringing sleds for young children, as the snowy floors can be challenging for strollers. Tickets can be purchased online to avoid long lines, and the Ice Castles are just one of many winter activities available when staying at Minnestay's winter cabin rentals, which include a variety of luxurious accommodations. *Generated: 2026-01-26T06:42:38.357Z* ## Page Information - **Canonical URL:** https://www.minnestay.com/blog/winter-wonderland-at-the-minnesota-ice-castles - **Type:** post - **Last Updated:** December 23, 2024 --- ## Content # Winter Wonderland at the Minnesota Ice Castles ![Text: #Icecastles](https://minnestaycom.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IceCastles-600x400.jpg) Every winter, many Minnesotans look forward to a magical spectacle that captures the wonder of winter and offers a unique experience for people of all ages. The Ice Castles in Minnesota are larger-than-life ice structures that open every winter for locals and visitors alike to walk through and enjoy. During your winter cabin rentals MN stay with MINNeSTAY, make your way to the shores of Lake Minnetonka where this wonderful family-friendly event takes over Excelsior. ## A Unique Minnesota Winter Activity There are few places that you can find an attraction like the Minnesota Ice Castles. Many have seen sandcastles and sand sculptures in the south, but in the great north, we use ice to create large structures that you can walk through. There is usually a fun ice slide, colorfully lighted tunnels, snow and ice sculptures, and even a fountain. Walk through the castles in awe as sparkling stalactite icicles hang securely like glistening chandeliers and snap pictures along the way to hold onto the memories forever. ## Planning Ahead and Staying Warm There are a few key things that will help you enjoy the most of the ice castles during your stay in our winter cabin rentals MN. This is an outdoor event, and the structures are entirely formed by ice and snow. Therefore, it is essential to be dressed for winter weather. Wear boots, a jacket, hat, and gloves to stay warm, and it is suggested to have kids wear snow pants as they will likely want to take a few trips down the ice slide. If you have young children, bring a small sled to carry them through the castles as the floors are made of snow and can make it extremely difficult to push a stroller. You can buy tickets before arriving on the Ice Castles website so that you do not need to stand in line in the cold to purchase your tickets, as well. ## Ice Castles and Accommodations Fit for Royalty There are endless fun winter activities in MN, and when you stay with MINNeSTAY, we encourage you to explore all of them! The Minnesota Ice Castles is only one of many attractions to see when you stay in our winter cabin rentals MN, and many others are just a hop and a skip away. Whether you choose to stay in one of our luxury lakeside rentals, elegant estates, North Loop condos, or cabins rentals, you cannot go wrong with a winter adventure with MINNeSTAY! ## Explore Winter Activities ## Perfect for Winter Activities Cozy Accommodations Near Minnesota Winter Attractions [View All Winter Properties](/vacation-rentals?focus=winter&sortBy=focus&sortDirection=desc) --- ## Related Links - [View this page](https://www.minnestay.com/blog/winter-wonderland-at-the-minnesota-ice-castles) - [Back to LLMs Index](https://www.minnestay.com/llms.txt) - [All Pages](https://www.minnestay.com/llms-pages.md) --- *Part of MINNeSTAY - Premier Minnesota Vacation Rentals*