Wabasha Street Caves — Attraction in Saint Paul

A great experience!

We did two tours today: the caves tour and the Gangster Bus tour.

Wabasha Street Caves Tour: The caves tour took about 45 minutes. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the caves and seemed genuinely excited to share their history. The tour described the caves' entire history, from the mining era to the present rather than focusing on just one aspect. The caves were clean and well-cared for. We especially appreciated the photos of them in their hey day -- they gave some context to the stories the guide told us!

Gangster Bus Tour: The Gangster Bus Tour took about 2.25 hours, in part due to a detour on the route. The character-actor was hilarious, and we were both very impressed with how much history and present day information she knew, both related to the topic and also in general about the St Paul Area. Her stories brought the era and mobsters to life! She was also very careful when speaking on the corruption of the era to note that most of the police and citizens really had no idea what was happening under their noses, which we appreciated. The bus (Richfield Lines) was comfortable and seemed to be only a few years old, although it was somewhat dirty on the interior. The driver was also very nice and did a great job navigating some...

We went today (April 7, 2024) and everyone in our group really enjoyed the tour. Perfect on a rainy day. It's not a spelunking and stalagmites tour, it's about the history of the cave with an emphasis on it's relationship with bootleggers and organized crime during the prohibition era. So, if you want to see those kind of caves, you'll have to drive out of the Twin Cities.

Our guide was awesome, full of energy and great delivery. Her interaction with the crowd was fantastic, she was probably the best tour guide I've ever had (not that I'm a tour expert, but I've done my share). Definitely want to go back and do some of the ghost tours and maybe even check out the swing dancing nights (okay, maybe more for the bar than the dancing, but I'm pretty sure that's okay too).

Not tons of walking, you shift from room to room as the guide tells you the history of each, so it would be good for for older guests or those who might have mobility concerns. Probably not engaging enough for small children and not a place I would want to bring kids that would be loud because of the acoustics. But I definitely think middle/high school kids would appreciate the gangster stories.

Overall, a fun and light, affordable little tour that I would...

Such a beautiful environment!!! The caves are beautiful and very tucked away in saint Anthony. I went cave dancing on Thursday night, (They offer it every Thursday) And it was great. The music was fantastic! They always have a different jazz band from the area, the music reflected the swing dancing with lots of 20's and 30's jazz. A lot of people were dressed up for the night. There were alot of flapper costumes and gangster suits but also a lot of young locals looking for a fun night out. I saw one couple burning up the dance floor and when the song had ended the man asked the woman what her name was and said it was a pleasure to dance with her. There is for sure a lot of talent but there is also alot of commoners with little experience just looking for a bit of fun! They don't serve any food but they have free water and some alcoholic beverages. The cover charge is like $6 and it's definitely worth it. However once inside there isn't much seating and it's hard to see the music from them. It is very spacious though a little spread out with cave walls diving areas. Overall...