Winona Tour Boat — Local services in Winona

We spent the evening of our first, but not last, visit to Winona on the tour boat. The Mississippi is beautiful, especially during the evening when the sun begins to set. We enjoyed beautiful weather and the Captain enhanced our experience with music, light trivia, and by sharing his vast knowledge of history, animals, and all things related to Dams, marines, etc. We saw eagles, snapping turtles, beavers, and blue heron. The picturesque scene of the diverse topography along the banks of the river as well as the beautiful bluffs in the background soothe the soul. My favorite part of the tour happened as the sun was setting -- I can still recall the colors of the sky and the reflection of the sun on the water. It was stunning. I highly recommend making time for this affordable tour. It lasts an hour and one-half and is a peaceful way to wind up your day. Drinks and snacks are available for purchase. Bring binoculars and take...

Sadly, we missed our paid four tour boat ride. We arrived in the outer parking lot (we didn't know for sure where we should park) at 4:59 (yes, only a minute before departure, but the boat had already left). We ran and waved our arms in the air to try to be noticed but no one saw us on the pier. The email did say they would start loading 20 minutes beforehand, but we got back late from hiking Sugar Loaf. We figured since we paid in advance, they'd have a record of who was coming and wait just a couple minutes, but they left without us. We did call to explain this and they said we could come another time, but we had to leave before their next tour. We were very disappointed to miss the boat, angry at ourselves for not planning to be there earlier, but we didn't know how long it would take us to get back from our hike and bike ride. Oh well. Maybe we'll get to go back to Winona next spring and take...

I first did this tour 6 years ago in 2018. It was such a FUN experience that my husband and I had to do it again. Just like the first time, there were LOTS of Gilligan Island jokes/puns that kept things light-hearted and fun. We remembered all of the eagles we saw the first time and we got to see a lot this time as well...lots of knowledge of the Mississippi was shared and I feel like I learned a lot. What's really funny is, I learned my Grandpa was in a band back when he was alive as the gentleman assisting (Terry?) remembered his name (Tom Pitts)...I was NOT expecting that lol! I got into conversations with my dad about it since so that's been fun. I can't promise you'll have a "small world" experience like that on this tour but I CAN promise that you'll have a really good time and learn a lot! Having done this a few times now, the tour is fun and unique so go ahead and do it again if you've already...