Ready for the holidays

The holiday season, with its festive events and, of course, Black Friday and other shopping specials, is just around the corner. Before the snow really flies, it’s the perfect time to enjoy everything offered in the Magical City of Minot. Not only the perfect city for family getaways and couples’ weekends, Minot is also a shopping and tourism mecca for Canadians, especially those from southern Saskatchewan. Statistics Canada estimates there were 358,600 total person-visits from Saskatchewan to North Dakota in 2012 (the most recent year figures are available), with most of them (65.5 per cent) traveling for pleasure. More than half the visits were same-day trips. While there are no direct flights from Canada to Minot, many people spend a day or two in Minot on their way to or from other destinations. The new passenger terminal at the Minot International Airport makes that option even more attractive. The airport offers excellent parking, and many Minot hotels also offer parking for those travellers, along with shuttle service to the airport. The main way to get there from here is by road. If you drive yourself, it’s an easy afternoon’s drive of 244 miles or 393 kilometers from Regina to Minot. There are numerous border crossings dotting what is the longest undefended border in the world, several of them in Saskatchewan. After spending some time at the recently renovated Dakota Square Mall, with its more than 100 stores, you can head down to Main St., and Minot’s historic downtown shopping district. There you will find a wide selection of shopping enticements, cooking shops, specialty clothing shops and jewelry stores you won’t find in Canada. Minot has lots to offer, yet even with all the opportunities to sightsee and shop, there will still be room at an inn for visitors, with a total of more than 2,600 sleeping rooms available. There’s a wealth of information on the Visit Minot website www.visitminot.org. Visitors can use the My Map feature of the website to select the places they are interested in visiting and add them all to a personalized map of Minot. The map includes contact information for each venue and is printable so it can be taken on the trip. Don’t fret if you didn’t plan far enough ahead to print the map. Visitors can access the handy mobile site from anywhere. The mobile site is very easy to navigate and can be accessed from any mobile smartphone or tablet device. The website also features a link to valuable coupons, information on events happening in Minot, and information specific to Canadians at http://visitminot.org/canadian-info/. And coupon books and all the information a visitor might need are also available at the Visitors Center. There’s little point in shopping if you can’t take it home with you, and Canadians staying more than 24 hours can take advantage of some exemptions to the duties levied on For more information, visit www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menueng.html.