Three Good Stops

Austin to Minneapolis: where to stop

1172 miles, about 16 hr 47 min of driving. Here are the real towns worth stopping in between Austin, TX and Minneapolis, MN, and why each one earned it.

Your first stop

West, TXStretch your legs in West, TX · mile 134

The other 8 stops on this drive

Named for your own departure time and driving style when you plan the trip — your first full plan is free.

G•••••, TXstretch, fuel, meal · mile 274
G•••••, OKstretch · mile 415
A•••••, KSstretch, fuel · mile 560
E•••••, KSovernight, meal · mile 611
L•••••, MOstretch · mile 754
W•••••, IAstretch, fuel, meal · mile 880

Name every stop — first trip free

No card for the first trip. After that it's 99¢ for three trips, or $2.99 a month.

How the days break up

DayMilesDrivingNight in
16118 hr 42 minEmporia, KS
25618 hr 5 min—

How we picked these

Every stop is a real town on your actual route — not a chain billboard. We score towns on what a driver needs at that point in the drive: fuel and food for a stretch break, parks and grass when a pet is along, hotels and restaurants when it's an overnight. Detour distance counts against a town, so nothing here costs you a long side trip.

This page is planned for a 9-hour driving day leaving at 8:00 AM. Change any of that — your hours, your MPG, pets, small children, an EV's charging range — and the stops change with it. Plan Austin to Minneapolis your way →

Questions

How far is Austin, TX to Minneapolis, MN?
About 1172 miles, roughly 16 hr 47 min of driving before stops.

Can you drive Austin to Minneapolis in one day?
Not comfortably. At a 9-hour driving day it splits into 2 days, with a night in Emporia, KS.

Where is a good place to stop between Austin and Minneapolis?
West, TX is the first one on this route.