How to spend a weekend in Lake Geneva: The ideal itinerary

From its fun-filled beaches to its delicious restaurants, there’s plenty to do during a weekend in Lake Geneva. We put together the perfect itinerary. 

For decades, Lake Geneva has been one of the most popular summer destinations in southern Wisconsin for travelers. Located 40 miles southwest of Milwaukee and 65 miles northwest of Chicago, residents of the two cities and their suburbs, as well as visitors from even further reaches, travel to the resort city every year for fun-filled weekend trips packed with visits to the beach, exquisite local dining, and some truly unforgettable historic locales.

Why visit Lake Geneva?

One of the most obvious reasons to take a trip to Lake Geneva is for its namesake lake, Geneva Lake. The freshwater lake, which is also surrounded by the villages of Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake and Williams Bay, covers an area of more than 5,000 acres. The lake offers visitors the opportunity to rent kayaks, stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), motorboats, or simply enjoy a day on the beach.

Visitors also venture to the resort city to explore its opulent history. The city has an abundance of mansions, owned by some of the most well-known names in the area, like the Wrigley family, who owned several estates along the lakeshore; Levi Leiter, an early partner of Marshall Field; and the Schwinn family. Lake Geneva was also the site of Hugh Hefner’s first-ever Playboy resort. Many wealthy Chicagoans moved up to the area after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, giving Lake Geneva the nickname “The Newport of the West.”

That’s not all that Lake Geneva has to offer—the city has plenty of delicious restaurants, unique shops, and interesting tours that make it easy to fill up a weekend with enjoyable activities for all sorts of travelers.

Where is Lake Geneva?

Just 10 miles north of the Illinois border, Lake Geneva is a resort city in southeastern Wisconsin. The city, which is located directly west of Kenosha, is situated alongside the lake that shares its name.

How do you get to Lake Geneva?

Many of Lake Geneva’s visitors travel north from the Chicagoland area to reach the resort city. Lake Geneva is accessible by the U.S. Route 12, an east-west highway that runs from Detroit, Mich., to Aberdeen, Wash. Lake Geneva can also be reached by Wisconsin Highway 50 and Wisconsin Highway 120. Train service to the city stopped in 1975.

Friday

Late afternoon activity

Hit the town on a rented scooter from Lake Geneva Scooter Tours

7036 Grand Geneva Way

There are few better ways to start a trip than really getting acquainted with the place you’re visiting. Why not do just that while riding on a scooter or e-bike? Lake Geneva Scooter Tours offers moped rentals by the hour ($79 for one hour, $89 for two hours, $99 for three hours), and full day rentals ($189 per day). The company also rents e-bikes, which cost $49 for a one-hour rental and $69 for a two-hour rental.

It’s no problem if you don’t know where you’re going once you get on the scooter. In addition to providing maps with some of their favorite routes, Lake Geneva Scooter Tours has guided scooter tours. The company’s short tour, which lasts between one and two hours, costs $129, while the long tour, which lasts between three and four hours, costs $169.

Dinner

DJ’s in the Drink

W3860 Lakeshore Drive

Is it really Friday in Wisconsin without a fish fry? The Friday night fish fry is an essential part of Wisconsin’s food culture, and in Lake Geneva, there are few places more popular to feast on fish than DJ’s in the Drink. Removed from the city’s well-touristed downtown, DJ’s in the Drink is a local favorite, located near Lake Como, a smaller lake near Geneva Lake.

On Fridays, DJ’s in the Drink serves up cod, either baked or fried in a beer batter. All of the restaurant’s fish dinners are served with coleslaw, bread, and a choice of either fries, potato cakes, or hushpuppies. In addition to the restaurant’s Friday fish fry, it also serves burgers, specialty sandwiches, chicken, thin crust pizza, wings, appetizers, and salads.

Drinks

Maxwell Mansion

304 South Wells St.

End your first night in Lake Geneva at one of the city’s most famous mansions—the Maxwell Mansion. Owned by Chicago surgeon Phillip Maxwell, the mansion was first constructed in 1855, and the Maxwell family moved in the next summer. It was one of the earliest mansions in the area and was transformed into a bed-and-breakfast nearly 120 years later. Now, it’s also home to two different bars that are perfect for a nightcap: the Apothecary and the Speakeasy.

The Apothecary, located on the mansion’s main floor, has a creative collection of cocktails, as well as wine, beer, seltzers, and ciders. The Apothecary is open every day, while Maxwell Mansion’s Speakeasy, which is operated out of the hotel’s basement and requires a password to enter (for clues, check out Maxwell Mansion’s Facebook page), is only open on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

In addition to its cocktail bars, the Maxwell Mansion is also available for guests to spend the night. The mansion has six rooms with antiques and en-suite baths, each named for a female writer (except for the room named for Ulysses S. Grant, who stayed at the mansion during an official visit), as well as suites in its carriage house and its stables.

Maxwell Mansion has two bars on its property, including the Speakeasy, which requires a password to enter. (Maxwell Mansion/Instagram)

Saturday

Breakfast

Simple Café

525 Broad St.

Simple isn’t just in the name of the Simple Café, a bakery and breakfast spot in Lake Geneva. It’s also the cafe’s ethos. Opened in 2009, Simple Café relies solely on ingredients harvested and prepared near Lake Geneva. But that doesn’t mean that the cafe’s menu is limited. It’s all-day breakfast menu features staples like apple crumble French toast, and a breakfast sandwich made with scrambled eggs, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, oven-roasted tomatoes, spinach, mozzarella, and tomato basil mayo, served on sourdough toast.

The cafe also has a bakery that serves freshly-made baked goods. Simple Café can also be found at the Lake Geneva Farmers Market on Thursdays, the Williams Bay Farmers Market on Fridays, the Janesville and Oak Creek farmers markets on Saturdays, and the Dole Farmers Market in Crystal Lake, Ill. on Sundays.

Mid-morning activity

Walk the Geneva Lake Shore path

If you want to spend time near Geneva Lake during your weekend, definitely take a stroll along the Geneva Lake Shore path. The path, which stretches more than 20 miles along the lakeshore, offers a close-up view of the city’s beautiful namesake lake, as well as the grandiose mansions that surround it.

The surfaces of the path vary—from grass, to stepping stones, to cement, to wood—and while it may seem modern, the path has been in use for more than 4,500 years, when it was traversed by Native American tribes living near the lake. While you probably won’t hike all 26 miles of the path in one go, it’s a great opportunity to start at new points and try different stretches of it each time you walk the path. It also makes for a great reason to plan a return visit to Lake Geneva.

The Geneva Lake Shore path spans 20 miles along Lake Geneva’s shoreline. (Visit Lake Geneva)

Lunch

Bay Cooks

99 North Walworth Ave., Williams Bay

There is plenty to do to fill up a whole weekend in Lake Geneva, but the city’s charming neighboring communities also have plenty to offer, like Williams Bay, a village that also sits on Geneva Lake. The village is also home to Bay Cooks, a restaurant that first opened in 2022 and is inspired by the best of Mexican and American cuisine. It serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

For lunch, sample one of the restaurant’s tortas, a Mexican sandwich served on a large, soft roll, and filled with a variety of ingredients, like the Hawaiian, which comes with ham, al pastor, a tropical cheese sauce, and pineapple. Or try some Mexican-American fusion, like the restaurant’s Mexican burger, an eight-ounce black angus burger, topped with grilled onions, bacon, avocado, jalapeño chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pepperjack cheese.

Afternoon activity

Make a candle at the Candle Mercantile

870 West Main St.

You could spend your time in Lake Geneva shopping for souvenirs, or make one of your own at the Candle Mercantile, a candle bar that offers the opportunity to create your own candle to bring home with you.

The candle-making experience takes about 60 minutes, and customers can choose their own custom scents and pour their own candles. The experience costs $25. Walk-in customers are welcome at the candle bar, but the Candle Mercantile recommends making a reservation.

Dinner

Opus

3601 WI-67, Delavan

Located in nearby Delavan, a six-mile drive away from downtown Lake Geneva, Opus is one of the most sophisticated dining options in the area. The restaurant, which is located inside the Belfry House, a luxury boutique hotel, serves five-course and seven-course tasting menus. Each of the restaurant’s dishes is designed with both French and Asian influences, like the halibut, served with a yuzu beurre blanc, black garlic jus, and crispy beet rice.

The restaurant’s seven-course tasting menu is $158 per guest, with an option to add a $90 wine pairing, while the five-course tasting menu is $98 per guest, with the option to add $65 wine pairing.

Nighttime activity

Lake Geneva Ghost Walk

Seminary Park, 521 Baker St.

Normally, the scary part of a vacation is planning it and paying for it. But scary things can also be pretty fun, like the Lake Geneva Ghost Walk. The 90 minute walking tour kicks off at Seminary Park, and goes throughout the city’s downtown area, stopping at some of its most notorious sites, and locales that are rumored to be haunted, including the Maxwell Mansion, the Baker House, and the Lake Geneva Public Library, whose founder is rumored to continue to haunt the area.

Not only does the tour offer a historic look at the city, but it’s also a great way to see a large swath of it. The tour travels along the lakeshore and through Lake Geneva’s downtown area. The tour, which costs $33.57 per person, is available nearly every day throughout the summer and until the end of October.

The Lake Geneva Ghost Walk fills visitors in on the resort city’s spookier side. (Erin Yarnall)

Sunday

Early morning activity

Rent a kayak or stand-up paddleboard from Clear Water Outdoor

744 West Main St.

No trip to Lake Geneva is complete without getting out onto the water, and while there are plenty of ways to do that, from renting a pontoon or speed boat, or swimming at one of the city’s beaches. One of the most relaxing ways to explore the water early in the morning is renting a kayak or a stand-up paddleboard from Clear Water Outdoor.

Clear Water Outdoor rents out single and tandem kayaks, as well as stand-up paddleboards. Single kayaks and stand-up paddleboards can be rented for either two hours for $45 or four hours for $60. Tandem kayaks can be rented for two hours for $65 or four hours for $80. The company also rents kayaks and stand-up paddleboards that can be used on the Milwaukee River, Lake Como, and Nagawicka Lake.

Clear Water Outdoor offers kayak and stand-up paddleboard rentals in Lake Geneva. (Clear Water Outdoor/Facebook)

Breakfast

Olympic Family Restaurant

748 West Main St.

One of the most fun parts of taking a trip is feeling like you’ve come across a real community gem, and Olympic Family Restaurant definitely serves as a gem in Lake Geneva’s restaurant scene. The old-school diner, which has been operating for more than half a century, sits just a few blocks from the lake and serves up breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The restaurant offers a lengthy breakfast menu, featuring everything from egg dishes to crepes, pancakes, French toast, and biscuits and gravy. Olympic Family Restaurant stays true to its Greek-inspired name with dishes like the Mediterranean omelet, which contains three eggs, onions, tomato, spinach, and feta cheese, served with potatoes or fruit as well as a choice of toast.

The Olympic Family Restaurant has been open for more than half of a century, and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Erin Yarnall)

Afternoon activity

Hit the beach

Maybe you’ve been out on the water, but to make your weekend in Lake Geneva complete, you should also admire Geneva Lake from the best possible spot to do it from: the beach. Spend a day relaxing on the sand or swimming in the lake at one of Lake Geneva’s two public beaches.

Riviera Beach is easily accessible, located in Lake Geneva’s downtown. The beach costs $10 per person for those aged seven and up, and is free for children aged six and under. Beach passes can be purchased at kiosks, which dispense admission wristbands.

The other Lake Geneva beach is located in Big Foot Beach State Park. Access to the park requires a vehicle admission pass. The daily rate for passes is $13 if the car has a Wisconsin license plate, and $16 for an out-of-state plate. If you’ve already checked out the beaches in Lake Geneva, head over to nearby Fontana and Williams Bay for their public beaches, as well.

There are two public beaches in Lake Geneva, as well as others in neighboring Fontana and Williams Bay. (Visit Lake Geneva)

Lunch

Flat Iron Tap

150 Center St. #2007

Burgers are a classic summertime entree, but Flat Iron Tap doesn’t serve just any old burger. The restaurant has created an elevated take on the standard fare, like the Grazing Brit, an eight-ounce grass-fed beef patty, topped with bacon from the East Troy-based Hometown Sausage Kitchen, tomato, jalapeño, mixed greens, Oaxaca-style guacamole, and a house aioli. And then there’s the Van Helsing, topped with house-made garlic herb compound cheese, garlic aioli, caramelized onions, and arugula. The restaurant also serves up creative chicken sandwiches, lamb burgers, black bean and quinoa burgers, and plenty of appetizers and salads.

The Flat Iron Tap doesn’t just serve burgers—the restaurant also has more than 100 different beers and wines available on its drink menu, including 24 constantly-rotating beers on tap. Just don’t try to make a reservation at the popular burger joint—they don’t accept them.

Dessert

Lake Geneva Pie Company

150 East Geneva Square

It’s always a bit sad to leave a vacation, even if it’s just a short weekend away. A quick way to ease that sadness is by leaving the destination on a sweet note—in the case of Lake Geneva, that includes stopping for dessert before you head out of town at the Lake Geneva Pie Company. Not up for a slice? Get a whole pie for the road.

The family-owned bakery and cafe first opened its doors in 2001. It has a year-round selection of fruit pies, made with both crumb and pastry tops, as well as cream pies, including banana cream, chocolate cream, and coconut cream. The bakery also offers a seasonal selection of holiday pies every year. If you’re more of a savory fan, they also serve up a wide array of quiches, which can be purchased by the slice or whole.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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