With long days and warm weather, summer is the best time of year to get out of town. But sometimes, limited time or money get in the way of an extended trip, and that’s where day trips come in. Day trips are shorter trips to closer distances, where you spend an entire day traveling to a destination, exploring all that it has to offer, and returning home by the end of the night.
There are day trips to be had all over Wisconsin, from larger cities in the southern part of the state to scenic natural wonders in northern Wisconsin, so grab your friends and family and hit the road before summer ends.
1. Milwaukee
Best for a day trip from: Madison, southeastern Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s largest city is also one of its best to take a day trip to this summer, mostly because there is so much to do that just about anyone can be entertained spending a day in Cream City. Sports fans can stop by a Milwaukee Brewers game, or cheer on some of the city’s lesser-known teams, like the Milwaukee Milkmen, an independent baseball team that plays in nearby Franklin, or the Milwaukee Torrent, which has both a men’s and women’s soccer team and plays in nearby Wauwatosa. Sports fans can also check out their favorite players as well as historical figures and celebrities at the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, which is located in the city’s Walker’s Point neighborhood and features more than 10,000 different bobbleheads.
While Milwaukee is filled with great shops and restaurants to explore on a day trip, the city also offers plenty of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors during the last few weeks of summer vacation. From its lakefront beaches, like Bradford Beach and South Shore Beach, to scenic hikes in and around the city, including the Seven Bridges Trail in neighboring South Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city is an ideal place to spend a day during the summer.
2. Lake Geneva
Best for a day trip from: Madison, Milwaukee, southern Wisconsin
The best way to spend a summer in Wisconsin is lakeside, and with more than 15,000 lakes in the state, there are plenty of ways to make that happen. But, one of the most scenic lakes, and best options for a day trip, is Geneva Lake. Located in Lake Geneva, which takes its name from the 5,401-acre lake whose shores it sits on, Geneva Lake is a hotbed of fun summer activity, from heading out on a watercraft like a kayak or canoe, or swimming at one of the lake’s many beaches.
The city, Lake Geneva, also offers plenty of summer fun, including a walk along the Geneva Lake Shore Path, which takes visitors along the lakeshore and past some of the city’s most impressive Gilded Age mansions. Visitors can also learn about the city’s spooky past by taking the Lake Geneva Ghost Walk Downtown and Lakefront Tour, which runs nightly throughout the summer and touches on some of the resort city’s most famous ghost stories.
3. Wisconsin Dells
Best for a day trip from: Madison, Milwaukee, La Crosse, southern Wisconsin
Most visitors to Wisconsin Dells spend the night at one of the city’s many waterparks or resorts, but it’s a great place to visit for a day trip as well. Even for visitors who aren’t staying the night, spending time at some of the city’s waterparks is still a feasible option, as resorts like Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge offer day passes, which allow visitors to enjoy the waterparks without an overnight reservation.
While Wisconsin Dells might be most well known for its multitude of waterparks, one of the best ways to spend a day trip is by visiting the city’s namesake feature: the Dells of the Wisconsin River. The dells are a five-mile-long gorge on the Wisconsin River with scenic canyons and beautiful sandstone rock formations. The area of the Dells has been a State Natural Area since 1994, and can be best viewed from the water on a boat tour, like one offered by Dells Boat Tours, which tour both the Upper and Lower Dells.
4. New Glarus
Best for a day trip from: Madison, Janesville, Platteville, southern Wisconsin
It’s not really possible to do a day trip to Europe from Wisconsin, so do the next best thing by visiting New Glarus, a village in southcentral Wisconsin that’s about as close to visiting Switzerland as you can get while staying in the Badger State. The village was founded by Swiss immigrants from the canton of Glarus in the 19th century, and pays tribute to its European heritage through its architecture, dining options, museums, and annual festivals.
New Glarus visitors and locals alike can enjoy traditional Swiss cuisine, like rösti, one of Switzerland’s most famed dishes, which is made with crispy grated potatoes and can be found as a side dish at most restaurants throughout the Wisconsin village. Besides its European charm, New Glarus is probably best known for the New Glarus Brewing Company, which makes Spotted Cow, in addition to several other beers, and offers tours of its brewery.
5. Cave of the Mounds
Best for a day trip from: Madison, southwestern Wisconsin
After being named the country’s 30th state in 1848, Wisconsin celebrated its 178th birthday this year, which makes it pretty old. But it’s not even close to as ancient as Cave of the Mounds, a natural limestone cave near Blue Mounds, Wisc., that first started forming more than one million years ago. The cave, which has been designated a National Natural Landmark, was first discovered in 1939, when limestone quarry workers exposed an opening into the cave.
Since then, it has become a major tourist attraction in the area. It offers two different types of tours along a one-kilometer route through the cave. Traditional tours take between 45 minutes and an hour and are led by a tour guide who explain the science and history behind the ancient cave. Or, visitors can embark on a museum-style, self-guided tour, which are available to take during the summer and on holiday weekends throughout the rest of the year.
6. The Great River Road
Best for a day trip from: La Crosse, Prairie du Chien, Platteville, western Wisconsin
At approximately 250 miles, Wisconsin’s segment of the Great River Road probably shouldn’t be done all in one day, but the scenic drive along the Mississippi River would make for a great day trip if broken into chunks. With a northernmost point at Prescott, Wisc., and a southernmost point at Kieler, the scenic road has numerous great places to stop along its course.
One of the best stops along the northernmost stretch is in Pepin County, where the road passes through Pepin and Stockholm, two charming villages filled with unique shops, great dining, and unbeatable views of the Mississippi River. Pepin was also the home of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote about her experience living in the area in “Little House in the Big Woods,” the first in the “Little House” series. The town is home to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum & Birthplace, where visitors can see where the famed author spent her first years.
7. House on the Rock
Best for a day trip from: Madison, Platteville, southwestern Wisconsin
Going on a tour of House on the Rock is a little bit chaotic, and that’s on purpose. Designed by Alex Jordan Jr., there are 13 architecturally distinct rooms in the massive house, which was built on top of Deer Shelter Rock near Spring Green, Wisc. Since its opening in 1959, House on the Rock has served as a tourist attraction, where visitors can see the house’s unique features, including The Streets of Yesterday, a recreation of a 20th century American town, and The Heritage of the Sea, a nautical-themed exhibit, which features a 200-foot model of a sea creature battling a kraken.
The attraction is divided into three different sections, and tours of all three sections are available, including The Original House Experience, which goes through the 13 rooms of the original house built by Jordan, as well as the famed Infinity Room, which extends 218 feet out over the scenic valley. Or, The Ultimate Experience, which covers all three sections, including the Japanese Gardens, which feature a 14-foot waterfall, and the Carousel, which has 269 animals and approximately 20,000 lights. House on the Rock is located near another famous house—Taliesin, which was architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. During the summer, tours of Taliesin are offered daily.
8. Oconto County’s Waterfalls
Best for a day trip from: Green Bay, Appleton, Door County, northeastern Wisconsin
There is ample natural beauty throughout Wisconsin, especially in Oconto County, which sits just north of Green Bay. While it doesn’t attract the amount of visitors that nearby Door County gets, Oconto County is well-known for its multitude of stunning waterfalls that are spotted throughout the county, including Baldwin Creek Falls and the Barney Creek Falls.
Not only does the county have a lot of waterfalls, but it also features a naturally formed waterslide, Slippery Rock. Located in Chute Pond County Park, Slippery Rock is a natural rock formation that drops 10-to-15 feet that visitors are able to slide down. Additionally, the county also contains part of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, a sprawling 1.5-million-acre forest, which offers plenty of great hiking trails and wilderness areas.
9. Apostle Islands
Best for a day trip from: Bayfield, northern Wisconsin
Unless you’re already near the northern tip of Wisconsin, a trip to the Apostle Islands might require more time than just a day trip. But, for residents of the state’s most northern reaches, there are few better day trips to take. Located off of the coast of Bayfield, Wisc., the Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands in Lake Superior. All but Madeline Island, the largest Apostle Island and the only island in the group to have commercial establishments, are part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.
The National Lakeshore is managed by the National Park Service and features a collection of lighthouses, sea caves, and forests which can be accessed best by kayak. Visitors can also take a ferry to Madeline Island, the only island in the group to not be included in the National Lakeshore, and spend a day exploring places like Big Bay State Park, a 2,350-acre park best known for its sandstone bluffs and caves. Another option is to learn about the history and the culture of the island and the people who have called it home at the Madeline Island Museum in La Pointe.
10. Washington Island
Best for a day trip from: Door County, Green Bay, Appleton
A day trip to any location in Door County would make for a pretty great summer, and scores of people would agree, as the peninsula receives more than 2.5 million visitors per year, primarily between May and October. But one of the most scenic and fascinating spots in the county is Washington Island, which lies approximately seven miles from the tip of the Door Peninsula in Lake Michigan.
After taking the Washington Island Ferry to get to the island, visitors can bike around, or hop aboard the Cherry Train for a guided tour of the island. The train stops at several of its most notable sites, including Schoolhouse Beach, one of the most scenic beaches in Door County, which is covered in smooth limestone rocks, as well as the Stavkirke, a stave church modeled after a 12th-century Norwegian church. Adult visitors can also join an exclusive club at Nelsen’s Hall Bitters Pub, a 127-year-old tavern that survived Prohibition by selling bitters, which were marketed by the tavern as a medicinal stomach tonic. Now, visitors and locals alike can celebrate the legacy of the oldest continuously-operating tavern by joining its Bitters Club, which involves taking a full shot of Angostura bitters and receiving a membership card.
11. Kenosha
Best for a day trip from: Milwaukee, Racine, Madison, southeastern Wisconsin
The fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, Kenosha sits at the state’s southwest corner, along Lake Michigan and near Wisconsin’s border with Illinois. The city might be best known for its scenic lakefront, but it has so much more to offer. A day trip to Kenosha can begin with breakfast at Frank’s Diner, one of the most unique restaurants in the city and a registered historical landmark. The diner, which was first opened a century ago in 1926, occupies a lunch-car-style diner built by the Jerry O’Mahony Company, one of the country’s first diner manufacturers. Its most popular menu item is the diner’s Garbage Plate: three eggs for a half-plate, or five eggs for a full plate, mixed with hash browns, green peppers, onions, and an assortment of meats, cheeses, and veggies.
Digest while riding the city’s electric streetcar: a fully-restored streetcar that runs along a two-mile loop past the lakeshore and through downtown Kenosha. The streetcar costs $1 per loop for riders ages 13 and up ($.50 for kids ages 5 to 12, and free for ages 4 and under), or you buy an all-day pass for $3.50. While the city has four different historic districts to walk through, visitors can also get a taste of ancient history by checking out a woolly mammoth that was excavated in Kenosha County at the Kenosha Public Museum, a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate museum that is free to visit.
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
