Things to do in Milwaukee
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Milwaukee
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
High season and best overall, swimmable lake, beer gardens open and the densest festival calendar, with the highest hotel prices.
Best value with best golf and hiking, September warmth, October peak fall color and lower rates after summer.
Coldest, cheapest and coziest, highs often in the 20s and 30s F, best for Domes, skating, fish fry and indoor events, February hardest.
Shoulder season and unpredictable, April can be raw off the lake, late May turns with beer gardens, tulips and pre Summerfest prices.
What's on
- Summerfest late June to early July
Bills itself as the world's largest music festival, about 800 acts across 12 lakefront stages over three weekends.
- PrideFest early June
One of the largest US Pride festivals, held in the same festival park as Summerfest's warm up act.
- Polish Fest June
Part of Milwaukee's unmatched ethnic festival run at the lakefront festival park.
- German Fest late July
German festival in the lakefront ethnic festival run.
- Festa Italiana July
Italian festival in the lakefront ethnic festival run.
- Bastille Days mid July
French festival at Cathedral Square with the Storm the Bastille 5K night run.
- Harley-Davidson Homecoming July
Tens of thousands of riders with museum events and concerts, book a year out in milestone years.
- Irish Fest mid August
The largest Irish festival in North America, worth building a trip around.
- Mexican Fiesta late August
Mexican festival in the lakefront ethnic festival run.
- Black Arts Fest MKE August
August festival in Milwaukee's lakefront festival calendar.
Best things to do in Milwaukee
Milwaukee Art Museum
Calatrava pavilion with moving wings on the lake, plus the largest Georgia O'Keeffe collection anywhere.
Harley-Davidson Museum
450 plus bikes tracing Harley from a 1903 shed, told as American social history even for non riders.
Milwaukee Public Market
Warehouse district fixture with about 20 local food vendors, ideal for a first day orientation and graze.
Lakefront Brewery
The funniest brewery tour in the city, generous pours, a beer hall and a famous Friday fish fry.
Milwaukee RiverWalk
A 3.1 mile river path linking downtown, the Third Ward and Walker's Point, with the Bronze Fonz photo stop.
Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory
Three 1960s glass domes for tropical, desert and seasonal climates, and the best deep winter escape in town.
Pabst Mansion
Captain Pabst's 1892 Gilded Age mansion explains why Milwaukee looks and drinks the way it does.
American Family Field
A Brewers game is a tailgate social event with the Sausage Race and a roof that means rain never cancels.
Where to stay in Milwaukee
Historic Third Ward and East Town
first trip, all-round base
The most walkable and visitor friendly base, with the Public Market, dining cluster, grand hotels and lakefront.
Westown and Deer District
sports, concerts, conventions
Fiserv Forum, the convention hall and the train station cluster here, often cheaper and a short Hop ride to East Town.
Walker's Point
foodies and nightlife
The restaurant and distillery district south of the river, best on the main corridors with a rideshare home late.
Bay View
local-life, longer stays
Tree lined residential neighborhood with Kinnickinnic Avenue restaurants and a Humboldt Park beer garden, rentals mostly.
Lower East Side and Brady Street
younger groups, bohemian strip
Classic bar and restaurant strip near the lake, fun and a bit scruffy, mainly rentals plus the County Clare inn.
Wauwatosa
families, road trips
Charming village suburb near the zoo and medical center, a good family base rather than a city break base.
Think twice about
- Metcalfe Park
Among the city's highest violent crime rates per capita, residential with essentially no visitor infrastructure.
- North Division
Among the city's highest violent crime rates per capita, residential with essentially no visitor infrastructure.
- Franklin Heights
North Side neighborhood with high crime rates and no visitor infrastructure, appearing in listings mainly for cheap prices.
- Park West
North Side neighborhood with high crime rates and no visitor infrastructure, appearing in listings mainly for cheap prices.
Best restaurants in Milwaukee
Sanford
Milwaukee's fine dining standard since 1989, a 20 seat reservation only tasting menu room.
Lupi & Iris
French Italian grand brasserie with handmade pastas, tableside Dover sole and a serious wine programme.
EsterEv
Playful ten course tasting menu from the DanDan chefs, hyper seasonal with chef's counter energy.
Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro
Classic French cooking in the Lake Park pavilion above Lake Michigan, the romantic occasion default.
Odd Duck
Globally inspired small plates that change constantly, with vegetarian dishes given equal invention.
The Diplomat
Upscale American small plates on Brady Street, a neighborhood fancy room that suits dates and groups.
Goodkind
Bay View's beloved wood fired neighborhood restaurant, famous for rotisserie chicken and open Sunday and Monday.
La Merenda
Globe hopping tapas pioneer since 2007, a menu built for groups to over order happily on the patio.
Outdoor things to do in Milwaukee
Oak Leaf Trail
A 135 mile county trail whose lakefront South Shore Line runs 16 miles of paved path above the lake.
Bradford Beach
The big social central beach with 35 volleyball courts, tiki bars and cold, refreshing lake swimming.
Milwaukee Kayak Company
Paddle the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers past RiverWalk patios for the best skyline view in the city.
McKinley Marina
Salmon and trout charter fishing and sailing base on Lake Michigan, best split among a group.
Lakeshore State Park
Wisconsin's only urban state park, a free island loop with prairie, a pebble beach and the best skyline photo.
Seven Bridges Trail
A ravine loop of stone staircases and covered bridges down to a Lake Michigan beach, exceptional in fall.
Whistling Straits
Pete Dye's faux Irish links on Lake Michigan, Ryder Cup host and the region's bucket list round.
Blackwolf Run
Dye's river valley River Course in the same Kohler resort ecosystem as Whistling Straits.
Best hotels in Milwaukee
The Pfister Hotel
Milwaukee's grande dame since 1893 with a Victorian art collection, spa and 23rd floor rooftop pool.
Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel
Arts hotel where rooms carry a record player, vinyl and a ukulele, opposite the performing arts center.
Kimpton Journeyman Hotel
The Third Ward's luxury pick with warehouse bones and The Outsider, the city's best hotel rooftop.
The Iron Horse Hotel
A 1907 warehouse turned industrial chic boutique steps from the Harley Museum in Walker's Point.
Hotel Metro, Autograph Collection
Art Deco boutique in a 1937 building with big rooms and a quieter East Town position near the Pfister.
Drury Plaza Hotel Milwaukee Downtown
Riverfront value workhorse with free hot breakfast and a free evening kickback, extremely practical for families.
Aloft Milwaukee Downtown
Modern pet friendly hotel a walk from Fiserv Forum, the sports and concert default in Westown.
The Trade, Autograph Collection
Newest upscale hotel built for Fiserv Forum, with Il Cervo Italian on the roof and event night pricing.
Is Milwaukee expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $100 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $175 a person |
| Splurge | $325 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Milwaukee Art Museum: a few days ahead
- Harley-Davidson Museum: a few days ahead
- Lakefront Brewery: a few days ahead
- American Family Field: a few days ahead
- McKinley Marina: weeks ahead
- Whistling Straits: months ahead
- Blackwolf Run: months ahead
- Erin Hills: months ahead
- Sanford and EsterEv book weeks ahead, chef's counters and prime Lake Park Bistro times days to weeks.
- Lakefront Brewery weekend tours sell out, book online before you arrive.
- Whistling Straits, Blackwolf Run and Erin Hills tee times need months ahead in prime season, munis one to two weeks.
- For Summerfest, Harley Homecoming, Bucks playoffs and Irish Fest, book hotels two to three months out.
- Summerfest amphitheater headliners sell separately from grounds admission and sell out.
Is Milwaukee safe?
- Base east of the river, on the lakefront, in the Third Ward, Westown, Bay View, Shorewood or Wauwatosa.
- Leave nothing visible in cars and use garages or lit lots, Kia and Hyundai thefts have been a specific local problem.
- Stay on lit main streets at night and rideshare late from industrial pockets rather than walking them.
- Obey beach flags and never walk piers in storms, rip currents and pier waves kill on the Great Lakes every year.
- In winter bring a real parka, boots, hat and gloves, Great Lakes wind cuts through fashion coats.
Milwaukee travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Water Street bar strip on a Saturday night is generic and loud unless a bachelor party night is the mission.
- The Bronze Fonz takes 90 seconds, take the photo and move on rather than building an hour around it.
- The Miller Brewery Tour is polished but Lakefront beats it for first timers on fun per hour.
- Do not treat Milwaukee as just a Chicago day trip, the lakefront and dining need at least an overnight.
- Skip the SafeHouse for dinner, go for a drink and the gimmick, and avoid generic riverfront patios for food.
Getting around Milwaukee: public transport and more
- The Hop streetcar is free and links the station, Westown, East Town, the Third Ward and the lakefront.
- From a Third Ward or East Town base, walking plus the Hop covers most of what you'll want to see.
- Bublr Bikes and the Oak Leaf Trail are best for lakefront and Grant Park rides, e bikes are available.
- You need a car or rideshare budget for Kohler and Erin Hills golf, Kopp's, Cedarburg and Lake Geneva.
- Milwaukee Mitchell airport is 8 miles and 10 to 15 minutes from downtown, among America's easiest airports.
- Amtrak Hiawatha runs seven times daily to Chicago in about 90 minutes from the Intermodal Station.
Who Milwaukee suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Milwaukee your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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