Day trips
10 great day trips from Madison
See the circus, visit Swiss towns or ride a rail trail — there's fun in every direction.
Madison has the state Capitol, the largest university, two big lakes and all kinds of attitude. There's plenty to do if you want to stay put. But sometimes, you just have to hit the road and explore.
Madison is surrounded by great candidates for a day trip — or a mini-vacation, if you prefer. It’s got cheese
country to the south, Old World towns to the west, bicycle trails on three sides and good eating all around.
Here are some great ways to spend a day in south-central Wisconsin. If you get out the door early, do lots of stuff and stay late, it really will feel like a vacation.
10 great day trips around the Twin Cities
Within an hour's drive, you can cruise Lake Minnetonka, stroll on the St. Croix or climb a historic bluff.
As wonderful as Minneapolis and St. Paul are, sometimes you just have to get out of town.
Luckily, you only have to drive an hour or so to find a world of fun.
Minneapolis and St. Paul grew around the confluence of two rivers, and their favorite day-trip destinations are on rivers,
too.
10 great day trips around Milwaukee
Ride trolleys, see lighthouses, spot birds and hike past mansions.
Milwaukee doesn’t toot its own horn much, so you’ve got to explore
it yourself to see how much fun it can be.
Right in town, you can spend an entire day touring breweries or riding on the Oak Leaf Trail, a 100-mile chain of paved paths, parkways and connecting streets.
But the city also is surrounded by old Yankee mill towns and German settlements. To the west, the last glacier left a trail of kettle lakes that are a summer playground. Hikers and skiers head for Kettle Moraine State Forest and the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, which winds through it.
© Beth Gauper, 2007 - 2013 all rights reserved
