Day trips
10 great day trips around 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
Cruise Lake Minnetonka, stroll on the St. Croix or climb a historic bluff.
If you're taking a so-called staycation this year, don't stay too close to home. From the Twin Cities, 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.
To the southeast, the port of Red Wing is curled into an elbow of the Mississippi. To the east, Stillwater and its shops unfurl along the St. Croix.
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.
Curiosity camp
With fun day trips, the University of Minnesota finds a cure for "vacation-deficit disorder."
If you want to play hooky from work in summer, just tell your boss that the University of Minnesota thinks you should.
Americans are putting in more work hours than at any time since the 1920s, it says, but as many as 30 percent of us don't take a vacation. Yet, research also shows the brain needs time away from the job so it can stretch.
It turns out that all work and no play really does make Jack a dull boy. That's why the College of Continuing Education offers summer Curiosity Camps, with nearly two dozen chances for people to take a day off.
© Beth Gauper, 2007 - 2012 all rights reserved
