Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the Lake Michigan city that built its name on beer and motorcycles and then quietly became one of the most rewarding weekend trips in the Midwest.
On the lakefront, Santiago Calatrava's white pavilion for the Milwaukee Art Museum opens its wings above the water, while a short streetcar ride away the Harley-Davidson Museum lines up hundreds of bikes beside the Menomonee River. In between sit the old brewery buildings, the warehouse lofts of the Historic Third Ward, the stalls of the Milwaukee Public Market and a Riverwalk that threads through all of it. This guide books the few things worth booking, from a Harley ticket and a Lakefront Brewery tour to a food walk, a brewery crawl and a ghost tour inside a former speakeasy, tells you which days the museums close, and matches you to the right hotel, from the 1893 Pfister to suites inside the old Pabst brewhouse.
Harley-Davidson Museum
Milwaukee's signature museum: two floors of motorcycles and memorabilia on a riverside campus, starting with Serial Number One, the oldest known Harley-Davidson. Open daily, best on a weekday morning, and worth two to three hours even if you have never ridden.
Milwaukee Art Museum
Santiago Calatrava's white pavilion on Lake Michigan, with wings that open and fold above the water, and a collection of more than 30,000 works inside, from Georgia O'Keeffe to Monet and Warhol. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, open late on Thursdays.
Grohmann Museum
A small, surprising downtown museum devoted to the art of work: more than 2,000 paintings, sculptures and works on paper showing blacksmiths, miners, farmers and factory hands. Entry costs only a few dollars, and an hour is enough to see it well.
Lakefront Brewery
Milwaukee's favorite brewery tour: 50 lively minutes on the Milwaukee River with four beers, a souvenir pint glass and a voucher for another at local bars. Stay for the Friday fish fry with a live polka band in the Beer Hall.
Milwaukee's signature museum: two floors of motorcycles and memorabilia on a riverside campus, starting with Serial Number One, the oldest known Harley-Davidson. Open daily, best on a weekday morning, and worth two to three hours even if you have never ridden.
Santiago Calatrava's white pavilion on Lake Michigan, with wings that open and fold above the water, and a collection of more than 30,000 works inside, from Georgia O'Keeffe to Monet and Warhol. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, open late on Thursdays.
A three-and-a-half-hour small-group walk through downtown Milwaukee with five tastings of local favorites, a secret dish and a beer, told through the German immigrants who shaped the city's table. Rated 4.6 from 266 reviews and likely to sell out.
A two-hour small-group bus tour from City Hall with stops at the Bronze Fonz, Black Cat Alley, the North Point Lighthouse and the Historic Third Ward. Rated 4.9 from more than 900 reviews, it is the fastest way to see the whole city on a short trip.
A small, surprising downtown museum devoted to the art of work: more than 2,000 paintings, sculptures and works on paper showing blacksmiths, miners, farmers and factory hands. Entry costs only a few dollars, and an hour is enough to see it well.
A one-hour small-group tour through three levels of Shaker's Cigar Bar, an 1894 building linked to Al Capone and Prohibition, with stories of its speakeasy days and the spirits said to remain. Rated 4.7 from 54 reviews and often sold out.
A guided four-to-five-hour crawl by bus around four Milwaukee breweries, including Lakefront, with tastings of up to 16 beers and food along the way. The easiest way to sample the city's craft beer scene without driving or planning.
Milwaukee's favorite brewery tour: 50 lively minutes on the Milwaukee River with four beers, a souvenir pint glass and a voucher for another at local bars. Stay for the Friday fish fry with a live polka band in the Beer Hall.
FreeThe food hall at the heart of the Historic Third Ward, open daily, with fish, cheese, spices, coffee and a dozen places to eat under one roof. Grab lunch, then walk the warehouse streets and the Riverwalk outside, past the Bronze Fonz.
The grand home of beer baron Captain Frederick Pabst on Wisconsin Avenue, with carved wood, ironwork and original furnishings. Guided tours run on the hour, and in the holiday season the rooms are dressed for Christmas at the Pabst Mansion.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
$$$$Downtown (East Wisconsin Avenue)
Milwaukee's grand hotel since 1893, on Wisconsin Avenue in the heart of downtown, with a lavish Victorian lobby, a 23rd-floor pool and martini bar with lake views, the Mason Street Grill and afternoon tea.
Rates on Expedia →
$$$Historic Third Ward
A stylish boutique hotel in the Historic Third Ward, with the Mediterranean-inspired Tre Rivali downstairs, The Outsider rooftop bar upstairs and the Public Market, the Riverwalk and the festival grounds a short walk away.
Rates on Expedia →
$$$Walker’s Point
A boutique hotel for riders and everyone else, in a 100-year-old warehouse in Walker's Point with exposed Cream City brick, oversized rooms, covered motorcycle parking and the Harley-Davidson Museum a short walk away.
Rates on Expedia →
$$Brewery District
Ninety suites with full kitchenettes inside the restored Pabst brewhouse, where six giant copper brewing kettles and a stained-glass King Gambrinus still fill the atrium. A memorable, good-value base in the Brewery District, near Fiserv Forum.
Rates on Expedia →
$$Downtown (North Water Street)
The value pick downtown: a 1928 Art Deco tower on North Water Street with 227 rooms, free hot breakfast, a free 5:30 Kickback with hot food and drinks every evening, and an indoor pool, a short walk from the Public Market and the Riverwalk.
Rates on Expedia →The practical primer for a first visit: the few tickets worth booking ahead, the closing days that catch people out, how The Hop streetcar links the Third Ward with downtown and the lakefront, and a two to three day plan.
How to choose a base in Milwaukee, with the right hotel for each area: the 1893 Pfister downtown, a Kimpton in the Third Ward, a rider-friendly warehouse in Walker's Point, suites in the old Pabst brewhouse and a value pick on the Riverwalk.
