Are you flying to Milwaukee for a visit, excited at the prospects of what all you are going to see and do? If you fly into General Mitchell International Airport you can be assured that there will be beautiful hotels waiting right there for you. That will leave you plenty of time to explore this beautiful, bustling city. Milwaukee is small enough to feel like you’re visiting a friendly town, although it’s the biggest city in the state of Wisconsin, sitting comfortably next to beautiful Lake Michigan.
Where you stay is so much part of the journey
The Brookfield Milwaukee Hotel is under 20 miles away from General Mitchell and Kimpton Journeyman Hotel is only about 10 miles from the Timmerman Airport. These hotels will welcome you into their interiors and make you feel at home, not forgetting that they have all the amenities that just make you want to extend your stay even longer. But that might cause you to miss all the excitement that Milwaukee has to offer you!
Milwaukee has plenty of cultural festivals going on throughout the year
These cultural festivals remind you of Milwaukee’s rich history [1]. That’s why it is also known as the City of Festivals. It’s why students love to come to this part of Wisconsin to attend the University of Milwaukee. Naturally, it’s also because the university is only 5 minutes from the beach, fabulous restaurants, coffee shops, theatres, and everything a student wants.
Speaking of all the wonderful festivals, there is the Harley Davidson Rally that is held every year. What fun! If you really want to live it up in style as the Harley people do, then your accommodation and dining are what you are looking for at this delightful place – the Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee restaurant in the Walker Point neighborhood. Can you believe it was once a factory and warehouse for the Berger Bedding Factory, and after that, it was used as a cold storage facility? Its name pays homage to the Harley Davidson museum over the bridge and the railroad that is nearby. All the décor in the hotel has been reused, recycled, or repurposed. The chandeliers in the lobby are made from motorcycle parts and the light fixtures are from baked bean cans! The “Smyth” restaurant will serve you feasts like Spanish octopus or lake trout, duck breast with baby leeks! But if you pull in on your Harley, maybe you just want to relax at The Yard. It’s an outdoor bar and restaurant that will suit your casual vibes.
Before you leave Milwaukee you have to wine and dine at Roots Milwaukee Restaurant – one of those things that you will deeply regret when friends ask, “Did you try Roots?’ You can’t miss out on a real American, Organic, Eclectic time out with friends.
If you are a young couple looking for a vibrant nightlife, you love the theater, concerts, and moving amongst sophisticated young people, you will love staying at the InterContinental Milwaukee – its upscale ambiance will suit you just fine. And, of course, the Intercontinental Milwaukee restaurant called Kil@wat will offer you diverse meals from breakfast through to dinner – feeling the vibes.
Not only dining, but gorgeous Milwaukee is also famous for its cold brews so you won’t be short of the best restaurants around to sample these brews. German immigrants who came to Milwaukee around 1856 brought their top brewing skills with them [2].
Here are our top 5 excursions
Stroll along Milwaukee’s Lakefront
Milwaukee’s Lakefront is adorned with galleries, boutique stores, dining, and heaps more. You might want to use the hop-on, hop-off Milwaukee Sightseeing Bus Tour. This convenient pass allows you to see Milwaukee at your own pace.
Domes: Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory
The Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory has three gigantic glass domes that contain plants from desert areas and the tropics. They’re impressive architecturally, with each dome standing 85 feet tall, and spanning 140 feet in diameter.
Milwaukee County Zoo
This zoo is one of the largest in the USA. It has a collection of rare, unique animals such as gorillas, polar bears, and cheetah. The zoo also offers an educational program, earning a reputation for its bonobo breeding program [3]. Check their website for when they have their seasonal “free days” when no admission is charged.
Boerner Botanical Gardens
Beautiful, just 20-minutes from downtown Milwaukee, the Boerner Botanical Gardens have five formal gardens that were all laid out in the 1930s.
Old World Wisconsin
A 45-minute drive west of Milwaukee will take you to Old World Wisconsin, an open-air museum. The buildings are all reminiscent of the first settlers from Germany, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. This museum is also popular for Christmas festive events and displays.
That’s Milwaukee – “a great place on a great lake”
References:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Milwaukee
[2] https://www.gearpatrol.com/food/drinks/a94336/the-history-of-milwaukee-beer/