How to Experience Milwaukee Like a Local in 2024

Posted: 3/15/2024 | March 15th, 2024

The subsequent guest publish is by my pals Adam from the website Getting Stamped. He and his wife are lengthy time inhabitants of Milwaukee and, considering the fact that I have under no circumstances been, I have invited him on to share some recommendations about checking out the city.

Milwaukee is underrated, in my belief. I like it!

The largest town in Wisconsin and only 1.5 hours north of Chicago, it is the great sizing: not too smaller not too major. It presents tasty food and drinks, fantastic sports teams, and enjoyable festivals. Additionally, it is reasonably priced. And really do not ignore the friendly locals!

I have lived listed here my complete daily life, and my wife has lived here for 20 many years. We have traveled all-around the planet many instances, and when it came time to plant roots and start a family members, we could have absent wherever. But we pick to come house to Milwaukee, which has so significantly to provide.

If you want to know how to expertise it like a community, here are my insider recommendations:

 

1. Remain central

I remarkably advocate keeping downtown or the Third Ward. This is the place most of the well-known sights are positioned. The motels could be a little bit more pricey than in other places, but you will help save on transportation charges due to the fact anything is walkable.

These are two lodges I appreciate:

 

2. Just take benefit of no cost rides

Milwaukee does not have a subway technique, but it does have an astounding free of charge streetcar company named the Hop, with several stops downtown and about the 3rd Ward area. Just hop on and off — no tickets or reservations are essential! The Hop operates every 15 minutes for the duration of peak times and each 20 minutes off-peak and weekends. Click below for the map and program.

Insider suggestion: If you are heading to a sporting celebration, numerous bars and places to eat present absolutely free shuttles to American Spouse and children Area for Brewer baseball video games and concerts, Summerfest Grounds for festivals and concerts, Fiserv Forum for Bucks basketball games, and other activities close to city.
 

3. Eat like a community

You may well imagine Milwaukee’s all beer and cheese (and there is no scarcity of these), but the food scene has a great deal much more to present. Milwaukee has its have (often quirky) foodstuff traditions and staples, like ButterBurgers and frozen custard.

It also has some outstanding markets, the place you can love some of the city’s ideal meals from numerous suppliers, all in 1 location and in a fun and reasonably priced meals-hall atmosphere. These are two of my favorites:

• 3rd Avenue Current market Hall – This is a ought to-check out spot, as it delivers a spot for visitors and locals alike to love Milwaukee’s assorted delicacies. Listed here, you will find the aforementioned frozen custard, additionally pho, pizza, burgers, artisan sandwiches, tacos, very hot canine, property-cooked foods, ramen, sushi, arepas, and so a lot more — all at inexpensive prices.
• Milwaukee General public Industry – Located in the historic 3rd Ward, this amazing market place is the greatest area to patronize a broad wide variety of suppliers with exceptional items, food stuff choices, and drink pairings. It is a exceptional location to experience the flavors of Milwaukee’s culinary scene, all under one particular roof, and soak in the neighborhood lifestyle while browsing or grabbing a bite.

 

4. Indulge in neighborhood delicacies

There are a couple of foods that you want to test that you (possibly for excellent rationale) will not obtain lots of other sites. They are special, delicious, and over-all very cost-effective!

• Deep-fried cheese curds – Sure, it is a issue, and they are astounding — buy them and thank us later on. Lakefront Brewery is our prime pick.
• Frozen custard – It could appear like ice cream, but it is significantly richer and creamier, with a several added ingredients. Kopps is the greatest place for it (and excellent burgers) — and also 1 of all those spots that, if you really don’t go, did you even visit Milwaukee?
• Bratwursts – Another Milwaukee staple. Nobody does them at a bigger degree than Vanguard Restaurant in the Bayview community. It is most effective recognized for its amazing property-made sausages, which include vegan selections, with a lot of at an affordable rate of below $10.

In this list, we have only focused on the Milwaukee favorites, but foodies who want to delve further into the culinary scene could also want to check out out our complete checklist of the finest places to eat in Milwaukee.
 

5. Check out brewing heritage

Whilst microbreweries aren’t precisely a new craze, Milwaukee has been brewing because prior to it was great. At one particular time, it brewed a lot more beer than any metropolis in the earth. That background is obvious all all-around city in breweries, restaurants, and pubs.

Lakefront Brewery gives almost certainly the best brewery tour in the town. It is a good deal much more entertaining than just looking at shiny tanks and sniffing a pungent jar stuffed with hops. The tour guides are hilarious (some are practically comedians from a community club), and your tour will involve four beer samples. This is by much the best worth and our personal favored tour — as well as, the beer corridor is a lot of entertaining. The excursions are super well-known and market out on the weekends, so it is encouraged to acquire tickets in advance.

If you want to preserve sampling neighborhood beers, make guaranteed to check out a few other of my beloved Milwaukee breweries:

• MobCraft Beer – This brewery offers excursions and also has a excellent taproom with delicious pizzas, as perfectly as truly superior IPAs and bitter beers.
• Eagle Park Brewing Corporation – They do not provide excursions, but they do have a large variety of exceptional bitter beers.
• Excellent City Brewing – There are two destinations: the Eastside a single provides tours, and the downtown one particular does not. But the latter is correct throughout the avenue from Fiserv Discussion board and great put for a beer prior to a video game.

 

6. Do some cost-effective routines

Milwaukee has way extra to do than we could squeeze on to this web site, but we’ve narrowed it down, concentrating on will have to-do and spending budget-helpful options (some are even absolutely free!):

• Bradford Beach – This is a sandy park on the shorelines of Lake Michigan. Deliver a towel and go for a swim, be part of in a sport of beach volleyball, or seize custard at MooSa’s or lunch at The Dock Waterfront Bar & Grill.
• Stroll the Milwaukee Riverwalk – Working experience the heart of the city, and immerse yourself in its society. Numerous of the Milwaukee’s finest shops and eating places can be observed together the three-mile route together both of those sides of the Milwaukee River.
• Disc-golfing at Milwaukee County Parks – Milwaukee has 11 disc-golf classes — six comprehensive types ($5) and five quick-follow types (free of charge).
• Bike the Oak Leaf Path – Milwaukee County provides above 135 miles of trails for biking, quite a few of which characteristic scenic sights of Lake Michigan. You can obtain the trail map listed here.
• Bronze Fonz – Cease to just take a photograph with a bronze sculpture of Arthur Fonzarelli, aka the Fonz, from Delighted Times (a sitcom about a Milwaukee family members in the 1950s).
• Indoor lawn games at 3rd Avenue Market Hall – Get pleasure from a selection of exclusive eating places and free of charge indoor games, together with huge Jenga, cornhole, shuffleboard, and golfing simulators. It is a pleasurable location, particularly when the temperature isn’t good!

Just after you have scoured this manual, if you have to have to fill any blank spots in your itinerary, we have an in-depth list masking all of the matters to do in Milwaukee.
 

7. Take pleasure in absolutely free-admission times

Some of Milwaukee’s leading sights welcome guests for free of charge on specific times. Viewing the calendar can score you absolutely free tickets that or else would set your group back hundreds.

 

8. Chase low cost content hrs

For much better or worse, the folks of Milwaukee enjoy their enjoyment times intertwined with a beer or a few. To kick off an remarkable night time in Milwaukee, head to wherever the locals go: locate a great content hour, or go to a spending budget-welcoming dive bar.

• McGillycuddy’s – $1 taps, $2 craft beers, $4 rails and mixers, and $5 appetizers (Tuesday–Friday, 3–7pm).
• Mo’s Irish Pub – $2.72 drafts, $5 wines (Tues–Thurs 4–6pm, Fridays 3–6pm) also cost-free brewery shuttles.
• Milwaukee Brat Home – Content hour specials alter daily (Mon–Fri 3-6pm).

 

9. Investigate the vivid general public art scene

Several destinations about city have massive-scale public art shows that you can check out for absolutely free. Most of these pieces are in some of the most exciting and fashionable areas. These are a pair of our favorites:

• Black Cat Alley – A single of the greatest regions dedicated to public murals is located in the vicinity of North Avenue, in the Eastside community. In addition to the art, you will also come across fantastic places to eat, breweries, and artisanal retailers.
• Sculpture Milwaukee – Annually, this town-funded application shows sculptures by artists from throughout the earth on Wisconsin Avenue. Some are lasting and some are altered out each and every year, so there are constantly new matters to see.

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From foodstuff to free times and bratwurst to beer, Milwaukee has a ton of factors to do and see on a funds. Ideally this record will give you a fantastic strategy of in which to start out!

Hannah & Adam Lukaszewicz are comprehensive-time vacation writers and operate the vacation web page Finding Stamped, which is committed to firsthand guides to their preferred places all around the world. When they are not touring the earth, Milwaukee is exactly where you will come across them, and they include their hometown in-depth on the web-site Milwaukee Insider. You can stick to their adventures on Instagram and social media @gettingstamped.