Over 500 miles of trails, over 270 public parks and great museums, Madison, Wisconsin blew us away! And it is just 5 hours of a drive from St. Louis. I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but this was the first time we explored this city as a family. We were shocked by all of the family-friendly (and free!) areas.
Itinerary Snapshot
Day 1:
Arrived in Madison
Checked into The Dylin
Cave of the Mounds Lantern Tour
Â
Day 2:Â
Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park
Warner Park
Lunch & Ice Cream at Memorial Union
Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Tenney Park
Dinner at Ian’s Pizza
Â
Day 3:
Wingra Boats
Breakfast at Collectivo Coffee
Madison Children’s Museum
Henry Vilas Zoo
Tipsy Cow for Lunch
Olin Park
Drive back home!
Day 1
We arrived in Madison and drove along the lakefront and by the beautiful Capitol building. Then, we checked into The Dylin (611 East Dayton Street, Madison 53703) . This is a mix between hotel and apartment. Everything was automated. While there was a common area in the lobby, there was no hotel staff. Our 3-bedroom apartment was nice and there was a lovely outdoor patio. We liked having the full kitchen and it is situated right in downtown Madison! They offer studios, 1, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments as well as two houses. Parking is available underground and on site.
Cave of the Mounds (2975 Cave Of The Mound Rd, Blue Mounds, WI 53517) is 40 minutes away from downtown Madison, but so worth the drive! It is a beautiful limestone cave. While it is a commercial cave, the lantern tour offered a more peaceful way of touring through. Our cave guide was super knowledgeable and we each carried a lantern along the trail. It was such a neat experience!
Day 2
We started the day with hiking at Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park (6098 North Sherman Avenue, Madison, WI 53704). There are many trails here that go through restored prairie, oak savanna and woodland. We especially loved the boardwalk trails through the marsh! My kids started noticing many snails along the boardwalk. They counted over 100 of them! There was even an observation deck to get a more aerial view of the marsh. It was so peaceful here!
Warner Park (2930 N. Sherman Ave, Madison, 53704) has the most beautiful and colorful shelter! We also liked the trail around the pond, spotting many water lilies over the bridge and playing on the playground.
For lunch, we headed to the Memorial Union (800 Langdon St., Madison, WI 53706) on UW-Madison’s campus. Treasured by generations, Memorial Union is the perfect place to relax. It originally opened in October 1928 and it is most known for their bright green, orange and yellow Terrace chairs. We grabbed brats and cheese curds at one of the outside stands and took in the pretty view of the lake. We also bought Babcock Dairy Ice Cream at the Daily Scoop, which is made right on campus!
After lunch, we headed to the Olbrich Botanical Gardens (3300 Atwood Ave, Madison). The outdoor gardens are free and feature 16 acres of stunning landscapes. And, we were amazed by the only Royal Thai Pavilion on the continent. We enjoyed walking the trails and my kids enjoyed the children’s area with instruments!
We ended the day with Tenney Park (N. Thornton Ave, Madison 53703) and Ian’s Pizza (100 State St., Madison). Tenney Park is a classic storybook! We walked across a bridge that had the most water lilies that we’d ever seen. And, right across the street (also part of the park) was a free, public beach. There was one other family swimming there and it was very peaceful. The swimming area was roped off and we had fun looking for fish and finding rocks. Ian’s Pizza was such a fun stop for dinner. They specialize in a variety of traditional and unique pizza flavors! You can order by the slice or by the pizza! My husband and I loved the Spinach Feta Pesto pizza and our kids loved the Man n’ Cheese pizza (yes, actual mac n’ cheese on there)!
Day 3
We checked out of The Dylin and headed to Wingra Boats (824 Knickerbocker St., Madison). The weather had some storms on the radar, but luckily we were able to still ride the Purple Dragon paddle boat before the bad weather arrived. There were many boats available to rent, including fun themed paddle boats. We paddled next to many water lilies and had beautiful views of Lake Wingra. Lake Wingra is the only one of Madison’s lakes not located on the Yahara River chain of lakes. Lake Wingra is almost entirely surrounded by the wood and marshes of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. We grabbed smoothies and breakfast sandwiches up the street at Colletivo Coffee.
Next we headed to the Madison Children’s Museum (100 North Hamilton Street, Madison). This is a one-of-a-kind children’s museum! It reminded me of the City Museum in St. Louis! There were many interactive exhibits, daily activities and art areas. We loved exploring the outdoor playground, which has many neat climbing spots! My favorite spot was the rooftop! There was a beautiful view of the Capitol building, creek play and even a nature center. We even said hi to the chickens and other animals who lived there! We loved this spot.
After the Children’s Museum, we visited the Henry Vilas Zoo (702 S Randall Ave, Madison)! Vilas Park and Beach are right next door too. Just like the Saint Louis Zoo, the Henry Vilas Zoo is free admission. Our favorite exhibit was seeing the new red panda! We also had a fun behind-the-scenes look at the ambassador animals, had a close up encounter with the tortoises and even fed a peanut to the badger! There was the coolest tree playground right next to the carousel too.
We ended our trip with lunch at the Tipsy Cow (great cheese curds and burgers) and Olin Park. Olin Park (1202 Olin-Turville Court, Madison) offers some of the best views of downtown Madison. It is located on the shores of Lake Monona and has a beautiful historic pavilion. We really enjoyed the paved trail along the lake and my kids rode their bikes! Adjacent to Olin Park is the Turville Point Conservation Park, which we are looking forward to exploring on a future visit
Overall, we loved Madison, Wisconsin!! It was such a great family adventure. There were many indoor and outdoor spots, most of them free! We can’t wait to return again soon!
If you are interested in finding out more events in Madison, check out Destination Madison.Â
Happy exploring!
