- 1. Cedarburg (about 30 minutes)
- 2. Kettle Moraine State Forest (about 45 minutes)
- 3. Lake Geneva (about 1 hour)
- 4. Kohler and Sheboygan (about 1 hour)
- 5. Madison (about 1 hour 20 minutes)
- 6. Chicago (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
- 7. Devil’s Lake State Park (about 2 hours)
- 8. Wisconsin Dells (about 2 hours)
- 9. Green Bay (about 2 hours)
- 10. Door County (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
- 11. Galena, Illinois (about 3 hours)
- 12. Minneapolis and St. Paul (about 5 hours)
- Getting out of Milwaukee without a car
- Cheap weekend getaways from Milwaukee by car
- Last-minute weekend getaways from Milwaukee
Milwaukee sits within a comfortable drive of more variety than most people give it credit for, and the twelve below are ordered by how long it takes to get there. Drive times are for clear roads, so add to them for a Friday evening start.
1. Cedarburg (about 30 minutes)
A stone-mill town north of the city with an intact 19th-century main street, a winery in the old mill and a covered bridge just outside. The easiest half-day escape on this list.
2. Kettle Moraine State Forest (about 45 minutes)
Glacial landforms, kettles and kames and eskers, with the Ice Age National Scenic Trail running through them. The northern and southern units are both within an hour.
3. Lake Geneva (about 1 hour)
A resort lake since Chicago money arrived after the 1871 fire. The 21-mile Shore Path is a public right of way that runs across the lawns of the mansions, which is the best thing about it.
4. Kohler and Sheboygan (about 1 hour)
World-class golf at Whistling Straits, a spa resort built by the plumbing company, and in Sheboygan a bratwurst culture taken entirely seriously.
5. Madison (about 1 hour 20 minutes)
An isthmus city between two lakes, with the State Capitol, a large Saturday farmers market circling it and the Memorial Union Terrace on the water.
6. Chicago (about 1 hour 30 minutes)
Close enough that the Amtrak Hiawatha makes more sense than driving. Museums, the lakefront and an architecture cruise fill a weekend without a car.
7. Devil’s Lake State Park (about 2 hours)
Quartzite bluffs standing 500 feet above a lake with no inlet or outlet, left behind by the glacier. The busiest state park in Wisconsin and the best hiking within easy reach.
8. Wisconsin Dells (about 2 hours)
Water parks indoors and out, and underneath all of it the sandstone gorges on the Wisconsin River that gave the place its name. The boat tours are still the good part.
9. Green Bay (about 2 hours)
Lambeau Field and its tour, the National Railroad Museum, and the start of the Door County drive if you keep going north.
10. Door County (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
A peninsula with 300 miles of shoreline, five state parks and a fish boil tradition. Ephraim, Fish Creek and Sister Bay are the villages; autumn is the best time and also the busiest.
11. Galena, Illinois (about 3 hours)
A lead-mining boomtown that went quiet and kept its main street, plus Ulysses S. Grant’s house. Rolling driftless country all around it.
12. Minneapolis and St. Paul (about 5 hours)
The long option, and better as a three-day weekend than a two. Lakes inside the city, a very good art museum and the Walker’s sculpture garden.
Getting out of Milwaukee without a car
Amtrak’s Hiawatha runs six round trips to Chicago Monday to Saturday and five on Sunday, which is frequent enough to treat as turn-up-and-go. Other services head north-west towards the Dells and on into Minnesota. Door County, Kettle Moraine and Lake Geneva all assume a car, and Door County in particular is a long way from any station.
Cheap weekend getaways from Milwaukee by car
- Cedarburg: a free main street and a covered bridge just outside
- Kettle Moraine: a state forest sticker covers the whole day
- Lake Geneva: the Shore Path is a public right of way and free to walk
- Devil’s Lake: one park sticker and the best hiking in the state
Last-minute weekend getaways from Milwaukee
- Cedarburg, thirty minutes and no planning needed
- Kettle Moraine, a state forest that never sells out
- Madison, an hour and twenty with a real hotel supply
- Chicago, reachable on the train at short notice
If you are deciding on the day, work backwards from the drive rather than the destination: anything under two hours leaves you a genuine Saturday, and anything past four is really a three-day trip wearing a weekend label.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
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