8 Best Attractions To Visit In Wisconsin

Known as the Badger State, a nickname dating back to the 1820s when miners dug tunnels like badgers into hillsides, Wisconsin is famous for its cheese, beer, and football, but that’s only the beginning. Whether you’re paddling around the stunning Apostle Islands, exploring Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin estate, touring the quirky House on the Rock, or cheering at Lambeau Field, the state is an authentic mix of history, culture, and adventure. The eight best attractions to visit in Wisconsin capture the essence of the state, making them must-sees whether it’s your first visit or a chance to catch what you missed the last time.

Devil’s Lake State Park

Devil’s Lake State Park is one of the most popular destinations in the Badger State, centered around the stunning, eponymous lake at its heart. With no shortage of activities to indulge in, outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy 29 miles of hiking trails, large picnic areas equipped with drinking water and grills on both the north and south shores of the lake, swimming in the pristine lake, overnight camping, rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. There are concession stands on both shore ends of the lake where you can buy food and groceries, ice, firewood, and basic camping supplies. You can also rent watercraft during the summer.

A few stand-out not-to-be-missed landmarks worth hiking to see in Devil’s Lake State Park include the iconic Balanced Rock, a rock that appears precariously perched on a cliff above the lake; Parfrey’s Glen, a pretty little waterfall; and one of the most sought-after spots for photographers and Instagrammers, Devil’s Doorway.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore at the tip of Wisconsin’s Bayfield Peninsula is home to a chain of 21 stunning islands, twelve miles of sandy beaches along Lake Superior, and iconic red rock cliffs. Renowned for its sea caves, the most extensive collection of lighthouses in the National Park system, and shimmering emerald-green waters, kayaking around the Apostle Islands is the perfect getaway if you’re looking for an active Midwest adventure on the water. If you’re a first-time visitor or have only limited sea kayaking experience, your best bet is to book a half-day tour with a local outfitter like Meyers Beach Kayaking or Red Cliff Tours near Bayfield.

If you’d prefer to let someone else do the paddling, consider booking The Apostle Islands Grand Tour, which takes you on a narrated 55-mile scenic cruise around several of the islands. Bring your camera as you cruise past out-of-this-world scenery like the spectacular sea caves on Devils Island, the surrounding sandstone cliffs, and the historic Raspberry and Devils Island Lighthouses.

Wisconsin Dells

One of the Badger State’s best attractions to visit has to be Wisconsin Dells, both a small town of 3,500 residents and a tourist region popularly referred to as “the Dells,” named for the scenic dells of the Wisconsin River, a stretch of sandstone cliffs, gorges, and rock formations carved by glaciers during the last Ice Age. With over twenty world-class indoor and outdoor waterparks to choose from, Wisconsin Dells has earned its title as the “Waterpark Capital of the World,” so if you’re traveling with kids in tow, you’ll want to explore a few of best splash zones at places like Wilderness Resort, home to eight waterparks; Kalahari Resorts, Wisconsin’s largest indoor waterpark; and Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor waterpark kept at a toasty 84 degrees year round.

Beyond the slides and wave pools, you can take a fun 55-minute Duck boat tour with Dells Army Ducks, a tour company that uses amphibious WWII-era vehicles that drive from the road straight into the water and back through 14,000-year-old sandstone gorges, such as Grotto Island, Sugar Bowl, and Lone Rock. If you prefer your boat tours a little zippier, the company also offers high-speed WildThing Jet Boat tours on the Wisconsin River.

House on the Rock

The House on the Rock is a top Wisconsin tourist attraction, that showcases everything from the world’s largest indoor Carousel with 269 animals, 20,000 lights, and 182 chandeliers and the Heritage of the Sea, an exhibit containing over 200 model ship displays, a Titanic display, and a 200-foot-long sea creation to an Infinity Room that extends 218 feet over a scenic valley. The brainchild of Alex Jordan Jr., who began building a hunting lodge on top of a stone column in 1945, this structure offered awe-inspiring views from its unusual location. Over the years, the House on the Rock has evolved to include additional buildings, housing numerous odd displays and quirky collections that can be viewed as three separate “sections” or tours, each with different admission rates. There are dolls in one area, a collection of old cars in another, a stash of old guns somewhere else.

Thanks to the House on the Rock’s location only seven miles from Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin, there has been some debate over the years as to whether or not the proximity of the two attractions was a coincidence. Coincidence or not, the House on the Rock certainly attracts curious day trippers, and anyone fascinated by wacky roadside attractions, drawing in an estimated one million visitors annually.

Taliesin

Taliesin is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wisconsin home, Hillside Studio and Theater, and 800-acre estate in the state’s Driftless Region, an area that was never covered by ice during the last Ice Age. The resulting rugged limestone bluffs, deep river valleys, and rolling hills set the backdrop for Wright’s vision of blending architecture with the natural landscape. Taliesin, along with seven other Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the U.S., was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, under the designation "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright." Other notable buildings include his most famous residence, Fallingwater, in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Taliesin Preservation offers several guided tours, varying in length and depth. These include a fully interactive 4-hour walking tour of the entire estate, a 2-hour house-only tour, and a 75-minute self-guided tour.

Milwaukee Art Museum

The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) is the largest in Wisconsin, with over 34,000 works of art, a far cry from its humble beginnings as the city’s first art gallery in 1888. Located on a 24-acre campus on the shores of Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee, it is a visually stunning landmark and point of pride thanks to buildings designed by renowned architects like Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The Quadracci Pavilion, his first U.S. design, reflects his signature style, utilizing white skeletal forms inspired by nature, which makes the pavilion resemble a bird taking flight.

As stunning as the building itself is, what’s inside may be even more jaw-dropping. The museum comprises four floors of over forty galleries, featuring rotating artwork from antiquity to the present. A few standout exhibits include works by Monet, Rodin, and Picasso in the European and American Masters Galleries, as well as colorful 20th-century Haitian art and the museum’s collection of photographs dating back to the early 1900s.

Door County

Part road trip, part attraction, Door County is a peninsula of winding coastal roads, cherry orchards, and charming lakeside towns, including historic Ephraim, trendy Fish Creek, and nautical Sturgeon Bay, that will let you enjoy the journey just as much as the destination. If you’re the outdoorsy type, you’ll enjoy the 300 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, where you’ll always be close to boating, paddling, and all kinds of water sports. Peninsula State Park is the crown jewel of this scenic part of Wisconsin, offering 20 miles of hiking trails and the 1868 Eagle Bluff Lighthouse perched 76 feet above the sparkling waters of Green Bay. The lighthouse is open for tours and tower climbs, having been restored to its former glory by the Door County Historical Society, complete with period antiques and original keepers’ furnishings.

Lambeau Field

If there’s one thing besides cheese and beer that Wisconsinites are passionate about, it's football, and Lambeau Field in Green Bay, home of the 13-time world champion Green Bay Packers, is a top tourist hotspot in the Badger State. Lambeau Field is the NFL’s oldest continually operating stadium, and for football fans, it’s a must-see attraction. If you’re not one of the 80,000 fans filling the seats on game day, the best way to explore the hallowed ground is by booking a guided tour.

Several Stadium Tours are available, varying in length from a two-hour Legendary Stadium Tour to a one-hour Classic Stadium Tour. A highlight of any tour is the 15,000 square-foot two-level Hall of Fame, which features nine permanent galleries and two special exhibit spaces. Full of dynamic displays and interactive exhibits, you’ll see memorabilia, trophies, and artifacts celebrating legendary players like Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers.

Discover the Best of the Badger State

From the rugged cliffs of Devil’s Lake, carved by Ice Age glaciers, to the wacky wonders of the House on the Rock, Wisconsin offers a unique blend of natural beauty, eccentric charm, and small-town character that makes it a Midwest gem. Its scenic parks, historic lighthouses, world-class art, and football fever showcase a state full of adventure, culture, and memorable experiences for every kind of traveler.