The Memorial Union Terrace is the place to be. As a Badger Alum, this is where you ought to be when…read moreyou're skipping class when the weather is nice: I know I certainly was. Don't tell your parents if you're thinking of attending from out of state, you know: $$$$, :O Live music, and food-places either from on the terrace itself or from inside the Memorial Union to bring meals out on a tray (Pro-tip: eastern-inside spots are generally better) Warning: Operations are *seasonal* - this year: 4/17/2026 to 10/27/2026 There's a not so subtle Madison, WI weather subtext message here

Highlight of the University of Wisconsin Madison tour! The view of the lake from this patio is…read moreamazing. No wonder it is the heart of the student cultural experience. We also loved their iconic colorful patio furniture.

The best part of the Willy Street Fair is the people watching - pure old school Madison funky vibe…read more It was a lovely September afternoon that was perfect for a festival and it brought out the crowds. Many great food options (should have tried the apple pieces with caramel and bacon bits - next time!) and good music and street performers. Most of the other vendors were of little interest. I was surprised that it was only a few blocks long - I expected bigger. A fun time for sure.

Just a mere half a block from my house, Willy Street Fair is something I will look forward to for…read moreyears to come! Two days of sheer shenanigans. Expect costumes, great music, beer, delicious local food, amazing local artists, and an all around good time. This event is the epitome of what makes Willy Street unique!

Michael Feldman's Whad' Ya Know is an entertaining 2-hour live radio broadcast that takes place at…read moreMonona Terrace many Saturday mornings throughout the year. With free donuts, $5 tickets for students and seniors, and $10 tickets for adults, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more fun way to spend your Saturday mornings. Each show features interesting guests ranging from authors to ukulele virtuosos, a talented jazz duo (piano and bass), and LOTS of audience participation and interaction (so if you've ever wanted to hear your voice on nationally-syndicated radio, this is your chance).

First order of business: this live show is A) no longer located at Monona Terrace, and B) no longer…read morebroadcast on NPR. After 30 years, the nationally-syndicated show was, sadly enough, cancelled by NPR. The good news is the show has been revived as a podcast once per month, on a Saturday from 12PM - 2:00 PM at High Noon saloon. Nice symmetry there. I've followed and attended Whad'Ya Know many times over the past 30 years. I love that it is uniquely local, live and very original, in the vein of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," and "Prairie Home Companion," it's a mix of quiz show, musical guests, cultural guests like actors or writers, and all produced in a semi-scripted and quasi-improvisational format. Whad' Ya Know is the most improvisational with lots of audience interaction. If you are in the audience, you could end up on the quiz show portion of the program if not just interviewed by Michael as he strolls through the audience making sardonic comments about everything and everyone along the way. In fact this audience involvement is always my favorite-funny and unexpected, and a showcase for Michael's unique brand of humor. And dare I say, funnier than his written jokes, or monologue, at the opening of the show. A lot of "groaners" there sometimes. As for the High Noon venue, I loved being able to sit at a bar, order a Bloody Mary, nibble on slices of "imported" Glass Nickel pizza, and still watch the show. You couldn't do that in the auditorium at Monona Terrace. There are tables for groups and other chairs lined up for an audience members. Tickets for the show are only $10.00. And there is full bar service with two bartenders. So with the more intimate venue, and am smaller audience, there is more opportunity for the interaction and improvisation that makes this a special local event. In a more and more canned and artificial world of entertainment, Whad' Ya Know remains fun, immediate, and original. Great place to bring your out of town visitors.

Beautiful place to hike, especially in the fall. Magnificent views of Lake Mendota, the campus, and…read moreeven the capital building. I stumbled across it my first week living on campus as a hapless freshman and it immediately became one of my favorite spots. I always make sure to stop by whenever I'm back in Madison.

I am not totally sure what to say about Monroe Street Fest. It happened. There were people there…read more hmmm. yeah... I was most excited about checking out Strictly Discs. They always have a good showing. When I got there (4:00 on Saturday) there were quite a few people going through the cds and I was just not in the mind set to sift through the cds and people. The previous year, I did have lot of time and spent about an hour going through the cds and found 4 for less than $15. As for the rest of the festival, there were hair products, frames, books, random laundry items from the convenience store, and items from Orange Tree imports. Everything was so random. It was worth the stroll through just to see what was going on but was not exciting enough to make the trip across city.

Brace yourself...this neighborhood celebration is an absolute cliche. In the best way possible…read more(because HELLO...cliche's are such because they're true!). First tip: Go into the Festival knowing Monroe Street is going to be busy all day long. Duh! I would recommend the early morning of the first day. Not overly rowdy and a very pleasant stroll. The past 5 years I have attended MSF with different friends and family, I've learned to attend in the morning and/or mid-afternoon. Especially when the weather is turning into a gorgeous, burnt fall day. if you are smart enough to follow my pro-tip above, grab a nice coffee from Barriques, Crescendo, or Colectivo (because local!) and it will send you into a caffeinated bliss, ready for exploration and cutesy conversation with local shop owners and staff. This year, my friend and I made home-made tea candles, browsed books, tossed corks, even had face painting, just for us! Who can turn down face painting?! There was an amazing, small clearance sale at the local theater group's shop, and I found a few FANTASTIC finds for mere dollars! Free food samples and tote bags were also unexpected, but obviously welcomed perks. Trader Joe's was unleashing their seasonal, "buy your pumpkin spice-everything" this same weekend...and I definitely dropped double-digit dollars to bask in the gloriousness. MSF is a classic annual Madison experience. Rain or shine, I've experienced it, and so should you.

The memorial fountain honors Annie Stewart (1867-1905), who suffered from depression and who…read moreeventually took her own life. A few months later, Annie's mother passed away, leaving a $2000 bequest to the Madison Park & Pleasure Drive Association for the creation of a drinking fountain in Annie's honor. The will specified that Annie's name had to be prominently engraved on the drinking fountain and that it should be built at a suitable location in Madison as a memorial to her daughter. The fountain features a 12-foot-diameter white concrete circular basin. Dolphins and sea nymphs rest on an elevated platform in the center of the basin. Tiny tritons around the perimeter of the circular basin drained water into smaller basins with drinking faucets using their conch shells. White marble was used to cut the figures in the middle. After the fountain's construction was finished in late 1924, it was dedicated in 1925. Unfortunately, the fountain has been damaged by vandals and is not in very good condition. It's a shame there are people who do such negative things. Do stop by and think about this young girl and what her mother has done to remember her. Just to to the south is an Eagle effigy Indian mound, one of the only remaining mound from a group of seven or eight built by Native American people on this small hilltop overlooking Lake Wingra. [Review 20696 overall - 266 in Wisconsin - 1677 of 2023.]

Possibly the best group ride all year. It's not the longest by far though it does have…read moresemi-challenging terrain. The draw here is the delicious food! There are stops around every 10 miles and special meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The routes are pretty well organized and they seem to have plenty of sag support. Did I mention the food? The Underground Food Collective were the ones behind the lunch and dinner and Cafe Soleil catered the breakfast. Plus the farm tour was really interesting. Support your local farmers and have fun while doing it.

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." - George Carlin (1937-2008)…read more I'll give people credit but not this one. The people who tore down this statue were idiots. Hans Christian Heg was a Norwegian American abolitionist, journalist, anti-slavery activist, politician and soldier. He settled in Wisconsin and is best known as the colonel who commanded the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment on the Union side in the American Civil War. He died of the wounds he received at the Battle of Chickamauga. The Battle of Chickamauga was fought on September 19-20, 1863. It was the first major battle of the war fought in Georgia, the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater, and involved the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg. The Union suffered 17,170 casualties and losses, the Confederates had 18,454. Heg died fighting for the Union against slavery. Yet the rioters in June 2020 tore down the statue and threw it into a lake. Some people. Thankfully, the Wisconsin state government restored and reinstalled the original in September 2021. As well, someone was charged with the tcrime and sentenced to two years in prison. [Review 17182 overall - 193 in Wisconsin - 699 of 2022.]

Destination: Willy Street is such a great neighborhood for this tour. It is a very walkable…read moreneighborhood and easily accessible to walk from place to place. Food: Some great stops along the way, including a bakery and a recently opened restaurant. Madison info: Our tour guide had a lot of stories about everything we were walking past, which was great for the newcomers to Madison. Overall: Great way to get to know and neighborhood and enjoy some tasty food. Would do again in another neighborhood!

My husband and I went on the lake to lake tour with guide Stanley. We we super excited to eat and…read moretour our way through Madison!! We've done 3 walking food tours prior to this one and were excited to add it to our list. There were many things we loved about this tour; Stanley's enthusiasm, the beautiful day and great walking weather, the folks we chatted with on the tour and *most* of the food. The tour was extremely slow to get going. We were all very hungry; eating small breakfasts and no morning snacks in anticipation of a heavy food afternoon. The tour began promptly at 12:30. We spent a very long time in the Convention Center talking about Frank Lloyd Wright. And then when we left the history part of the tour continued for an hour. The first tasting of any food did not happen until a little after 1:30. First stop was Merchant, a funky restaurant/bar, where we were served a Small quarter of a cuban sandwich and a tiny arugula salad dressed in vinaigrette. The Cubano was very good but the serving we seriously tiny. Then we lingered waaaay too long (in my opinion) at the Merchant sitting at the table even though everyone had been done for a while. After the merchant we made Lots of little stops to look at landmarks around the capital area. And we did a little walk through of the capital building, which was very beautiful, but my tummy was still rumbling!!!! 2:22 was our second stop at Fromagination Cheese Shop. This was an absolutely adorable shop with oodles of cheese as well as other gormete food stuffs like cookies, pastries, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard, jams and jellies and other gift stuff . 3 small pieces of cheese and 2 crackers. There were also a few samples around the store for tasting but really it was a very small food sampling. Shortly after that around 2:44 we made it to Ian's Pizza for a half-slice of Mac and cheese pizza. Ehhh. Did not like it. They had some really cool other kinds and just an awesome menu in general. Just was not into the Mac and Cheese slice. Ick Next up was a little after 3:00 and we stopped at Himal Chuli which was a Nepalese eatery for a Mango Lassi. I was disappointed that we did not get to go inside the restaurant. We just grabbed-and-go our drinks and walked to our next stop. At around 3:17 we stopped into State Street Brats where we were served half to a third of a brat and A half pint of Spotted Cow beer from New Glarus Brewery. Good tasting. But again, a very small sample Lastly we walked to UW campus to the student union for a vanilla malt. It was good. Wish we had gotten to try the ice cream. I'm sure they have some great flavors there. The union was amazing however, right on the lake. Lucky students. The tour ran over, ending around 3:45. My husband and I left still feeling kind of hungry which has NEVER happened to us after a food tour. So, we had a fun time but left with mixed feelings about the tour. Not sure how much we will recommend this one to ours friends. Would rather send them down to the zerve.com food tours in Chicago.