Best place for Wisconsin fall day trip?

Question

My fiance and I have this annual tradition of a fall long weekend, or day trip, and this year we'd like to go to Wisconsin for a day. Can anyone make recommendations of places to go?

We live in Chicago and don't want to travel more than two hours and we'd like to go apple picking in the morning, then visit a nice small town with cute shops, maybe go bike riding and then finish the day with a nice (but not too expensive) dinner.

We're not at all familiar with the Wisconsin area, so any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Living in Chicago you may have to travel just a bit more than 2 hours to really enjoy the beauty that WI has in the fall.  Here are a few places that you may want to research.

Lake Geneva

Cedarburg (lots of nice little shops)

Manitowoc

Door County

Green Bay

and if you really want to see the beauty of fall you would need to head to northern WI, Crivitz, Eagle River

I hope you have fun!

Answer 2

I would definitely recommend the Lake Geneva area, the colors don't get all that spectacular, just average, but there are all kinds of little shops and apple orchards in the area.  There is also a great lake shore path that goes around the lake and you can see all of the beautiful homes.  There are several beautiful resorts in the area   that have a lot to offer, I recommend Lake Lawn Resort which is actually in Delavan (about a 10 minute drive to Lake Geneva).  They have reasonable prices and beautiful rooms, they have the luxury lodge look going for them, very family friendly, and they offer couples' packages too that would include breakfast and dinner.  They also have a great spa and bar on property.  The Apple Barn is close by and on fall weekends they usually have little booths set up there with crafts and other things.  Hope this was helpful:)

Answer 3

bob has great WI locations for Fall color but all are outside your time-limit. A couple are about 5 hrs away.

The only way to get to WI in 2 hrs is to drive North. Perhaps you can search out Kenosha or Racine. They are both known for a lot of things but I don't think Fall wknds is one of them.

What about a resort? Kohler Resort is a top one in the country. Check it out below:

http://www.destinationkohler.com/

A pretty area in WI that is about 3 hrs away and not mentioned is Green County. There are various sites and small towns that will keep your interest. It's about 45 min west of Beloit. Monroe is the county seat and center for a cheese industry and regional brewery. Check it out below:

http://www.greencounty.org/lodging.iml