Madison

Worth seeing in and around Madison

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   University of Wisconsin–Madison

   The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved statehood and is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System.

   1.6 km · public research university in Madison, Wisconsin, USA · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Wisconsin State Capitol

   The Wisconsin State Capitol, located in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature along with the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor. Completed in 1917, the building is the fifth to serve as the Wisconsin capitol since the first territorial legislature convened in 1836 and the third building since Wisconsin was granted statehood in 1848.

   0 m · state capitol building of the U.S. state of Wisconsin · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Washburn Observatory

   The Washburn Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at 1401 Observatory Drive on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin, United States.

   2 km · astronomical observatory in Madison, Wisconsin · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Camp Randall Stadium

   Camp Randall Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. It has been the home of the Wisconsin Badgers football team in rudimentary form since 1895, and as a fully functioning stadium since 1917.

   2.4 km · Outdoor stadium in Madison, Wisconsin · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Kohl Center

   The Kohl Center is a multi-purpose arena located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is the home of the university's men's basketball and ice hockey teams, and the women's basketball team.

   1.2 km · arena · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Elvehjem Museum of Art

   The Chazen Museum of Art is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded as the Elvehjem Art Center in 1970, the museum moved into a brutalist building designed by Illinois architect Harry Weese to house the university's collection of 1,600 artworks.

   1.3 km · art museum in Madison, Wisconsin · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

   The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, formerly known as the Madison Art Center, is an independent, non-profit art museum located in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. MMoCA is dedicated to exhibiting, collecting, and preserving modern and contemporary art.

   400 m · art museum in Madison, Wisconsin · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Saint Raphael's Cathedral

   Saint Raphael's Cathedral was the cathedral and a parish for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison and was located in downtown Madison, Wisconsin at 222 West Main Street. In March 2005, the Cathedral building located at 204 West Main Street was heavily damaged in a fire and was demolished.

   300 m · Roman Catholic cathedral in Madison, Wisconsin · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Gates of Heaven Synagogue

   The Gates of Heaven Synagogue, also known as the Old Synagogue, is a historic synagogue in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, designed by German immigrant architect August Kutzbock and constructed in 1863 for the Gates of Heaven congregation. The congregation that commissioned the synagogue was a group of 17 German-speaking Jewish families that met within the building until financial difficulties obliged them to rent it to numerous tenants from 1879, until finally selling the building in 1916.

   600 m · historic synagogue in Madison, Wisconsin · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Edgewood College

    Edgewood University is a private Dominican university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It occupies a 55 acres campus overlooking Lake Wingra.

    3.7 km · Private Dominican liberal arts college in Madison, Wisconsin · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

1. 01
   The Memorial Union Terrace

   A lovely terrace which overlooks beautiful Lake Mendota.

2. 02
   Monona Terrace

   1 John Nolen Dr, fax: +1 608-261-4049, info@mononaterrace.com.

3. 03
   Henry Vilas Zoo

   Founded in 1914, this is one of the few free zoos left in the country.

4. 04
   Olbrich Botanical Gardens

   These 16 free outdoor gardens have many ponds and greens, as well as the only Thai Pavilion in the continental United States.

5. 05
   UW Arboretum

   A massive, man-made nature reserve that has been carefully planned out with several different types of forests and plant species.

6. 06
   Wisconsin State Capitol

   The State Capitol Building, modeled after the U.S.

From Wikivoyage: Madison, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

Madison is said to have the highest number of restaurants per capita in the entire United States. The sheer diversity of and intense competition among Madison's restaurants is enough to put any city of similar size to shame (as well as many larger cities!), making Madison one of the best cities in the country to be a foodie.

1. 01
   Nam's Noodles

   Excellent Chinese food close to the university.

2. 02
   Ian's Pizza
3. 03
   Mediterranean Cafe

   This narrow room is a Madison gem and a favorite with the university crowd.

4. 04
   Mickies Dairy Bar

   A classic diner close to the University, and right across from the football stadium.

5. 05
   Greenbush Bakery

   Excellent doughnuts, which just happen to be kosher.

From Wikivoyage: Madison, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Madison

Airports

General Mitchell (MKE), 122 km · Chicago O'Hare (ORD), 172 km · Chicago Midway (MDW), 196 km

• Milwaukee → Madison

  122 km · quickest by road, 2h 22m · $10–14
  GuideToday
• Chicago → Madison

  198 km · quickest by road, 3h 55m · $20–27
  GuideToday
• Grand Rapids → Madison

  304 km · quickest by road, 8h 3m · $42–60
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

  The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
  Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Madison

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Madison. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Madison – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.