Wisconsin

Here’s the thing about Milwaukee: it’s cool, but for some reason it slips under the radar. The city’s reputation as a working man's town of brewskis, bowling alleys and polka halls persists. But attractions like the Calatrava-designed art museum, the badass Harley-Davidson Museum and stylish eating and shopping enclaves have turned Wisconsin's largest city into an unassumingly groovy place.

Milwaukee's enduring relationship with beer is no accident. The city was settled by Germans in the 1840s and many started breweries. A few decades later, the introduction of bulk brewing technology turned beer production into a major industry. Milwaukee earned its 'Brew City' nickname in the 1880s when Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, Miller and 80 other breweries made suds here. Today, only Miller remains of the national brands, though smaller brewers have made a big comeback and bars around town feature the best microbrews from Wisconsin and the region.

Taliesin was the home of Frank Lloyd Wright for most of his life and is the site of his architectural school. It's now a major pilgrimage destination for fans. The house was built in 1903, the Hillside Home School in 1932, and the visitor center in 1953. A wide range of guided tours ($22 to $92) cover various parts of the complex; it's wise to book ahead (for a small surcharge). The one-hour Hillside Tour ($22) provides a nice introduction to Wright's work.

With its rocky coastline, picturesque lighthouses, cherry orchards and small 19th-century villages, you have to admit Door County is pretty darn lovely. Honeymooners, families and outdoorsy types all flock in to take advantage of the parkland that blankets the area and the clapboard hamlets packed with winsome cafes, galleries and inns.

The county spreads across a narrow peninsula jutting 75 miles into Lake Michigan. Sturgeon Bay, at the southern end, is the county seat and its only real city; it's home to some decent museums. Running north, the side of the peninsula that borders the lake proper is the more scenic 'quiet side', and home to the communities of Jacksonport and Baileys Harbor. The side that borders Green Bay is more action-oriented, where hamlets like Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim and Sister Bay welcome travelers. Summer is prime time. Only about half the businesses stay open from November to April.

The National Park Service's Apostle Islands, 21 rugged pieces of rock and turf floating in Lake Superior and freckling Wisconsin's northern tip, are a state highlight. Forested and windblown, trimmed with cliffs and caves, the national park gems have no facilities. Various companies offer seasonal boat trips around the islands, and kayaking is very popular. Jump off from Bayfield, a humming resort with hilly streets, Victorian-era buildings, apple orchards and nary a fast-food restaurant in sight. Outside of the kayaking opportunities, people come for the leisurely hikes or bike rides, or to poke around Bayfield's sleepy shops and enjoy some good food.

Madeline Island, an Apostle Island though not part of the national park, is a popular day-trip by ferry and home to a beautiful state park and campground. Beyond Bayfield, shore towns to the north and west, like Cornucopia, feel like a slice of heaven on a sunny July afternoon.

Madison reaps a lot of kudos – most walkable city, best road-biking city, most vegetarian-friendly, gay-friendly, environmentally friendly and just plain all-round friendliest city in the USA. Ensconced on a narrow isthmus between Mendota and Monona Lakes, it's a pretty combination of small, grassy state capital and liberal, bookish college town.

Start your exploration around Capitol Sq, where several museums are clustered. The capitol building itself and most of the attractions around town, including the museums, are free. From here, expand your horizons outward toward the lakes, where more natural sights like an arboretum and botanical gardens are located. This being Wisconsin, the botanical gardens are located not far from a beer garden. Madison excels at nightlife. Find the usual cluster of student bars and clubs along State St. There’s an emerging dining and drinking scene northeast of the capitol along Williamson St, which the locals simply call 'Willy.'

This pastoral area holds the nation's greatest concentration of cheesemakers. As you're road-tripping through, you can stop at local dairy farms and shops and learn your artisanal from farmstead, Gruyere from Gouda, curd from whey. Why so cheesy here? It has to do with the limestone-rich soil. It grows distinctive grass, which makes distinctive food for cows, and that results in distinctive milk that creates distinctive cheese. Got it? Old World Europeans did, particularly the Swiss. They flocked to the region in the 1800s, bringing their cheesemaking skills with them.

Pretty New Glarus, all bedecked in Swiss flags, owing to the town's cultural and commercial roots, makes for a fun stroll. It's got plenty of cowbells and cuckoo clocks (as well as atmospheric restaurants and bars for sampling the region's wares). Monroe, the biggest town and the seat of Green County, is also stuffed with cheese history and limburger taverns.

The entire island is parkland, with no cars or bikes allowed. There are hiking trails, a sand beach and squat, stone Pottawatomie Lighthouse, which is a 1.25-mile amble from the ferry landing. The majority of the island's 40 primitive campsites (per tent $25) cluster near the ferry dock. There are no showers, but there are pit toilets and drinking water.

To football fans, Green Bay is synonymous with the Green Bay Packers, a legendary team in the National Football League's smallest (by far) market that's won 13 league championships, including four Super Bowls, over the past 100 years. The franchise is unique as the only community-owned nonprofit team in the NFL; perhaps pride in ownership is what makes the fans so die-hard (and also makes them wear foam-rubber cheese wedges on their heads). Indeed, football aficionados will think they died and went to heaven, with stadium tours, 'hall of fame' visits and even the chance to catch a game on the agenda.

The good news for everyone else is that Green Bay is not just football. The city has a rapidly reviving downtown, with lots of decent restaurants and authentic bars and taverns. The charming riverside port of De Pere, with its whiff of edgy chic, is just a couple of miles away.