Miller Brewing Caves
By foot, boat, bus, bike or streetcar, there are many ways to explore the city. Tours with focuses on food, architecture, history or just an overview of the city can all be found in Milwaukee.
Historic Milwaukee, Inc., is a great place to start when looking for an in-depth tour focused on city history and architecture. Available tours vary throughout the year, but walking tours on the street or in the skywalks are typical, and recently a tour via the HOP streetcar has been added to the list.
This is also the group that is behind the scenes on organizing the annual Doors Open event in September, when businesses, institutions and other places of note in Milwaukee offer visitors the ultimate in tour opportunities, often showcasing spaces which are rarely open to the public; it’s an event definitely worth checking out if you haven’t done so yet.
When you’re in Brew City, you’re practically required to take a brewery tour. For a large-scale operation steeped in 160 years of brewing industry history, visit Miller Brewing (4251 W. State St.). You’ll get to see the caves that were used to chill beer before refrigeration, sample beers (for those 21 and older!) in a classic Bavarian-style tavern and compare classic and modern brewing technology and procedures.
Taking a brewery tour with the kids? Head to Sprecher Brewing (701 W. Glendale Ave.). The tour itself may not be as in-depth as some in town, but adults will appreciate the delicious micro-brew samples, while the kids will love trying out as many of the fun and tasty Sprecher sodas as they’d like (or as parents allow). Several other breweries in town offer tours as well; Lakefront Brewery (1872 N. Commerce St.) and Milwaukee Brewing Company (613 S. Second St.) are standouts worth a trip, too.
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Not much of a beer drinker? Consider a tour of Milwaukee’s first distillery since prohibition— Great Lakes Distillery (616 W. Virginia St.). The tour takes you through the processes used to create their award-winning spirits and ends with a full tasting flight of their products.
Another delightful way to get to know a city is through its cuisine. Luckily, we have Milwaukee Food and City Tours (2419 N. 62nd St.) to guide you through all sorts of local culinary adventures. There are many excellent tours offered throughout the year, but some of the hits include a Lenten fish fry tour, Milwaukee-style pizza tour, and a burgers and custard stand (“custard-crawl”) tour. The guides know their stuff, and the establishments that are visited are very welcoming to the tour groups.
Milwaukee is a city that was built around water. Early commerce depended on both Lake Michigan and Milwaukee’s rivers to transport goods and played an important role in the development of the city in general. Take a boat tour in Milwaukee to learn more about the importance of those waterways and gain a whole new perspective on the city.
Go for a cruise on the Edelweiss (205 W. Highland Ave.), which offers historical tours as well as other themed cruises. Milwaukee Boat Line (101 W. Michigan St.) offers a sightseeing cruise, as well as cocktail and live music cruises. Or, you can rent a boat and simply enjoy the sights without the informative narrative. It’s important to note these tours are available seasonally, as the rivers and harbor may freeze in winter, so plan accordingly.
A unique way to tour the Third Ward, Walker’s Point and Downtown is via a people-powered Pedal Tavern (820 S. Water St.). Gather up to 16 of your closest (and/or most physically fit!) friends and pedal your way around to some of the best food-and-drink establishments in the city. A Pedal Tavern guide will steer the “bike” to two or three outstanding local bars. Public tours are good for groups that are too small to fill all of the seats. Public or private, it’s a very fun way to tour. As an added bonus, you’ll certainly burn off at least some of the calories you take in from all the good drinks along the way!
This article is part of the 2019 City Guide. Read more articles in the City Guide here.
