8 Things to Do in Milwaukee That You Will Absolutely LOVE

When thinking of great summer destinations within the U.S., you probably think of places like NYC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and of course, Disney World. I know that these places always come to mind when I’m trying to think of somewhere to recommend, but after a recent trip I’m happy to add one more city to my list of go-to destinations in the U.S. – Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Who knew that there are TONS of fantastic (and accessible) things to do in Milwaukee?!

Before I actually visited Milwaukee, I honestly knew nothing about the city except for the fact that the TV show Happy Days was based here. It turns out, however, that there is a LOT to do in the city and it’s a fantastically wheelchair accessible destination. From cruising on Lake Michigan to attending the world’s largest music festival and drinking all the beer I could get my hands on (Milwaukee is known as “Brew City” after all, so don’t judge!), I quickly fell in love with the city and can’t wait to return. Here are 8 fun things to do in Milwaukee as a wheelchair user:

8 Fun Things to Do in Milwaukee WI

Visit the Harley-Davidson Museum

As a wheelchair user with limited upper body strength, I have never ridden on a motorcycle and probably never will, but that didn’t stop me from visiting the Harley-Davidson Museum and having a great time! This is one of the most popular things to do in Milwaukee and it’s no wonder why. Harley-Davidson is known worldwide, but it was actually founded right here in Wisconsin.

The museum is wheelchair accessible with elevators to every level and accessible parking spaces near the entrance of the museum. For a couple hours, I enjoyed looking at more than 450 motorcycles and artifacts, including some of the first bikes ever made. Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 by William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, and the first bike they made was known as Serial Number One. It was basically a bicycle with an engine built into it. Nothing like the cool looking motorcycles we see out on the roads today, but it was pretty awesome to see the very first Harley-Davidson motorcycle and see how much the company has grown in the past 115 years. It was actually really inspiring to see their path to success and motivated me.

Serial Number One

In addition to checking out all of the motorcycles inside the museum, there is also an on-site restaurant and a huge gift shop. MOTOR Bar & Restaurant serves classic American foods such as burgers, sandwiches, and the Wisconsin must-have – cheese curds! If you get hungry during your visit, this would be a great place to eat, but it’s also open to people not visiting the museum.

Shop at the Milwaukee Public Market

One of my favorite things to do in any destination that I visit is going to the local market. I love markets because they give you a chance to interact with local people and try authentic foods for a decent price. As soon as I found out about the market in Milwaukee, I knew that I had to add it to my list of things to do in Milwaukee.

With my friend Carrie at the Milwaukee Public Market

Milwaukee Public Market has dozens of vendors and they offer everything from t-shirts and Milwaukee souvenirs to delicious baked goods. As I rolled through the market, I wanted pretty much everything. It all looked soooo good, but my friend, my mom, and I opted to get lunch from On The Bus.

On The Bus is a completely vegan eatery and they have sandwiches, ice cream, cheesecake, smoothies, and more. I got the Blue Peanut Açaí Bowl and after getting our food, we loaded into the elevator to the right of On The Bus and made our way to the second level, where all of the seating and tables are. I absolutely loved On The Bus and the Milwaukee Public Market, and it became one of my favorite places in the city!

On The Bus

Admire art at the Milwaukee Art Museum

As one of the largest museums in all of America, the Milwaukee Art Museum will keep you busy for hours. You probably recognize the museum’s exterior, as it’s truly an icon of the city. The exterior resembles wings above the building and the wings actually open up every day at 10am, as long as the weather is cooperating.

While the outside is extremely impressive, what’s on the inside is even better. There are over 25,000 works of art and I really liked seeing the more modern pieces, including a human statue laying in a fetal position made from beeswax. There were all kinds of unique pieces of art like this, and as someone that isn’t usually a huge fan of art museums, it made me appreciate the art and I surprisingly loved the museum. There’s certainly something in the Milwaukee Art Museum for everyone.

After browsing all of the art for a couple hours, we were a bit hungry and decided to dine at one of the museum’s on-site restaurants – East End. There are a couple different eateries at the museum, but East End is more of a quick-service/grab & go place, so that’s why we chose it. After ordering our food, we sat outside and had a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. The Milwaukee Art Museum also has companion care restrooms and wheelchairs available for use while you’re in the museum if you need one.

Drink a beer (or several) at Miller Brewing Company

As I said earlier, Milwaukee is known as “Brew City”. There are more than a dozen breweries in the city, but the most popular one is undoubtedly Miller Brewing Company. Miller is distributed all across the United States and while in Milwaukee, I was able to visit the brewery and learn about the company straight from the source.

Miller has two touring options for wheelchair users. You can either call them 48 hours in advance and book a traditional guided tour or you can just show up at anytime and do a virtual tour and visit the beer garden. For the traditional tour, it’s important to note that you will need to wear closed-toe shoes and pants, as you’ll visit some areas that require the utmost safety. I wanted to do the traditional tour, but had on shorts (it was 95° Fahrenheit when I visited), so I had to do the virtual tour instead. To just be a video on an iPad, the virtual tour was cool and it did a great job of explaining how the beer is made and exported, as well as telling about the history of Miller. I even got to drink a beer while watching the video, and it definitely enhanced the experience.

Doing the virtual tour and drinking a beer

After the video finished, a guide led my mom and I to some of the places around the Miller Brewing Company that don’t require pants and closed-toe shoes, including the Miller Inn and the beer garden. Miller Inn is a Bavarian-style beer hall with stained glass windows and a bit of old world charm.

Just across the street from Miller Inn was the beer garden, where I enjoyed a Leinenkugel red pale ale. It was delicious and is definitely my favorite beer now. With every tour, you can get a free drink in the beer garden and it was a perfect way to end our experience at Miller. Even though I couldn’t do the traditional tour, I still had a good time and if you’re looking for fun things to do in Milwaukee, I’d highly suggest adding Miller Brewing Company to your list!

Experience the world’s largest music festival

Milwaukee is known as the “City of Festivals” because there is always some kind of festival going on, especially during the summer. Whether it’s a huge event like the Wisconsin State Fair (held in August) or a more niche, but über popular festival like German Fest (held every July), the city is always abuzz. Luckily, my visit to Milwaukee coincided with Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival, and I was able to check it out!

Summerfest is an annual summer tradition for Wisconsinites, but people from all over the world flock here to see their favorite musicians. Over the course of 11 days, there are more than 800 bands that perform. On this year’s lineup were performers such as Def Leppard, Blake Shelton, Journey, Shawn Mendes, Kesha, and Imagine Dragons just to name a few. Summerfest gets the biggest names in music every year and on the night that I visited, I saw Logic and Halsey. I’ve been a fan of Halsey for a long time and she put on an AMAZING show, as did Logic. To see the headliners on the American Family Insurance Amphitheater stage, you will need to purchase a separate ticket, in addition to your Summerfest pass, but tickets are available in every price range.

Check out this video of Halsey that I recorded –

Aside from all of the great music, there are tons of vendors selling every type of food you can imagine. From popcorn and fresh-squeezed lemonade to burgers and tacos, you’ll easily be able to find something delicious. And since Summerfest takes place in the Henry Maier Festival Park, you can have a nice view of Lake Michigan while you eat and listen to music. This festival is really the ultimate summer experience and if at all possible, you should plan your trip to be within the dates of Summerfest. All of Milwaukee gets amped up for these 11 days every summer.

Roll on the Riverwalk and through the Historic Third Ward

Milwaukee’s Riverwalk stretches 20 blocks through three of the city’s coolest neighborhoods. You can roll through Beerline B, Downtown, and the Historic Third Ward on the fully accessible Riverwalk. While it is a wooden walkway along the river, it was very smooth and easy for me to roll on. After a mouth-wateringly delicious meal at DanDan one night, my mom and I set out for a leisurely stroll along the Riverwalk and it was one of our favorite things to do in Milwaukee. We only saw the Historic Third Ward’s Riverwalk, but I’m pretty sure that it was the best location to get familiar with it.

The Historic Third Ward is the city’s arts and fashion district, and there are many riverside restaurants here as well. You could spend hours browsing through the numerous boutique shops in this area. Also, the Milwaukee Public Market and the Summerfest grounds are located in the Historic Third Ward, so it’s certainly a go-to area of “Brew City”. I’d suggest planning at least 3-4 hours to enjoy dinner in the Historic Third Ward, shop in the many boutiques, grab a beer at one of the craft breweries, and roll along the Riverwalk.

Have some fun in the sun at the beach

For Milwaukee to be such an urban city, I was somewhat surprised to learn that it has some amazing beaches. If you are looking for things to do in Milwaukee and want to have some fun in the sun as a wheelchair user, head over to Bradford Beach, which is the city’s more accessible beach option.

Bradford Beach does have manual beach wheelchairs and to reserve one in advance, just call the beach at 414-344-8644. When I visited the beach, their chair was waiting for me at the bottom of a set of stairs, so I would suggest letting them know to leave it up top for you. Once you get into the beach wheelchair, go to the right side of the Bradford Beach building (about 250 feet to the right of it) and you’ll find a smoother ramped entrance to the sand.

If you get hungry, head further to the right of Bradford Beach along the paved sidewalk by the sand and eat at Northpoint. It’s a beachside cafe with custard, burgers, and drinks. I had an Impossible Burger and the outdoor seating with views of Lake Michigan and all of the beach goers made for a perfect lunch spot!

Cruise Lake Michigan with Milwaukee Boat Line

On our last night in the city, we decided to close out our things to do in Milwaukee with a scenic cruise around Milwaukee. Milwaukee Boat Line offers several cruises per day, but we went on the Happy Hour Cruise, which lasted for 90 minutes right before sunset. The Happy Hour Cruise is adults-only and there is a bar on the lower level of the boat.

To get on the boat, there was a ramp. While there are two levels on the boat, only the lower one is wheelchair accessible. It wasn’t a problem at all though, as there were large windows all around the boat and I could easily see out.

As we cruised on Lake Michigan, the views were unbelievable. We could see the Milwaukee skyline, and even went by the Art Museum and got to see the exterior from a new point of view. This cruise made me truly appreciate the city’s beauty and out of all of the fun things to do in Milwaukee, this was my favorite, I believe. I’m always a sucker for being on the water and stellar views.

Where to Stay in Milwaukee: Hyatt Place Milwaukee/Downtown

While in Milwaukee, I stayed at the brand new Hyatt Place Milwaukee/Downtown. When I arrived to the hotel, I was greeted by a friendly staff and was informed that the hotel had just opened a couple days before my arrival. So needless to say, this hotel isn’t worn down at all. It’s brand spanking new and with that came great accessibility.

I had a wheelchair accessible room and it was extremely spacious. There was a sitting area with a couch, a king sized bed that a hoyer lift could roll under, and a TV and desk. The bed was super comfortable and I had a perfect night’s sleep every night.

In the bathroom, there was a roll-in shower with a fold-down seat and the toilet had grab-bars around it. I loved that the bathroom was so spacious!

During my few days in Milwaukee, I fell in love with the city and discovered why it should be on everyone’s list of places to visit. It isn’t a huge, overcrowded city like Los Angeles or NYC, but there are still a plethora of fun things to do in Milwaukee like the bigger cities. As a wheelchair user, I also felt like I wasn’t missing out on anything because accessibility was fantastic. If you are looking for a wonderful destination to visit in the United States, look no further than “Brew City”!

*Thank you to Travel Wisconsin and Visit Milwaukee for making this trip possible! While my experiences in Milwaukee were complimentary, all opinions of these things to do in Milwaukee are authentic and my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you click through on a link, you won’t pay a penny more, but we’ll receive a slight commission which helps us keep this information available to you. Thanks!