Experience the best of Madison

Madison occupies a narrow isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, in a chain of lakes. The Wisconsin State Capitol, a white granite building with a dome, stands in the centre of Capitol Square, ringed by shops and restaurants, and State Street, a pedestrian street, connects it to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, founded in 1848. The Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota, with its colourful sunburst chairs, is the university's favourite meeting place. Monona Terrace, a convention centre on the lake shore, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Olbrich Botanical Gardens has a Thai pavilion, the University of Wisconsin Arboretum has prairie and forest trails, and the Dane County Farmers' Market circles the Capitol in the warm months. New Glarus, a village founded by Swiss settlers, lies about 40 kilometres south-west, Wright's home at Taliesin in Spring Green about 60 kilometres west, and Devil's Lake State Park, with its quartzite cliffs, to the north-west.

Cheese curds, bratwurst, Friday fish fry and frozen custard are Wisconsin favourites, and supper clubs serve brandy old fashioneds. In summer people sail, paddle and eat on lakeside terraces, and in winter the lakes freeze and skaters and ice-boats take over.