Start from 24 curated places around Appleton, WI, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Apollon
A family-owned Greek restaurant that has quietly become one of the most respected dining rooms in the Fox Cities since opening in 1994, with a menu of traditional and modern Greek dishes anchored by excellent lamb, seafood and vegetable preparations. The room is warm and the service attentive. A standout for elevated dining without pretension.
Mark's East Side
A Wisconsin supper club operating in Appleton since 1967, with a menu built around hand-cut steaks, fresh seafood and genuine German fare alongside the brandy old fashioneds and relish trays the supper club tradition demands. Family owned and operated through the decades, with a loyal customer base that spans generations. One of the best of its genre in the state.
Trails & outdoors
High Cliff State Park Trails
A trail system ranging from the accessible paved butterfly pond loop to more demanding bluff climbs above Lake Winnebago, with the Indian Mound Trail as the most historically rich route through effigy mounds built 1,500 years ago. The bluff overlook is the scenic payoff. A 30-minute drive from Appleton but worth the trip.
Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve
A 775-acre preserve north of Appleton with eight-plus miles of trails threading through woodlands, meadows and wetlands — all free and open to the public. The variety of habitats supports a wide range of bird life, and the trail quality is good for a municipally managed preserve. A peaceful escape from the city grid without leaving the metro area.
Things to do
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
A world-class performing arts venue on College Avenue that regularly hosts Broadway touring productions alongside concerts, comedy and local performances. The venue's scale and programming are genuinely impressive for a mid-size Wisconsin city, and the architecture is a clear statement of civic investment. Worth checking the calendar before any Appleton visit.
Lawrence University Conservatory Performances
One of the top music conservatories in the country, with Lawrence students and faculty performing dozens of public concerts throughout the academic year — many of them free or very low cost. Chamber recitals, jazz sessions, orchestral concerts and visiting artists fill the schedule. A genuinely special resource for a city of Appleton's size.
Landmarks & sights
History Museum at the Castle
A 1930s Art Deco former Masonic temple on College Avenue housing three floors of Fox River Valley history, with a standout exhibit dedicated to Appleton's most famous native son, Harry Houdini. The building itself earns the visit — the interior architecture is imposing and genuinely beautiful. The Houdini collection is the deepest anywhere.
Hearthstone Historic House Museum
The world's first home powered by a central Edison hydroelectric system, a stately late-Victorian mansion on the west side of downtown that was wired for electric light in 1882. The restored interiors are rich with original fixtures and the story of how Appleton became the site of a watershed moment in energy history. A specific and fascinating piece of industrial and domestic history.