How to Spend 3 Days in Wisconsin’s Door County

Standing atop Ellison Bluff in Wisconsin’s Door County, I could have sworn I was staring at the Pacific. Waves crashed against the 100-foot-high limestone cliff, and deep-blue water extended to the horizon.

“I had no idea,” my mom said, her eyes fixed on the thrashing shore. She was visiting from Irvine, California, where she can gaze upon the actual Pacific — whenever she can beat the traffic. 

But here, there are no interstate highways, few stop signs, and even fewer traffic lights. Door County isn’t on the way to anywhere. Known as Wisconsin’s “thumb,” the county juts up some 80 miles into Lake Michigan and is a succession of sandy beaches and bluffs, waterfront villages, and waves everywhere you turn. 

About 30,000 people live on the peninsula year-round, a third of them in and around the city of Sturgeon Bay. But in tourist season, the population explodes: the county sees about 2.5 million visitors a year, who go for its natural beauty, fresh air, and Wisconsin’s nostalgic lake culture. A three-hour drive from my home in Madison, Door County offered me the chance to show my mom a different side of Wisconsin, one that isn’t all dairy farms and Packers games. It was a place to slow down and spend a weekend exploring an endless shoreline.

Friday

Our first destination was the Alpine, a 102-year-old Swiss-style resort with little white cottages on the water’s edge in Egg Harbor. Like many of Wisconsin’s classic resorts, regulars make up the majority of its guests. “We’ve been here fourteen times,” our cottage neighbor said. “This place is practically home.” The resort is also known for golf; its 18th hole is one of Wisconsin’s finest: the tee lies atop the Niagara Escarpment, a wall of rock that rises out of the water like a skyscraper.

After settling in, we took a 45-minute ferry from Ellison Bay across Death’s Door, a storied passage famous for shipwrecks, to Washington Island. Our first stop was Fragrant Isle, a photogenic lavender farm run by Edgar Anderson and his French wife, Martine. After a delightful afternoon exploring the purple maze, where we picked the flowers and inhaled their scent as we strolled — and enjoyed one or two sangrias infused with them — we felt as tipsy as the bees. 

Another scene-stealer is nearby Schoolhouse Beach, which is made up of smooth white limestone rocks. After skipping a few pebbles, we went to Wis-Co, a local coffeehouse, and grabbed several cherry hand pies (the county is a cherry haven), which we snacked on during our ferry ride back.

For dinner, we ordered scallops and goat-cheese grits at the Alpine’s restaurant, Burton’s on the Bay. As we were finishing, the waiter mentioned that we could hop aboard the resort’s vintage schooner to catch the sunset. I’ve never dropped my fork faster. 

Saturday

We found ourselves on the water again the following day. After some breakfast sandwiches at the New Orleans–themed café Big Easy, we watched three generations of fishermen fillet whitefish at Baileys Harbor Fish Co., which dates back to 1967. From there, we walked barefoot across the causeway to the Cana Island Lighthouse, one of 11 historic lighthouses in Door County. 

We continued to the 1,700-acre Ridges Sanctuary, a unique landscape formed by Lake Michigan’s shifting coastline over thousands of years. Next, we headed to Sister Bay, the busiest village on the peninsula. Its most famous residents are the goats on the sod roof of Al Johnson’s, a Swedish log-cabin-style restaurant that nods to the huge Scandinavian community that settled here in the 1800s. I assumed the goats were sculptures, but as we got closer, I learned that they were real, with names like Floppy, Harry, and Snowflake.

We could see them munching away from our room at the Dörr Hotel, named after the Swedish spelling of the county. Opened in 2021, this stylish contemporary hotel — with its antler chandeliers and oversize firewood racks — is evidence of the direction the county is moving: less herring and cheese curds, more cocktails and caviar. 

For dinner, we walked down Bay Shore Drive to Wild Tomato, an always-packed joint known for wood-fired pizzas and, in true Door County style, cherry-smothered everything, including salads and cheesecake. 

Sunday

The day started off sunny, so we decided to get back out on the water. We chose a gentle paddle through the Mink River Estuary, a pristine waterway and important nesting ground for migratory birds. Our guide, Mark Vincent from Door County Adventure Center, dropped dad jokes in between sightings of great blue herons, bald eagles, and wrens in the sedge grass. But about two hours into the paddle, the waves turned rough. Vincent tied his kayak to ours, then steered us safely across the whitecaps to the mainland. “I do love a good, calming float,” my mom joked, wringing out her shirt. 

After drying off, we went cherry picking at Hyline Orchards. The little red gems we brought back with us would eventually go in my homemade version of a Wisconsin Old-Fashioned, which swaps brandy for the bourbon and is topped off with soda. 

Speaking of Old-Fashioneds, supper clubs — cozy lounges that invite patrons to linger over drinks and comfort food — are part of Wisconsin’s dining tradition, and Alexander’s is a jewel-toned classic. It’s known for prime rib and fish fry, but we opted for local specialties: cherry-barbecued salmon and roasted cherry duck.

For our final night — which just happened to be my 34th birthday — we got back on the water to join Fish Creek Scenic Boat Tours on an evening cruise around the Strawberry Islands — four tiny specks with fantastical names like Pirate and Adventure. As we sailed, cormorants, terns, eagles, and egrets distracted us from the gorgeous sunset, their screeches and honks echoing by the thousands. 

“My kind of traffic noise,” my mom said, her face golden in the fading light. 

A version of this story first appeared in the February 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “American Beauty.”