Milwaukee is a fantastic city for families. From world-class museums to beautiful parks to hands-on experiences that kids actually love, the city offers enough to keep children of every age engaged and entertained. Here’s the family guide to Milwaukee.
Milwaukee County Zoo
The Milwaukee County Zoo is one of the best zoos in the Midwest — a 200-acre facility that houses over 2,000 animals from around the world. The zoo’s naturalistic habitats, excellent education programs, and family-friendly layout make it a full-day destination. The Stackner Family Zoo Train and the Zoomobile are perennial kid favorites.
Discovery World
Discovery World on the lakefront is Milwaukee’s hands-on science and technology museum — a place where kids can build robots, sail a ship, explore freshwater ecosystems, and learn about technology through interactive exhibits. It’s one of Milwaukee’s most engaging family destinations.
Milwaukee Public Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum is undergoing a transformation, but its Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit — a recreated 19th-century Milwaukee street that you can walk through — remains one of the most beloved museum experiences in Wisconsin. The natural history exhibits and the butterfly vivarium are also perennial favorites.
Mitchell Park Domes
The Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory — known as the Domes — is one of Milwaukee’s most distinctive landmarks: three giant glass domes housing tropical, arid, and seasonal plant collections. Kids love the tropical dome’s exotic plants and the seasonal dome’s themed displays.
