In a lot of ways, this north central state represents an idealized America with its lakes and forests, smaller cities and northern European population. Wisconsin's major city, Milwaukee, still lays claim to the title of beer capital of the U.S., although major brewers closed down long ago. But, you can try different brews, along with the famous bratwurst and frozen custard the city is noted for. And, there's more to this lakeside city, including water recreation, museums and parks.

Who goes there? Lots of people in the central United States know about Wisconsin, and that's where many of them go to relax and relieve stress, especially in the summer. Centrics and venturers are especially comfortable there, and all personality types enjoy the array of outdoor and family-oriented activities.

Summer season is prime time in Wisconsin, when water sports and fishing can be enjoyed. Also, the Wisconsin Dells along the Wisconsin River provide the most famous scenery in the state.

Get your license and go hunting. In Wisconsin, that means deer, 800,000 of them roaming the state’s woods, with a nine-day hunting season.

Go biking and make yours a themed trip. Fall foliage is a seasonal choice, but others include the Frank Lloyd Wright Tour and the Cheese Country Trail. Go to www.travelwisconsin.com for access to an online biking guide or online biking trail maps.

Go dog sledding. Learn to drive a team of Siberian huskies.

Attend the annual venison feed in a town called Tomahawk. Free venison burgers are served the first Saturday of the deer gun season, in the late fall.

Go canoeing or kayaking in a town called Two Rivers, one of Wisconsin’s several charming harbor towns facing Lake Michigan. Find more information on this and other scenic harbor towns, which include Milwaukee, at www.wisconsinharbortowns.org.

Take a guided tour of an Al Capone hideaway in northern Wisconsin. Called The Hideout, the lakeside home in Couderay features machine-gun portals, a gun tower and walls that are 18 inches thick. Also, museum displays include a re-creation of the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Go diving near Washburn to see any of several shipwreck sites in Lake Superior. Go kayaking on Lake Superior, too.

Attend Milwaukee’s annual Indian Summer pow wow in the fall. Or choose from other pow wows in the state.

Hire a Great Lakes charter fishing boat and go for trout and salmon on either Lake Michigan or Lake Superior. The boats are available in many of the lakes’ harbor towns. Wisconsin sells more than1.3 million fishing licenses a year, and more than 61 million fish are caught.

If you are a sports fan, time your trip to see the Green Bay Packers play football. It's big-time sports in a small U.S. city with lots of tradition and enthusiasm. Then, go to the theater in Green Bay!!

Build part of a trip around the theater, the outdoor kind. Wisconsin is home to three nationally known outdoor theaters: American Players Theatre in Spring Green; Peninsula Players Theatre in Fish Creek, and Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua.

Like many a place in the northern United States, Wisconsin is a magnet for leaf peepers. Go to www.travelwisconsin.com/search/FallColorReport.html for updated charts indicating where the color is best at any given time and to receive fall color updates by e-mail.

Go for a nice long walk. For this, one of Wisconsin’s most popular destinations is Door County's Peninsula State Park, with nearly 35 miles of trails through hardwood forests and along towering limestone bluffs. Guided walks are available along the revealingly named Ice Age Trail.

Go cross-country skiing. The state has more than 700 miles of groomed trails for the purpose. Alternatively, go downhill skiing, for which the state is better-suited than visitors may guess. Wisconsin is third in the nation for the number of ski areas (36) for downhill-skiing enthusiasts.

This is irresistible: Visit a cheese factory. There are at least 45 for tourists to choose from.

Take your pick, winery or brewery? You can visit plenty of either from a selection of around 70, with a good mix of each. If you like a little history with your wine, put the Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac on your list. Now a National Historic Site, the winery and vineyard were established before the Civil War by the Hungarian Count Haraszthy, who later became known as “the father of California winemaking.”

Sail on one of the Great Lakes (Wisconsin borders two: Michigan and Superior). At Racine, for example, you can sail on Lake Michigan aboard a Great Lakes Sailing Charters boat. Half-day, full-day and two-day excursions are on offer.

Here are some fun, even corny, ideas for entertainment, depending on your travel schedule. Attend Sun Prairie’s August Sweet Corn Festival, one of the largest in the nation. Or, on Labor Day weekend, attend the Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw in Sauk Prairie. Another September alternative is the U.S. Watermelon Seed-Spitting and Speed-Eating Championships in Pardeeville.

Take a self-guided walking tour in Port Washington on Lake Michigan, past and into many historic buildings, or along the the first man-made harbor in North America. The downtown, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, has the largest collection of pre-Civil War buildings in Wisconsin. Port Washington also hosts the world's largest one-day, outdoor fish fry every July.

Ringling Brothers Circus (and others) maintained winter quarters in Baraboo. Take a look at the Circus World Museum there and see real performances in the summer. Near Baraboo, in North Freedom, the Mid-Continent Railway Museum offers 45-minute rides on an old-fashioned train.

Rent a cabin on a lake and don't do anything. Just relax — this is the perfect place for it.

If the kids love waterparks, Wisconsin Dells is the place to go. Besides boasting America’s largest waterpark, Noah’s Ark, it also has America’s largest indoor waterpark, the 125,000-square-foot Kalahari Waterpark Resort Convention Center. In other words, this kind of water play is not seasonal anymore.Also, stroll the scenic Dells RiverWalk, or find and ride its bicycle route.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the classic “Little House” books, was born in Pepin County. Visit the Little House Wayside, which features a replica of her childhood log cabin, and the Pepin Historical Museum.

Visit the Dane County Farmers’ Market held on Capitol Square in Madison from April through November. It is the largest farmers’ market in the United States.

Take a two-hour lighthouse cruise aboard a retired Chicago Fireboat. Embarking from downtown Sturgeon Bay, the Door County Cruises lighthouse cruise takes you on a water tour of the Sherwood Point Lighthouse, the Canal Station Lighthouse and the 19th century Sturgeon Bay ship canal which is now used by recreational boaters and Great Lakes freighters. The Door County Peninsula has 10 lighthouses.

Look for eagles in Sauk City and Prairie du Sac, which are home to North America’s largest population of wintering eagles.

For more information, consult the Wisconsin Department of Tourism at www.travelwisconsin.com

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