Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sunday. Admission to the conservatory is $2, but is free to all 10am-noon Wednesdays and
Saturdays. Admission to the gardens and Thai pavilion is always free.
The city's best nightlife is downtown and on the east side; cultural draws are downtown,
period. The west side is mostly a zone where Hooters is a draw within megamall sprawl.
Check the free local paper
Isthmus
(
www.isthmus.com
)
for club happenings.
Downtown
Memorial Union
It's free, open to all ages, and a local tradition: an alfresco music mélange Thursday-
Saturday on the
Memorial Union's outdoor terrace
(800 Langdon St., 608/262-1331,
www.union.wisc.edu
)
. The whole place really gets bopping Friday and Saturday—the mu-
sic cranks up and the beer starts flowing. During inclement weather, the whole shebang
moves indoors to the cavernous Rathskeller (an acoustic death zone). You are supposed
have a UW ID
and
valid driver's license to buy beer here; they're strict about it.
BARS AND PUBS
Madison—mostly thanks to the UW, one thinks—pretty much always is at the top 10 in
the Princeton Review party schools in the United States; the city definitely leads in binge-
drinking.
Thecloseryouaretotheuniversity,thegreater thepopulation ofstudents intheraucous
bars. Agoraphobics need not even consider venturing into them, but at least Madison's le-
gendary drink specials keep things cheap. The Capitol Square area, a mere seven blocks
from the university, has a much lower undergrad quotient; you'll be rubbing elbows with
lotsofsuit-and-tiegovernmentwannabe-powers-that-be.
Opus Lounge
(116KingSt.,608/
441-6787,
www.opuslounge.com
) is the place to attempt to be “scene”; pricey drink con-
coctions and global fusion appetizers are the thing here.
To really escape the students, the
best
views in the city come at
Fresco
(211 State St.,
608/663-7374,
www.frescomadison.com
)
, perched atop the Madison Museum of Contem-
porary Art. Sit in a chic sofa encased by glass with a panorama of the city. You pay for the
view.
