It sounds like the Greenway Station area is what you have in mind. It's just barely beyond Madison in a town called Middleton. There is a Hilton Garden Inn, a Farfield Inn, and a Marriott all within walking distance. For restaurants, there is a TGI Fridays, a Cheeseburger in Paradise, as well as a couple other places. There is also some shopping. It is an easy drive from there to downtown Madison. It is also on the way to Spring Green/House on the Rock from the airport.

Otherwise, I would suggest staying in the downtown/State Street Area. There are a TON of bars and restaurants within walking distance of the hotels in the area, though most of the restaurants are not chains. For that area I'd recommend the Concourse Hotel, the Hilton Monona Terrace, the Edgewater Hotel, The Doubletree Hotel, the Campus Inn, and the Best Western Inn on the Park. This area (State Street and the Capitol Square) is the center of the city and home to the university and has really terrific character, and lots of good food and shopping.

On Saturdays though the beginning of November, the Farmer's Market takes place on the Capitol Square. It is a huge outdoor market. If you can, I would definitely enjoy Saturday morning there if the weather is nice. Great produce, baked goods, meats, maple syrup, apple cider, etc.

Enjoy - it's lovely in the fall!

The Badgers are away that weekend, which will imrove hotel availability and decrease traffic significantly.

Middleton is a good option in terms of hotels and the type of restaurant choices you're looking for, plus you'll be able to hop on highway and get out to Spring Green much easier in the morning than if you were staying in downtown Madison.

That said, if it's your first time to Madison, it might be worth staying downtown. As mentioned, there are good hotel and restaurant options that you can walk to, plus there's more to do during the day. Rent a bike and bike along the lakes, people watch on State St., and of course hang out on the Terrace (http://www.union.wisc.edu/terrace/). As mentioned, the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning is great too.

I have been to Madison twice and highly suggest that if you have never been to stay on State Street (or within walking distance). That street is filled with bars and restaurants and leads right up to the University of Wisconsin at one end and the state capitol at the other (not a long distance either). This area makes Madison one of the best college towns I ahve ever visited (and I have visited my fair share).

We were just in Madison the first week in May and wanted the same location as you are requesting. We stayed at the Best Western Inn on the Park and it was perfect. Right outside the front door is the capital building which had about 10,000 tulips in full bloom. Beautiful beyond belief. There are many small non-chain restaurants in the immediate area. We always try the locals as you can always eat at a chain and travel is about new experiences. We went for cocktails at several, always requesting to see the menu while we enjoyed our happy hour. We stumbled on a small quaint little nook in the wall where the menu was limited but extremely interesting. I am sorry, I can not remember the name right now but it was something Norwegian like Nacht Sol or the like. During our happy hour, we sat at the bar and marveled at the chef and his assistant as they worked right before our eyes to prepare the meals. They had a brick oven and a stovetop and pumped out meals faster than any chain. It was EXCELLENT. We had watched them in action so we knew what we wanted when we returned later for our supper. Later, as we walked from bar to bar, we saw police tape surrounding the back entrance to the capitol. Not being shy, we walked over to a van parked nearby and asked what was going on. The guy told us nothing to which we replied we are not stupid, we know something is going on inside. He said he couldn't tell us. To which we told him we really didn't care 'cuz we were from Minn-e-sota. He quickly said OK, OK, but don't tell anyone else. We said Who would we tell? We don't know anyone here. He then told us that Johnny Depp was inside filming PUBLIC ENEMY. We thought that was pretty cool as we are from really small town America. The next day was the farmers market previously mentioned. It was great. Over 300 vendors set up in booths surrounding the capitol. Everything from fresh breads and rolls to fresh cut flowers. Have a great time!

There are many wonderful ethnic restaurants on State Street. (And a few chains though they tend to be more in the fast food category that appeals to students, like Noodles and Company, Chipotle, QDoba, etc.) Since you mentioned having a drink with your meal, if you're beer drinkers, I suggest you try some of the local ones. New Glarus and Ale Asylum both produce some very good ones.

And, if you have time and it's still warm enough, you might want to consider walking over to the Memorial Union on campus and having a beer on their terrace. Or an ice cream cone!

Sorry, poudrecanyon. I see you'd already mentioned the Terrace.

We've stayed at a couple of different hotels at the Middleton exit. There is also a McDonald's there which is handy for a quick drive through for drinks on your way out.

As I recall, they've built a new kind of upscale mall near the McDonalds.

I also believe that is where we went to listen to music in the evening.

Rather than stopping at one of the chains though, I second the idea of walking the State Street mall and picking one of the ethnic choices. There are many.

You might enjoy going into the student union for wonderful ice cream. You can take it behind the building and sit and watch boats on the lake. If the weather is nice, which it well could be in October, it is a very pleasant way to pass a bit of time.

You might enjoy taking a tour of Overture Hall.
http://www.overturecenter.com/tours.htm

Debbie

I went to check and make sure the ice cream is available all year.

http://www.union.wisc.edu/food/dailyscoop.html

I also checked the farmers market around the capitol. It also is open Saturdays all year plus Wednesdays in the summer. When we went, I was impressed at how pretty everything was - it was all attractively displayed.

http://www.madfarmmkt.org/

Just a note on the House on the Rock. Allow plenty of time to see it. We went years ago and my husband decided to wait in the car while my daughter and I went in. I had not envisioned how much there was to see and how long it would take.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!! I am so grateful for these ideas. We have no schedules or anything else planned, so it will be fun to see some of these places. I just hope it won't be to hard to get to, but I am going to get a lot of things posted on Mapquest.

Is a day enough for HOTR? I figured it takes 1-2 hours to drive there, so if we left early we could do it in a day?

Thank you again!!!!

It shouldn't take you but an hour to get to House on the Rock from Madison. Driving in this area is not complicated, it's rural. Madison is not a big city.

One day at House on the Rock is more than enough time, you may find yourself claustophobic during your tour. You may also be interested in Frank Lloyd Wright's Spring Green home tour. The scenery in this area is beautiful, especially at the time you will be coming.

Oh yes - you should be able to see HOTR in a day - allow several hours.

Check www.visitmadison.com for activity caldendar for local events of interest in Madison. House on the Rock will take about 2 hours unless there are many visitors. Frank Lloyd Wright at Spring Green as previously recommended is also interesting if architecture interests you. The area from Madison to HOR is very scenic and Oct. should mean beautiful fall colors for your travels. It is UW homecoming week with the game the following Sat. so there will be UW activities all week---especially if you stay in the State St. area. A tour of the campus is interesting and should be topped off with fantastic ice cream from their own dairy. Enjoy it on the patio overlooking the lake if the day is warm for a relaxing break. Once away from the campus and downtown, driving will be much easier and the route to HOR will be scenic. Madison is a great destination!

thank you so much for all of these fantastic replies. I am now more interested in staying downtown, if I can find an affordable hotel. I will keep looking I found a few for under 125.00 a night, which I think is the average price for that weekend anyway.

Do you think small town folk like us will be able to navigate our way to the highway from a downtown hotel? I am looking at maps now, it doesn't look too complicated.....

We just want to be able to relax at night and not have to worry about drinking and driving. These downtown places sound fantastic. LOVE happy hours!!!!!! The hotels, are they far from state street? It looks like on the maps you can't drive on that street, so I bet these malls without traffic are fantastic!

And I am defintely going to check out that ice cream, sounds sooo good!!!

bless your hearts, thanks for the replies and keep suggestions coming ok? We love beer and want to try a cheese place if we can too, but again...thank you!!!

State Street is free of traffic except for buses, taxis, and police cars/emergency vehicles. It's great.

All of the hotels I listed in my earlier post are within walking distance of State Street. It isn't too hard to get from downtown to the highway if you're heading to House on the Rock.

As mentioned, there are a ton of great bars and restaurants in that area, so I thought I'd mention a few that I love.

The Great Dane: good food and beer. They brew their own beer, and it's fantastic.

Genna's: Fantastic cocktails.

Kabul: Mediterranean/Afghani food. Sooo good.

Frida's: fantastic margaritas and tasty food.

Harvest: A bit pricey, but really good food that focuses on local/organic ingredients.

The Old Fashioned: Good food and good Old Fashioneds (which are a Wisconsin tradition.)

Mediterranean Cafe: It has strange hours, but the lamb and beef shwarma plate is yummy and really reasonable (about $7) for the amount of food you get.

The Chocolate Shoppe is also great for ice cream-located on State Street. I also love Babcock ice cream at the Union - the chocolate peanut butter is to die for.

The Union often has live music and sometimes movies on the terrace, so I'd check the schedule. You usually have to have a Union ID to purchase beer, but sometimes they don't check. If you get beer on tap, try the Spotted Cow. It's my favorite Wisconsin beer.

There are also a ton of really great local coffee shops: Michaelangelo's, Fair Trade, and Espresso Royale are my faves.

I could go on and on Enjoy your trip!

Great list, Bethke! But I'd add Husnu's. Love Kabul, especially their soup. But I prefer Husnu's version of stuffed chicken breast in raspberry merlot sauce.

We'll definitely have to check out Mediterranean Cafe!

I think I'm going to book two nights at Hilton Garden Inn in West Madison and the two nights at The Doubletree, downtown. That way we can get familiar with the area the first two days then stay downtown the second two. I like the idea of being able to walk back to our hotel at night.

Keep the suggestions, recommendations coming! I am taking this list with me.

Thanks again everyone

Yes, HOTR is fun and should take maybe 2 1/2 to 3 hrs once you get there. You could drive the more southern route back to Madison, and stop at Cave of the Mounds for an interesting & cool afternoon. Welcome to WI, it is a GREAT place.

If you booked the Doubletree downtown try the Nitty Gritty on Frances Street for a great burger or Dottie Dumplings Dowry. You can easily walk to the Capitol, UW, State Street, etc. from the Doubletree.

Babcock ice cream is the best and available at the Memorial Union.

Two more days!

I appreciate all the help you guys gave me. This is going to be such a fun trip, discovering all these new places.

We thought we would drive up to Baraboo too. Any diner/greasy hamburger/brewpub place there you can recommend?

thanks again, all!

If you go North on Hwy 12 past Baraboo into the Dells (it's not too far), you could try Moosejaw Pizza & Brewpub.

http://www.dellsmoosejaw.com/index3.htm

Our kids like it. It's more family-oriented than your average brewpub.

This weekend is the Fall Art Tour in Baraboo & Spring Green.

http://www.fallarttour.com/

The local artists open their studios and exhibit at their homes. If you have time & interest, it's a wonderful experience.

While you're near Spring Green, try lunch at the General Store. It's an eclectic general store downtown with great soup & sandwiches.

Even if you're not interested in art, the fall art tour site gives a good list of local restaurants in Baraboo & Spring Green.

I like the Little Village Cafe in Baraboo.

Hilton Monona Terrace if you can get a reservation. Next choice: Concourse. Both downtown near State Street, Farmers Market, Art museum, short walk to Student Union on the beautiful UW campus. The Hilton has a great restaurant on premises, but there are so many places within walking distance downtown: Nadia's, L'Etoile and Harvest for fine dining. Numerous lower priced ethnic restaurants near State Street. Sardine is a short drive away. If you like great Italian food, Lombardino's on the west side.

PS: we toured the "House on the Rock" a few years back and it sure was not what I recalled in my youth. Worth a look if you are in the area but we spent perhaps a couple hours there at most. It was disappointing. Madison is so much more worth the time.

Thanks, all. Thinking of visiting Madison this coming summer. Very helpful information.

You resurrected a five year old thread--you may want to make sure the information is still accurate.