Plan Your Next Meeting on Wisconsin’s Waterways

By Nikki Kallio | Photography by ©Visit Milwaukee

Wisconsin has plenty of venues that add an extra wave of fun to meetings and events with on-site or nearby water attractions and activities. Whether you’re planning your event in Madison, Milwaukee or beyond, there are plenty of ways that venues are taking advantage of the natural flowing elements the state has to offer.

Hosting a meeting near the water — with additional water-based activity offerings — can be a great way to both attract attendees and give them options for recharging after a day of meetings and networking, says Jamie Patrick, executive vice president of sales and sports strategy for Destination Madison.

“We see that people like their meetings, but then they like to be close to nature to get out and decompress,” Patrick says.

Finding Water Recreation in Madison

Madison offers plenty of opportunity for water recreation, with three lakes situated within the downtown area — Lake Mendota, Lake Monona and the small (321-acre) Lake Wingra — part of a chain of five lakes including Lake Waubesa and Lake Kegonsa.

While there’s plenty of winter recreation opportunities on the lakes, spring and summer is prime for paddlesports. Madison Boats offers group outings where you can get on a paddleboard, kayak or canoes.

“We see different kinds of groups that want to do that, but mostly maybe smaller team outings,” Patrick says. Madison Boats is located on Monona Bay a short trip from the popular Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center. “It’s an easy shuttle or people could walk along the bike path to get there,” he says.

Rutabaga Outdoor Adventures, which hosts the popular Canoecopia Expo each March, offers kayak, canoe and stand-up paddle board rentals, as well as group lessons, sunset paddles and river trips. Rutabaga is located on the northeast side of Lake Monona in Olbrich Park, which also is home to a seasonal biergarten that offers group reservations, letting your team enjoy the lakeshore, says Amber Wiza, senior event services manager for Destination Madison.

“It’s just a very casual option for an evening get-together,” Wiza says. “Off-site, Buck & Honey’s restaurant is right along the lake, and it has private rental rooms — they can do up to 140 people for receptions.”

The neighboring Lake Mendota — considered one of the most studied lakes in America because of UW-Madison’s Center for Limnology, which studies inland waters — also made national headlines when a 3,000-year-old canoe was found in 2022. “We host a lot of research-based lake groups that want to come here because of the full five chains of lakes,” Patrick says.

“The city, the county and residents take very seriously the sustainability and the preservation of the water,” says Sarah Warner, PR manager for Destination Madison. “I think that’s a really important part of Madison’s story.”

Touring Milwaukee by Boat or Paddle

Boat tours with companies like Milwaukee Boat Line offer group sight-seeing and networking events on the water through its three vessels: the Iroquois, Voyager and Vista King, says Ian Thompson, senior communications manager for VISIT Milwaukee.

Cruises include a happy hour tour, where you can try different cocktails, beer, wine, margaritas and non-alcoholic beverages, of course, too, Thompson says. To add music, the line also offers “Yacht Rock,” a cruise with drink specials and “urbane, uptown and super smooth classic jams” each week in the summer.

And with a history of 6,000-plus shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, a shipwreck tour is, of course, on deck. “They give you a really great roundup of the history, and why it is that shipwrecks occurred,” Thompson says.

For an iconic Milwaukee experience, you can try the Brat Tour, offered by Edelweiss Cruises. “It’s an exploration of Milwaukee’s famous brats, and incorporates some of the history along the Milwaukee River,” Thompson says. (Plus, you get a brat.) Edelweiss also offers themed cruises like historic tours and The Fiesta, an after-work happy hour taco buffet cruise.

Maybe you’ve seen small groups pedaling down the street together on a mobile tavern — a contraption that combines a bicycle and a bar — and thought it looked like a blast. Well, now your event attendees can have a similar experience on the water, thanks to Milwaukee Paddle Tavern. The activity offers up to 14 people at a time the ability to paddle along the Milwaukee River and see city sights while also enjoying beverages, says Thompson. While guests provide the power, the boat always has a captain on board to steer and make sure everyone stays safe, he says.

Offering private and public tours, Milwaukee Paddle Tavern takes participants past iconic sites like the Bronze Fonz, the Hoan Bridge and the city skyline. The company, which also operates a pedal tavern for landlubbers, says the Milwaukee River has seen a significant restoration from past pollution by agricultural, municipal and industrial sources, and is now a riparian showcase.

Lake Michigan Shoreline Adventures

Nicknamed the “Malibu of the Midwest,” your team will be super stoked to visit Sheboygan’s Blue Harbor Resort — located directly on the Lake Michigan shoreline and offering meeting rooms that open to the beach, bonfires included.

The resort also features a popular indoor water park complete with double surfing lanes and pro instructors to help you ride the waves. “They’ll work with you to get you through the whole process of how to get up on the board,” says Delaine Reichert, group sales manager. “And then they even go into tricks. I’ve seen them do spinning and down on their knees and backwards. It’s pretty intense.”

The roiling Lake Michigan shoreline attracts surfers year-round, but the Rip Tide experience allows your team to have the fun without the chill. The resort will work with groups to schedule lessons, and even if some of your team isn’t quite ready to suit up, it’s fun to watch others wipe out.

The resort staff also can help set up other water-based activities including shipwreck tours (including diving), charter fishing, pontoon rides along the Sheboygan River, and watersports like kayaking and paddleboarding.

The resort features adjoining meeting rooms of various sizes that face the water, the largest of which is Lakeside Terrace, which can accommodate up to 135 people at tables or more for a reception, Reichert says. The two-story Peninsula Room is an octagonal space looking out over Lake Michigan, and includes a fireplace and two private bars, including one on its mezzanine level.

“It just takes your breath away,” Reichert says. “It’s not what you would expect in a hotel.”

Venues with Amazing Water Views

• The Abbey Resort, Fontana
  This full-service resort, on the shore of Lake Geneva in southern Wisconsin, offers lakeside dining and the opportunity to walk along the Geneva Lake Shore Path. It offers a business center, conference facilities and banquet rooms. The venue also offers ice-skate rentals seasonally.
• Discovery World, Milwaukee
  This venue hosts Wisconsin’s largest aquarium and is one of the top STEM museums for youth in the nation. Beyond that, it’s also a top venue for meetings, with event space within the museum itself, and it’s located right on Lake Michigan, offering guests a window directly to the Great Lake.
• The Edgewater Hotel, Madison
  As the name implies, The Edgewater Hotel is right on Lake Mendota, across the isthmus from Monona Terrace. The hotel features an outdoor plaza with private and community events, including the Frozen Assets Festival, which includes kite flying and a 5K on the ice. In the summer, the hotel offers movie nights and music outdoors, and has a space for outdoor receptions.
• Harley-Davidson Museum, Milwaukee
  Host your meeting here to explore the history of one of the nation’s most iconic vehicles, and stay for the river views along the Milwaukee River. The museum features multiple meeting spaces, a restaurant, and space for boats to dock if you’d like to bring your group in by pontoon.
• Memorial Union Terrace, Madison
  A great option for smaller meetings, the terrace has a variety of spaces for intimate groups to more than 100 people. The venue overlooks Lake Mendota where people can enjoy the view from iconic sunburst-design chairs and sample local beer. Kayakers or canoers can paddle up to enjoy the live music on the terrace.
• Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center, Madison
  Located in the heart of downtown Madison and overlooking Lake Monona, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed venue offers amazing views from the main terraces, as well as the rooftop and the state Capitol building. The hotel offers near-lake access via a walking/biking path and has five levels. It can accommodate meetings of up to 2,000 people.
• Oshkosh Waterfront Hotel and Conference Center
  Reopening in early April after renovations, this hotel and convention center has 25,000 square feet of space to work with your meeting, conference or trade sho w and overlooks the dynamic Fox River in downtown Oshkosh, walking distance to the UW-Oshkosh campus as well as lots of up- and-coming restaurants, clubs and shops.
• La Crosse Center
  Situated between the Mississippi River and its famed to wering bluffs, meetings held on La Crosse Center’s second floor Riverside Ballroom — wrapped in glass, boasting 21-foot floor-to-ceiling windows — allow guests to see panoramic views of three rivers, the adjacent Riverside Park and downtown. Guests can also access the outdoor terrace for up close water views.
• Lake Geneva Cruise Line
  For a unique experience, host your meeting on one of Lake Geneva Cruise Line boat tours. The company offers special tours that highlight the Best of the Lake Cruise, a Supper Club Cruise, Sunday Brunch Buffet Cruise, Cocktail Cruise, Ice Cream Social Cruise, Jazz Dinner and Full Lake Cruise, to name a few.
• Stone Arch at Riverview Gardens, Appleton
  Further north on the Fox River, Stone Arch in Appleton offers panoramic views from its bluff-top venue with a scenic ballroom (with a wrap-around veranda) that seats up to 200. It also features a local and sustainable menu, pub room, and outdoor events.