re: Staying in Madison

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- Downtown Madison is located on an isthmus, which means it is situated on a narrow strip of land with Lake Mendota to the West and Lake Monona to the East.

- With Mendota's orientation, you'll get great views of the sunset over the lake. Coincidentally, UW-Madison's campus is located along the shores of Mendota and you can get tremendous sights from Memorial Union Terrace. The Union was the first of its kind in the U.S. to sell beer and it remains one of the most-popular hangouts during the summer and fall months. About half of it is undergoing renovation, but still hard to beat.

- For views over Lake Monona, head over to Monona Union Terrace (no affiliation with UW-Madison), which is east past the Capitol.

- The Capitol Square and Bascom Hill ("heart" of UW-Madison) is connected by State Street, which is a pedestrian-only passageway. The only vehicles allowed on State Street are city buses.

- Along State Street are a number of boutique shops, restaurants, and bars. There are also a number of bars a block off State Street, too. On the lower-end of State Street, closer to campus, are more bars targeted to college students. If you're looking to be in this scene, since it is first weekend all students are back, head to Brats, KK, Wandos, Chasers, City, Mondays, Double U, Madhatters, Vintage, Church Key, and Whiskey Jacks (though I do not consider this a "college bar").

- A couple restaurants/bars near these college bars that might be worth checking out are Dotty Dumpling's Dowry and Nitty Gritty (food is mediocre).

- As you move further up State Street toward the Capitol Square, you'll run into bars that feature a mix of college students + young professionals / graduate students. Some of these bars include Paul's Club, Plaza, and Tiki Shack. Ivory Room is a piano bar less than a block off State Street and Silver Dollar is a dive-bar with a shuffleboard table.

- Once you reach the Capitol Square, you'll find some tremendous bars, lounges, cocktail bars, cigar bars, restaurants, etc. If they aren't on the Square, they are a block (or two) off it.

- If you're on the Square... (1) Coopers Tavern has a great beer list, (2) Old Fashioned makes awesome cheese curds, burgers, and stiff Old Fashioneds, and (3) L'Etoile, Graft and Graze are all Farm-to-Table establishments.

- As you move off the Square, around the King Street area, I highly recommend Merchant, Lucille, Maduro (cigar bar), and Opus Lounge for excellent cocktails. If you move off the Square, towards W Main Street, I can't recommend Genna's and Tornado Room enough. Further east of the Capitol is Essen Haus, which has a great atmosphere and volleyball in the summer months.

- For other bars, Argus, Tipsy Cow, Natt Spill, Great Dane are all great spots.

- Other than these food/bar choices, I recommend walking around campus, checking out Camp Randall, Union South (a second student union that was completed in 2011), walk along Lakeshore Path, etc.

- The beautiful thing about Madison is that campus and downtown are very much intertwined and walking distance from one another.

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