Location: Sturgeon Bay
Top Things to do in Sturgeon Bay
10 Things to Do in Sturgeon Bay That You Shouldn't Miss
Sturgeon Bay is a city in and the county seat of Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,144 at the 2010 census. It is located at the natural end of Sturgeon Bay, although the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was built across the remainder of the Door Peninsula.
Restaurants in Sturgeon Bay
1. Cave Point County Park
Overall Ratings
5 based on 885 reviews
Reviewed By TRWill27
It was icy and slick but worth the short walk to the cliff to see and hear beautiful Lake Michigan! Be sure to come prepared with boots or yaktrax if you're visiting in the winter. This is a great spot for sightseeing and hiking. A must stop spot while in Door County!
2. The Farm
Overall Ratings
5 based on 212 reviews
Reviewed By lougordon1306 - Cary, Illinois
This is a great way to spend the day with your family. There are so many animals to see and interact with and some great unique features. They allow you, for example, to feed the goats/sheep milk by bottle. My 4 year old son loved this feature. They have many animals you can touch or even hold, such as tiny baby goats and kittens. I will say tough that the kittens are so popular, you have to almost FIGHT for a minute with one. So expect to see them, but in other peoples hands!
The property is large so you can spend quite a bit of time here, nothing is over expensive and the staff is friendly. I would gladly visit again in the future.
3. Door County Historical Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 129 reviews
Reviewed By GaTraveler7011 - Duluth, Georgia
Spent much more time here then expected. Videos of Door County history and cherry industry are quite good, Free admission. Fun historic fire engines. Old town display also quite good.
4. Simon Creek Vineyard & Winery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 290 reviews
Reviewed By Paul D
Great venue, actually the winery is in the middle of the vineyards. Great patio you can sit at and listen to the grapes grow. Our pourer was great and wine tasting was free. Fun stories about Al Capone who wanted to buy the farm, prior to it becoming a vineyard. Great Ports; Chocolate, Hazelnut, and regular (Jacksonport). My wife liked the Muscat. Lot's of other fun wine shopping; wine glasses and wine gifts.
5. Door County Maritime Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 310 reviews
Door County Maritime Museum: Enjoy tales of bold ship captains, brave seaman, innovative shipbuilders, rugged fishermen, stalwart lighthouse keepers and much, much more--sea stories abound! The Door County Maritime Museum offers three unique visitor experiences. Its year-round 20,000 square foot flagship museum is located between the dowtown bridges on Sturgeon Bay's workking waterfront. It features four large exhibit galleries and the immaculately restored seagoing tugboat John Purves built in 1919. The iconic Cana Island Lighthouse, located Baileys Harbor, is a Door County treasure. The northern museum is a hidden gem featuring the classic wooden fish tug Hope. It is located in the historic fishing village of Gills Rock alongside the infamous "Death's Door" passage. Both are open seasonally.
Reviewed By Hitheroadwithlila - Lenexa, Kansas
As my time in Wisconsin begins to wind down, I recently traveled to Sturgeon Bay, in search of lighthouses. I’ve always been fascinated by them since seeing one in the movie, The Portrait of Jennie.
My first stop was the maritime museum to gather some insight into the history of the town. One of the brochures I picked up about the museum offers a scavenger hunt that gives insight into the various galleries in the building. For example, in the Carla & Ellsworth Peterson Gallery, you can look through a 1985 periscope that was installed on the USS Lewis and Clark SSBN 644. It was removed in January of 1992.
In the Horton Gallery, I learned the importance and contributions that dogs made as companions to lighthouse keepers and to rescue missions. In the presentation, “Sentinels of the Shore” insights to the history of the lighthouses of Door County is a wonderful tribute.
I will admit that I was distracted by the Merry-Time Festival of Trees. (November 11-December 12) I’m a sucker for Christmas and these wonderful symbols, over twenty-five different decorated delights, were a joy. Businesses, organizations and residents adorn each tree in regards to a theme and surprises underneath its branches. The best part is that each one is a part of a raffle that allows you to bid on a tree of your choice.
The admission fee of 10.00 provides a ticket to the raffle. The museum offers AAA discount. Overall: This visit was worth the time. They have a nice gift shop that offers shirts, mugs, knick-knacks and a wonderful collection of books related to maritime history, lighthouses and other information. Fingers crossed that I win the tree of my dreams.
6. Whitefish Dunes State Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 202 reviews
Reviewed By meghali_mazumdar - New Delhi, India
You have to pay for parking. However if you park free at nearby Cave mound county park and hike till this one, you save on that. Not a good idea If you are carrying a lot of stuff for the beach.
Nevertheless, the shoreline is beautiful. However we found the beach very filthy and didn't go down there. Found a quiet spot around the trees. Restroom supposedly was disgusting. Don't use it.
7. Door Peninsula Winery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 425 reviews
Located in the heart of Carlsville (10 miles north of Sturgeon Bay), Door Peninsula Winery offers a full tasting experience. Enjoy Samples of all wines offered by Door Peninsula Winery daily. Sample gourmet foods like Cherry Wine Cheese, homemade fudge, mustards, jellies, salsa and more. Fat Louie's Olive Oils & Vinegars are also available for sample & purchase. Tour the winery production area for only $3 per person. Visit Door County Distillery, attached to the winery, for samples of Award-Winning Gin, Vodkas, Brandies & Whiskey.
Reviewed By Michael F
This was one of two wineries in Door County that were very highly rated. We had visited the other--Von Stiehl-- earlier in the day and had high expectations based off of our great experience there. The facility is great. A large shop with many candies, cherry items, and so forth to sell. The wine tasting was uninspired. The hosts seemed to lack knowledge about the wines. We learned nothing about them. She offered the very sweet wine first before the dry. It seemed as if she was simply there to pour for people looking for free samples, not there to pour and inform a visitor who was legitimately interested in the product. It was one of the most uninspired tastings I've ever been at. The wines themself were good and prices were also good. Overall, it is worth a visit, but didn't come across to me nearly as high of quality of experience as I expected.
8. The Garden Door
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 66 reviews
The Garden Door was designed and is maintained by the Door County Master Gardeners. TGD is nestled behind barns at the UW Peninsular Ag Research Station, which is located a few miles north of Sturgeon Bay on Highway 42. Enter at the south driveway and go straight back past the barns. The entry gate is on your left. TGD is the only free public garden in Door County. It is open from dawn until dusk every day. A donation box is located on the right as you exit through the gate. Enjoy the double kaliedascope, fairy garden. Meditation tunnel. Wander and enjoy the tranquility.
Reviewed By pjb1991 - Wausau, Wisconsin
This is a beautiful garden with flower beds, a Koi pond, water feature, covered gazebo and mozaic sitting benches. To judge this place by the entrance is not wise, since it is located at the University of WI Peninsular Agricultural Research Station. The garden is in the back, and very much worth the stop.
9. Third Avenue Playhouse (TAP)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 64 reviews
Reviewed By GoneOffTheGrid - Vernon Hills, Illinois
This was my first and only visit (so far). I saw "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol" and although I can certainly appreciate the level of talent that it takes for one person to do an entire theatrical performance on his own (with virtually NO props or costumes, etc.). Still, it wasn't my "thing." I literally fell asleep a couple of times.
That said, I found the theatre itself to be a bit unusual. It seemed to me that it must have been a much larger venue in the past. These days, most of the seating area is walled-off with maybe only 1/3 of the seating area still in use. And the current space is unadorned. Which is to say that the whole space is matt black (excluding the unpainted structural steal beams). One might say that keeping the venue itself so plain helps to focus one's attention on the performance itself.
My overall first impression was that TAP was/is a nice downtown resource for Sturgeon Bay. But I won't return again unless they're running a production that I know and want to see again.
10. Popelka Trenchard Glass
Overall Ratings
5 based on 41 reviews
Reviewed By Tigerman777
Came here on a Friday afternoon an hour or two before closing to see what Popelka Trenchard Glass had to offer and was VERY VERY impressed!!! I met Jeremy who is a very nice, non pretentious man. He explained to me that he gets most of the decorative colors he uses in the glass from Germany and New Zealand. He also explained how some glasses mix and some don't. He explained the history of some of his pieces, that they represent things from his youth on. The pieces themselves are BEAUTIFUL!!! They have plates, vases, blown glass flowers and several other glass pieces that are AMAZINGLY beautiful!!! You can buy what I called teardrop glass pieces (incorrect name, but that's the only word I can think of) for use as a part of a necklace for $25.00 or $30.00, depending if there's color decoration in the glass or it's plain colored. Very reasonable prices. Being a nature lover, I asked if he knew of any good areas to hike. He explained to me how to get to a few areas off the beaten path. Very productive. To sum it up: because of the great attitude and knowledge of Jeremy (and I'm sure Stephanie) of their profession, the beautiful artwork and reasonable prices on some pieces, I plan on coming back in the future. Eventhough I didn't buy this time, the next time I will if there is a piece that catches my eye to give that AWESOME wow factor!!!
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