Top Milwaukee Walking Tours

Like many communities in the industrial Midwest, Milwaukee’s ecological legacy has a significant period of pollution. Thankfully, in the late 1980s & early 1990s, driven by Mayor John Norquist and others, Milwaukee dedicated resources to water clean up and the reinvigoration of the buildings along the Milwaukee River. This reinvestment included the creation of a public-private partnership known as the Riverwalk (1993). Today, the Riverwalk extends 3.1 miles along both sides of the Milwaukee River, from the site of the former North Avenue Dam, through Downtown and the Historic Third Ward to Lake Michigan. The tour will explore the industries and early city growth that impacted the river so greatly and also a number of the historic buildings along the way. You’ll also learn about some of the temporary and permanent public art on display. This walking tour is 1.2 miles in length. We recommend that travelers bring: good walking shoes, water, sunscreen, and/or umbrella.

As seen on BBC, NBC, and featured on Netflix’s Dark Tourist, this is one of the most talked-about true crime tours in the world. The Cream City Cannibal Tour explores one of Milwaukee’s most infamous criminal cases—walking through the exact neighborhood where multiple events connected to a notorious serial killer took place. This is not a casual history tour. Through guided storytelling, guests are led through the psychological, cultural, and real-world impact of the case, offering insight into how it unfolded and why it continues to be studied today. The tour has even been referenced in academic settings, including university psychology and criminal justice programs. Expect a deeper, more intense experience—focused on understanding, not sensationalizing. Outdoor tour. Rain or shine. Not recommended for those sensitive to true crime content.

Unveil the dark history of Brew City with this ghost tour of the city’s most haunted locations. Meet your guide for a ghoul-fueled stroll through the heart of Milwaukee to take in spirit-infested historic hotels, theaters, and even skyscrapers. Be entertained by bone-chilling ghost stories and tales of paranormal activity as you delve into Milwaukee’s ghoulish past.

Milwaukee is known for its beer, brats, baseball, and lakefront scenery, but it offers much more than most travelers realize. Learn about the city through the eyes of a resident guide on this Milwaukee sightseeing tour, see famous attractions, trendy neighborhoods, an art-filled alley, and so much more—including a bronze statue of the Fonz of “Happy Days” fame.

The Midwestern city of Milwaukee is known for its beer and cheese and this walking food tour gives you a taste of the best. Join a small group and enjoy a walk through "Brew City" to sample a number of beers and regional snacks. Learn about the 19th-century Germanic population that immigrated to the area and its influence on today's local cuisine.

Swap the big bus tours for a crowd-free experience. Traveling in an open-air, five-seater electric vehicle, you'll thoroughly explore the historic city of Milwaukee, from popular tourist destinations to some hidden gems that most visitors miss. As you travel, your guide will fill you in on Milwaukee's rich and exciting history. This tour has different lengths to suit your schedule.

The home of American lager and once a rival to Chicago in size, Milwaukee’s history and preeminence may not be as obvious as it once was—unless you look. With this self-guided audio tour, you’ll travel down Brew City’s most opulent drag, from the Milwaukee Public Library to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Across 150 years of history and plenty of steps, you’ll get a guided-tour experience without any of the crowds.

Explore Milwaukee’s criminal underworld on the Mobsters and Mafia Tour, a guided walking experience that uncovers the rise and fall of the Milwaukee Mob and the powerful Balistrieri crime family. Visit historic locations while discovering how organized crime, political influence, and underground enterprises shaped the city throughout the 20th century. Hear captivating stories of power, loyalty, corruption, and betrayal as your guide reveals the real people and events behind one of Milwaukee’s most fascinating chapters. While the tour touches on the city’s Prohibition-era roots, its primary focus is the Milwaukee Mob and the figures who dominated the city’s underworld from the 1960s through the 1980s. Perfect for history enthusiasts, true crime fans, and curious travelers seeking a side of Milwaukee few visitors ever discover.

If you've already seen most of the sights of Milwaukee, get a different perspective on the city with this haunted history walking tour of Lake Geneva. As you stroll in a small group, your guide will fill you in on all the colorful history and characters, from haunted mansions and vengeful spirits to lake monsters and more.

With 191 different blocks, it should come as no surprise that Milwaukee is known as a ‘City of Neighborhoods’. On this self-guided walking tour, you’ll be introduced to two of its most interesting suburbs, Brady Street and the Lower Eastside, and their architecture. You’ll begin by discovering the impact that Polish and Italian immigrants had on Brady Street Historic District, including delicious Italian cuisine at Sciortino’s Bakery and Glorioso’s Deli. Finally, you’ll stroll down the city’s former Gold Coast to end this tour at the Oak Leaf Trail on Prospect Avenue, giving you the opportunity to continue your Milwaukee adventure independently on the Lake Line Trail. This family-friendly tour is an easy stroll, with the option to pop inside some of the city’s most interesting churches. Come hungry, there are plenty of opportunities to grab snacks, or discover your new favorite restaurant along the route.

One of the most haunted bars in the nation, Shaker’s Cigar Bar—a Milwaukee institution formerly owned by the infamous Al Capone—has a history as wild as its ghostly encounters. On this small-group tour, explore behind the scenes, hearing stories about its Prohibition-era connections, the bar's cemetery and brothel past, and accounts of lingering spirits. Part history tour, part paranormal experience, this tour is not for the faint of heart.

Get to know some of the darker corners of Milwaukee’s history on this small-group walking tour of the city’s downtown. You’ll enjoy hearing haunting tales associated with famous Milwaukee landmarks like the Pfister Hotel, City Hall, and the Pabst Theater as your guide leads you through the Cream City evening.

Step back into Milwaukee’s Prohibition era and uncover a world of speakeasies, madams, gangsters, corruption, and scandal. The Whorin’ 20s Walking Tour explores the city’s notorious vice district during the Roaring Twenties, when bootleggers, brothel owners, politicians, and organized crime figures helped shape Milwaukee’s nightlife and underground economy. Led by expert storytellers, this entertaining and historically grounded walking tour reveals the hidden stories behind the city’s most colorful characters and forgotten locations. Along the way, guests will discover how Prohibition transformed Milwaukee and why the era continues to captivate visitors nearly a century later. Perfect for history enthusiasts, groups, couples, bachelorette parties, and anyone looking for a different side of Milwaukee beyond breweries and ballgames. Bride goes free with qualifying bachelorette party reservations.

Get to know one of Milwaukee‘s most haunted neighborhoods, Westown, and discover why Marquette University is considered one of the nation‘s most haunted schools. On this self-guided walking tour, you‘ll visit eleven haunted locations and hear some of Milwaukee‘s most spook-tacular tales! Starting in front of the Milwaukee Public Museum, you‘ll stroll around Marquette Campus and along Wisconsin Ave to Straz Tower, where our tour ends. Along the way, you‘ll meet some of Milwaukee‘s most famous ghosts, including a professor who continues to report to work, and a home-proud beer baron. You‘ll also see the site of one of the city‘s most notorious murders. Lace up your shoes and join me in discovering the haunted side of this historic neighborhood. This family-friendly hour-long walk does contain content that may be disturbing, including details of murders, mentions of suicide and accidental deaths. Please use caution when selecting this tour for very young or sensitive audiences.

Milwaukee is called many names; Brew City, City of Festivals, and Cream City, but it is most recognized as the place for great beer and cheese in the Upper Midwest. The large 19th century Germanic population continue to influence our local food products and dishes while some of the best restaurants from the historic Third Ward to East Town Downtown. When booking our winter exclusive Skywalk Food Tour you'll get to experience and enjoy all the best we have to offer from a warm second-story perspective. You'll get to experience and enjoy all the best we have when you book our Secret Food Tour: Milwaukee. As a private tour, everything works around you! Our start times are much more easy going, dates can open up. It's a much more intimate and cozy experience. No need to shout over other tourists, you will have every question answered, and leave feeling like a native yourself!

The Historic Third Ward was the first stop for many of Milwaukee's European immigrants, particularly the Irish and later the Italians. Close to cheap housing and available jobs, these new arrivals created close-knit communities. Like most major industrial cities, the Third Ward had a significant and destructive fire in 1892, which reshaped the landscape to much of what you see today. In the 1970s, this area experienced a resurgence that transformed factories and warehouses into condos and mixed adaptive reuse. On this tour, learn about the neighborhood landscape as well as the Irish and Italian immigrants as well as the impact of the LGBTQ+ community and other residents. Stops include the Milwaukee Public Market (2005), Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) (1974), and Commission Row (1894). This walking tour is 1 mile in length. Travelers are recommended to bring (weather permitting): good walking shoes, water, sunscreen, and/or umbrella.

Downtown Milwaukee's growth began around the intersection of N. Water St. and E. Wisconsin Ave. but expanded quickly as the small settlement became a large city. If you are looking for an introduction to Milwaukee's history, this is the best place to start. The tour will explore this commercial district from the earliest beginnings at the river's edge all the way to the modern office buildings along Lake Michigan's shore. Stops on the tour include a variety of architectural styles including Alexander Eschweiler's Art Deco Gas Light Building (1930), the Richardsonian Romanesque style Federal Building (1892), and Northwestern Mutual's Neoclassical Headquarters (1914). This walking tour is 1 mile in length. We recommend that travelers bring (weather permitting): good walking shoes, water, sunscreen, and/or umbrella.

Get a different perspective on Milwaukee and learn about the unique heritage of it Historic Third Ward on this ghost-themed walking tour. A you stroll the streets, you'll hear tales of paranormal activity and about the haunted history of the district, which was once a rough and ready 19th-century ghetto known as the Bloody Third.

Set on a bluff, overlooking the northern point of Milwaukee’s harbor, this neighborhood boasts an incredible collection of mansions from the early twentieth century. The tree-lined blocks feature a variety of styles including German Renaissance Revival, English Tudor Revival, Mediterranean Revival and others popular from 1890-1940. The houses were designed by some of the most notable Milwaukee architects including Eschweiler, Clas, Niedecken and even Wisconsin’s own Frank Lloyd Wright. Beyond the architectural details, the neighborhood’s past residents include many prominent Milwaukeeans who made money in wheat, railroads, straw hats, fur coats, ice cream and more. The tour also includes non-residential neighborhood landmarks like a historic hospital complex, water tower and lighthouse, as well as a Frederick Law Olmsted designed park. This walking tour is 1.4 miles in length. We recommend bringing (weather permitting): good walking shoes, water, sunscreen, and/or umbrella.

Milwaukee, once known as the German Athens, is the most German among major US cities. Walking down Old World Third Street today you are not likely to see many German shops advertising “English Spoken Here” as a special or unique service, but as early as 1848 it would not have been uncommon. Germans represented 1/3 of the entire population in Milwaukee and this section of the city was integral to German immigrant’s daily life. Today, much of the landscape today reflects that influence including a number of stops on the tour such as Turner Hall (1882), the Germania Building (1896) and Old St. Mary’s Church (1846). Woven between the cream city bricks, hear stories about the notable German biermeisters, tanners, merchants and artists who helped to shape Milwaukee.

Shakers Bar in Milwaukee, formerly owned by the infamous Al Capone, has some gritty stories that have happened behind its walls. Dive deeper into the stories, spirits, and paranormal encounters that have earned this bar a spot among the most haunted bars in the United States. Enjoy this experience with just a small group for company and an included cocktail—an ideal tour for those who want to go beyond the basics.

Enjoy a walking tour of beautiful and interesting parts of Milwaukee while following clues on your smartphone and solving interesting puzzles along the tour. Play the game on your smartphone with your group as the game guides you through the city. Score points for correct answers and try to get the high score on the leaderboard. See major attractions as well as less-known gems of Milwaukee on this unique scavenger hunt and walking tour. Play any time that fits your schedule! There is no in-person guide you have to wait for! Tour downtown Milwaukee and see the iconic Quadracci Pavilion, St. John Cathedral, City Hall, Pabst Theater, and much more. Your group of 2 to 6 people works together to solve the 22 challenges on the scavenger hunt. Wear comfortable shoes! You'll walk about 3 miles along this scavenger hunt tour. Explore the city at your own pace Enjoy fun challenges with family and friends Discover Milwaukee's hidden gems and historic sights Perfect for all ages

Experience the sweeter side of Milwaukee on this fun and family-friendly walking tour through one of Wisconsin's most vibrant cities. Along the way, you'll enjoy a delicious assortment of donuts, pastries, locally inspired sweet treats, and freshly brewed coffee from some of Milwaukee's favorite bakeries and cafés. As you explore downtown, your guide will share fascinating stories about the city's rich history, impressive architecture, thriving arts scene, and unique local culture. You'll discover iconic landmarks, hidden gems, and neighborhood favorites while enjoying some of the best sweet treats Milwaukee has to offer. Whether you're visiting for the first time or are a lifelong local, this tour is the perfect blend of delicious food, local history, and unforgettable memories.