Reasons To Avoid The Biggest Tourist Trap In Wisconsin

Let me start by saying as a native Cheesehead who now lives in Iowa I still love my dairyland.  I'm all over it when I can go back to eat some cheese curds and drink some Spotted Cow.

And while the biggest tourist trap in the state isn't awful, there are so many other places that people can enjoy in the great state.

Every State Has Tourist Traps

For some reason certain places just become destinations.  There isn't anything spectacular about these locations.  But, for some, they become things to check off the travel bucket list.  Like the above "bean" in Chicago.  How do 12 million people a year go to this thing?  It's a blob of chrome.  Neat.

Iowa Has Plenty Of Traps As Well

If there is actual baseball being played at the Field of Dreams it can be great.  And they are planning a lot of expansion to make it more of a destination.  But for the most part...it's a baseball field in a cornfield.

However, according to a USA Today survey the Amana Colonies are the biggest tourist trap in the state of Iowa.

Some Of The Biggest Tourist Traps In Wisconsin

Before writing this I wanted to see what else folks were saying about the biggest tourist traps in Wisconsin.  Of course, Wisconsin Dells came up.  If you are going to check out the natural beauty found in only a few places in the world...then you are one of the rare ones.  Because most people know Wisconsin Dells as the "Waterpark Capital of The World".

While some consider The Dells a tourist trap or at least parts of the area, I still find the city to be exactly what you would expect.  The nature, the water parks, the cheesy gift shops, the cheese shops, the themed and overpriced restaurants.  You know what you are getting, but it works.  Just do your research on individual places before you pay the cash to go.

The Tourist Destination For Wisconsinites To Avoid

Lake Geneva is without a doubt the biggest tourist trap in the state of Wisconsin.  A weekend trip here can break the bank and offer you the same things you can get at soooooo many other places in the state of Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest.  Let's go through the reasons to avoid Lake Geneva.

1. Price.  The cost of everything is higher these days.  But in Lake Geneva, everything is more expensive.  Hotels, food, drinks, parking...you even have to pay to get on the beach!  $10 per person to sit on a not-very-nice beach that you can find in so many other places in Wisconsin.  I even ended up getting bug bites from the sand on the beach.
2. Houses.  Other than the actual lake, the highlight of the area is the houses on the lake.  Houses that the majority of us could never even dream of owning.  But people pack onto a pricey boat tour to look at all of them.  "Oh here's one for sale at $28 Million".  Maybe save the $55 per person on the boat ticket, and invest in a penny stock that could hit big so your grandchildren can someday live in the boat house next to the mansion of old money.
3. Drunk A-Holes On Boats.  The lake is super deep so boaters don't have to worry about running into a sandbar and destroying their boat.  Which is good for them cause the majority are hammered flying around the lake.
4. Crowded.  Beach - crowded.  Restaurants - crowded.  Streets - crowded.  Boat tours - crowded.  Parking - crowded.  Traffic...yeah, you get the point.  Weekends have a lot of people in a little area.
5. Rude People.  What happens when you get people with "too much money" in a crowded place where they just come for the weekend?  Well, you get Chicago snobs.  At one restaurant we even moved tables because of a group of "young ladies" who were being super rude and cursing around my child.

And that is the biggest reason to avoid the number one tourist trap in Wisconsin...because it's made for people from Chicago.  And it feels like the majority of Wisconsinites already know this.  Because when looking at all the cars on the crowded streets, about 90% of them had Illinois license plates.  So let Chicago spend their money in Lake Geneva.  The real Cheeseheads know there are hundreds of lakes they can enjoy without having to deal with Cubs and Bears fans.