On a map, Geneva Lake looks like any other of the many large lakes in the Midwest.

But the minute you get to the lakeshore and look around, it’s clear that it’s different from the usual family-cabin-adorned body of water.

Forty miles from Milwaukee and 65 miles from Chicago, Lake Geneva has long been a summer playground for the rich and regionally famous. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, many wealthy families fled to the lake by train. They built massive mansions on the shores of the lake, and some of them remain.

Barons of chewing gum (Wrigley), bicycles (Schwinn) and vodka (Tito’s) have ties to the lake, although some of the legacy properties have been sold over the years. Additionally, Hugh Hefner started the first Playboy resort on Lake Geneva. More on that later.

But there are also a bunch of family-friendly resorts and activities; excellent restaurants, many with lake views; and a fun food culture that invites visitors to take part in it.

I visited the city (Lake Geneva) and the lake (Geneva Lake) in early September on a quick trip sponsored by Visit Lake Geneva. Here’s what I saw and learned about this gorgeous area, which is about a five-hour drive from the Twin Cities.

The Lake

One of the many mansions lining Geneva Lake, as seen from a boat. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

As far as big Wisconsin lakes go, Geneva Lake just barely cracks the top 20. But at more than 5,000 acres and 135 feet of depth, it’s big enough for the old-school yachts and sailboats and new-school motorboats built for speed. Every giant home on the lake has a long dock and a boat or two moored there, ready to engage in some water activities.

But since we visited the week after Labor Day, the lake was calm and quiet even though the weather was, for the most part, gorgeous. So if you’re looking for a quieter, off-season experience, I can highly recommend September.

If you do nothing else on the water while you’re visiting, take a mailboat tour. Daring mail jumpers have been delivering mail by boat on Geneva Lake since 1916, leaping from the side of the boat, dropping letters and newspapers into mailboxes on the piers.

It’s part spectacle, part history lesson, and one of the most popular tourist attractions, so book your tickets early. The entire experience is narrated by the captain, who also has a difficult job in weaving in and out of the docks, timing their stops just long enough for a jumper to deliver the mail and vault back onto the boat.

A mail jumper launches himself onto a pier on Geneva Lake in Lake Geneva, Wis. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Another great way to enjoy the lake is by taking a walk on the shore path, which encircles the entire lake. Originally a Native American footpath formed by the Potawatomi people, the entire trail is open to the public, and its 22-mile length offers excellent views of the lake and the estates that line the shore. It is crazy to see people walking essentially through the front yards of these giant mansions, but it’s a tradition that Geneva Lake has preserved over time.

Most people don’t have the time or stamina to walk the entire length of the trail, so plan an out-and-back route, or if you have two cars, park one at the spot where you plan to finish. Be sure to pick up a Geneva Lake Shore Path Guide, available at several local shops or the Visit Lake Geneva headquarters at 201 Wrigley Drive, Lake Geneva. It tells you whose yards you’re walking through and offers suggestions for portions of the lake to walk.

Visit downtown Lake Geneva

The city of Lake Geneva is, well, downright adorable. Its historic downtown is lined with boutiques, souvenir shops, restaurants and giant planters full of flowers. One of the journalists in our group said it had a “Gilmore Girls” vibe, and as a lover of the show, I had to agree.

It’s the perfect getaway for ladies who lunch, but there are also plenty of outdoors-themed and culinary shops for the more adventurous travelers.

One of several cheese vendors at the Lake Geneva Farmers’ Market. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

I’m not much of a shopper, unless it’s for food, so lucky for me, we got to check out the city’s fantastic farmers’ market, set up on a block downtown on Thursday mornings.

From fresh vegetables to cheese (lots of cheese, this is Wisconsin after all) to handmade soaps and jewelry, there’s something for everyone at this market, which runs halfway around a city block.

Honey tasting cups at Queen Bee in Lake Geneva, Wis. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

If you’re looking for a unique experience, try a honey tasting through Queen Bee Artisan Market. Owner Emily Trainor gives an excellent overview of the flavors that can be found in pure honey, depending on what the bees are eating. She’s an Italian-trained honey sommelier (who knew such a thing existed?) and sells honeys from around the world. We tasted everything from notes of toasted marshmallow flavors to coffee grounds. It really was a mind-blowing experience. Tastings are private and you must sign up ahead of time.

We had a few excellent meals downtown, too, at Sopra Bistro, a farm-to-table Italian-American restaurant that’s extremely popular with locals, and Egg Harbor Cafe, an all-day breakfast and lunch spot that serves a tasty cherry-chicken salad sandwich.

Additionally, the restaurants at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa and Lake Lawn Resort are excellent fine-dining options.

Outside the city proper

There’s lots to do and see all around the lake, and the other two nearby bodies of water, Lake Como and Delavan Lake.

Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wis. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

One of my favorite stops was to the Yerkes Observatory, home to the world’s largest refracting telescope. Just west of the city of Lake Geneva, the observatory was built after astrophysics professor George Ellery Hale persuaded the University of Chicago to buy two 40-inch telescope lens blanks in 1892. The university’s president, William Rainey Harper, secured funding from Chicago tycoon Charles Tyson Yerkes to build the observatory, which houses not only the awesome, gigantic telescope, but also labs, workshops and libraries.

The observatory was operated by the university’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics until 2018. A developer bid $10 million for the site, which would have been the site of yet another upscale resort. After massive community backlash, the university donated the site to a foundation that is now caring for and restoring the stunning building, grounds and, of course, the immense, 82-ton telescope.

I recommend a guided tour so you can see all the historic spaces where luminaries like astronomers Carl Sagan and Edwin Hubble and NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy Nancy Grace Roman lived and studied. Albert Einstein famously visited, too. You can buy tickets in advance on the observatory’s website.

Mushroom soup with a cheddar basket and fresh corn from a class at Lake Geneva School of Cooking. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

We also took a highly entertaining cooking class at the Lake Geneva School of Cooking, where we transformed products from local farms into a delicious lunch. Chef/owner John Bogan is part teacher and part entertainer and had us all dutifully responding “Yes, chef!” to his every demand by the end of the class.

The activity that most surprised me, though, was a magic show.

No, I didn’t think I’d like it. But Milwaukee native Tristan Crist, who has been honing his act since he learned to perform his first trick at age 13 (he’s 42 now), was such a charismatic, enthusiastic entertainer that it was impossible not to be charmed. The magician began in a small space in 2015, which he quickly outgrew. His new theater, in a strip-mall-populated area just outside of downtown, seats 175, and is a perfect intimate venue for his brand of illusion and mind-trick-heavy magic. I’m still trying to figure out how he did that last trick. I won’t spoil anything by telling you which one.

Where to stay

I was lucky enough to be assigned a room at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, which was originally built as a Playboy resort. Completed in 1968, the stunning resort, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style, operated under Hugh Hefner’s company until 1981. During that time, the resort was known for its two world-class golf courses (still in operation), a private airport, a skeet and trap range, stables, a high-end boutique, and even a ski hill. And yes, there was a nightclub — the Bunny Hutch discotheque. At one point, there was even a world-class recording studio that hosted the likes of Cheap Trick, Crash Test Dummies, Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, Robert Plant and Nine Inch Nails.

Many of those amenities still exist and others have been remodeled and retooled for the modern guest. Popular features include a full-service spa; indoor and outdoor pools; and a sweet, historic trolley that you can take around the resort campus or even into town. There’s a separate hotel with a water park for families, too.

These days, the Grand Geneva is more famous for hosting conventions than celebrities, but the luxurious aura remains.

A sunset on Delavan Lake, which is a short drive from Lake Geneva, Wis. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Lake Lawn is another popular, family-friendly resort that’s a bit more out of the way, on the shores of Delavan Lake. Once the winter home to several traveling circuses, it was converted to a modest guest house in 1878, and continued to expand, eventually adding event spaces (Lawrence Welk regularly played in the ballroom in the 1940s!), a golf course and more to the two miles of lakeshore property. Today, it’s a modern resort that offers plenty of opportunities to play on the gorgeous lake.

For something a little less resort-y (but still historic), consider staying at Maxwell Mansion, the first mansion built in Lake Geneva, which has been converted into a boutique hotel. You can stay in the mansion itself, which sports a cool bar with steampunk influences and a historic speakeasy below (be sure to ask the staff for the password). There are also rustic-chic rooms in the renovated former stables and “carriage house” out back if you’re not a fan of the very historic accommodations in the mansion proper. Don’t worry, they all have their own bathrooms.

All in all, there’s so much to see and do in Lake Geneva that I’ll have to return on my own to explore it all. I recommend you do so, too.

If you go

Lake Geneva U.S. Mailboat Tour: 812 Wrigley Drive, Lake Geneva. Make reservations at cruiselakegeneva.com/public-tours/us-mailboat

Sopra Bistro: 724 W. Main St., Lake Geneva; 262-249-0800; soprabistro.com

Egg Harbor Cafe: 827 W. Main St., Lake Geneva; 262-248-1207; eggharborcafe.com

Queen Bee Artisan Market: 830 West Main St., Lake Geneva; 262-812-4099; queenbeeartisanmarket.com

Yerkes Observatory: 373 Geneva St., Williams Bay, Wis.; 262-245-5555; yerkesobservatory.org

Lake Geneva School of Cooking: 301 Geneva National Ave., Lake Geneva; 262-248-3933; lakegenevacookingschool.com

Tristan Crist Magic Theatre: 100 N. Edwards Blvd., Lake Geneva; 262-248-0505; lakegenevamagic.com

Grand Geneva Resort & Spa: 7036 Grand Geneva Way, Lake Geneva; 262-248-8811; grandgeneva.com

Lake Lawn Resort: 2400 E. Geneva St., Delavan; 262-728-7950; lakelawnresort.com

Maxwell Mansion: 304 S. Wells St., Lake Geneva; 262-248-9711; staymaxwell.com

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