Appleton

See

Museums

Parks

Do

Do Fox Cities Stadium (Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium)

Stadium that hosts baseball and major music concerts.

📍 2400 North Casaloma Drive☎ +1 920-733-4152⚠ Last checked Mar 2018 — confirm before you go

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Do Fox Cities Performing Arts Center (PAC)

Features high quality shows such as the famous Chinese Acrobats, and mainstream plays such as Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, and Les Misérables. Also hosts the Fox Valley Symphony and touring music and comedy performances.

📍 400 W. College Ave☎ +1 920 730-3782⚠ Last checked Jan 2018 — confirm before you go

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Do Fox Cities Exhibition Center

Constructed convention center in downtown Appleton. The center will be hosting multiple events such as the Wisconsin Tourism show and Oshkosh Corperation meeting.

📍 355 W Lawrence St⚠ Last checked Jan 2018 — confirm before you go

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Festivals

• Octoberfest- Annually on a Saturday in late September, downtown College Avenue is filled with booths offering local artwork, food and drink, antique car displays, and live music for Northern Wisconsin's largest outdoor festival.
• Mile of Music- First weekend of August. Started in 2013, this four-day music festival focuses on emerging acts, both local and national, especially in the folk, alternative, and Americana genres. Features more than 200 performers and over 900 performances in a variety of venues in downtown Appleton. All shows are free.

Buy

The Appleton Area is widely considered to be the shopping capital of Wisconsin by locals and visitors. It has a good mix of big chain stores and small businesses.

Heading east from the Fox River Mall on Hwy 96 (Wisconsin Ave) to the other side of Interstate 41, you'll find more stores including Home Depot, Sam's Club, Woodman's grocery store, and the largest Fleet Farm in Wisconsin. There's an old saying "if you can't find it at Fleet Farm, you probably don't need it."

Or, head east from the mall on College Ave to find Wheel & Sprocket, and more hotels and restaurants. Continue on College Ave to downtown Appleton which has an eclectic mix of shopping, coffeehouses, restaurants & bars.

Many of the westside "big box" stores also have store locations along Appleton's eastside Hwy 441 corridor, known locally at Darboy. Eastside stores include Wal-Mart, Kohl's, Home Depot, Lowe's, Menard's, Office Max, Best Buy, Target, Festival Foods, Pick 'n Save, Tractor Supply Co, Goodwill, plus the usual mix of Starbucks, Walgreen's, restaurants, movie theatres and hotels.

Malls

Shop Fox River Mall

The primary shopping destination for visitors is the Fox River Mall, Wisconsin’s largest shopping mall with more than 180 retailers, along the Interstate 41 corridor just west of Appleton, in Grand Chute. The Fox River Mall is anchored by Macy's, Target, JCPenney and the largest sporting goods store in Wisconsin, Scheel's All Sports. Many stores, restaurants, hotels and office buildings are nearby.

📍 4301 West Wisconsin Ave🕒 Mon-Sat 10AM-9PM; Sun 10AM-6PM☎ +1 920-739-4100⚠ Last checked Mar 2019 — confirm before you go

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Eat

Downtown Appleton has numerous restaurants, many within a short walking distance from the PAC. Vince Lombardi's Steakhouse at the Paper Valley Hotel has great steaks at a reasonable price, and if you're lucky you might get an autograph from NFL visiting teams staying at Paper Valley the night before Packer home games.

Waterfront dining is available near downtown along the Fox River waterfront at Fratello's Riverfront and Pullman's, and at Waverly Beach along the north shore of Lake Winnebago.

The Appleton area has plenty of coffee shops and cafés as well, such as Tempest Coffee Collective, Seth's Coffee, Copper Rock, Brewed Awakenings, and Acoca.

Many of the big restaurant chains are near the Fox River Mall -- T.G.I. Friday’s, Chili’s, Qdoba, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Machine Shed, Bennigan's, Outback Steakhouse and so on. Inside the mall, Fox River Brewing Company is accessible from the food court. Outdoor seating is available.

Other places are Wooden Nickel, Spat's, Dick & Joans and Old Bavarian.

Drink

Downtown Appleton is packed with bars, each with different atmospheres. If you are in town and looking to go out for a few drinks, the entire stretch of College Avenue from Richmond on the west to Drew Street on the east is lined with bars and clubs. There are a few bars to be found within a block north and south of College Avenue too. Plan your night ahead though, as parking on the streets anywhere within the city is illegal from 2 AM to 5 AM.

The Stone Cellar Brewpub brews several standard beers and seasonal beers. They also have a wide variety menu selections and a great atmosphere in the cellar of Appleton's first brewery (built in 1858), or if the weather cooperates you can sit outside in the beer garden.

On St. Patrick's Day, or any day if you're Irish, be sure to visit McGuiness Irish Pub or The Durty Leprechaun.

If you're staying downtown at the Paper Valley Hotel and you don't feel like venturing far, The Clubhouse just off the lobby has plenty of beer, sandwiches, pizza, and 20 big screen TVs.

Sleep

Like most cities, Appleton features a wide range of hotels from very affordable budget options to 3-star hotels that charge a small fortune. This is a really small list of the hotels in Appleton.