3 Best Sights in Madison, Wisconsin

A three-story glass structure, designed by Cesar Pelli, juts out above the intersection of State and Henry streets and is home to this superb art museum. Formerly known as Madison Art Center, the new 51,500-square-foot facility opened in 2006. Its permanent collection of photography, paintings, prints, and glassworks spans the 20th century to the present. Among the most recognized artists are Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Deborah Butterfield, and Cindy Sherman. A rooftop sculpture garden is open only during the spring, summer, and fall, but year-round seasonal cuisine is served in an enclosed rooftop restaurant. Be sure to stop by the museum's gift shop and browse studio-made objects crafted by highly accomplished artists.

On Madison's far-east side, this garden has been acclaimed by Horticulture Magazine as being among North America's top ten. What sets the 16-acre garden of roses, herbs, and rocks apart is its authentic Thai pavilion, the only example in the continental United States and a gift from Thailand's government in 2001. It is surrounded by native plantings. Tropical plants and flowers, plus a rushing waterfall and free-flying birds, thrive in the gardens' year-round glass-pyramid conservatory heated to between 65°F and 95°F.

Tucked into the residential Lake Wingra and Vilas Park neighborhoods, the zoo is supported by a local zoological society and completely free to enter. It's a favorite spot for Madisonians, particularly families with young kids. Although it's a small zoo at 28 acres, it has a nice representation of animal life as well as a children's zoo, penguin exhibit, tropical-rain-forest aviary, primate complex, and large-cat center. Bison, prairie dogs, and badgers reside among prairie grass in the George Fait North American Prairie exhibit, which visitors enter via a boardwalk. Within the zoo's Discovery Center are hands-on learning stations especially suited to children.