Todd Lazarski

Beer n' sausage: It's the first thing that will pop into anybody's mind when considering Wisconsin's largest city. Maybe Harley-Davidson, possibly Happy Days, or whichever your dad’s preference was between Blatz or Schlitz. And there we go again. It’s hard to escape the preconceived notions of the hugely Polish, German, blue collar, big-eating, proudly hard-drinking people in this city. But Milwaukee today is also a burgeoning lakefront 'burg boasting big city amenities without the headaches of a metropolis (we're looking at you, Chicago). Here you can park anywhere, you can live in the hippest 'hood in town without a trust fund, and visitors too have no barrier of access to a patchwork of low-key neighborhood hangouts, a bombastic music festival, and plenty of old world cream city brick charm mixing with an easy-going industriousness (streetcar coming soon!). Of course, Milwaukee also still has plenty of beer and sausage, so be sure to check out the city's best restaurants.    Done something on this list and loved it? Share it with the hashtag #TimeOutDoList and tag @TimeOutEverywhere. Find out more about how Time Out selects the very best things to do all over the world. RECOMMENDED: The best Airbnbs in Milwaukee