My son was accepted in December (YAY) and we are visiting the campus at the end of the month (OOS from NY). Can anyone tell us how “walkable” the campus is? Do students have to rely on buses/cars to get around? How long does it take to walk from one end of the campus to the other? Thanks in advance!
My husband loves to tell stories about how cold it was with the wind coming off the lake. He would bike everywhere, even in mid-winter! Builds moral fiber, I suppose. 
LOL! I would imagine so! Is biking a typical mode of transportation? Can you even feasibly walk from one end to the other? The current extreme cold has me a bit concerned (and I know that it is even colder there than here in NY)!
UW is a large campus but walkable when weather compliant and shuttle bus when not. Students can obtain a free bus pass to ride anywhere they go. Bikes work well, mopeds very popular (even in Jan) but know about parking restrictions now in place if you go that route. To answer OP about time to walk campus – in a straight line from ag buildings near Nat to Witte dorm maybe 20 min tops. Try google for better number.
You can walk from one end of campus to the other. But a lot of people ride the 80 bus (free campus only) if they’re going a long distance and need to do it in a short amount of time. A lot of freshman classes are taught in the buildings that are in the central part of campus (Social Science, Van Vleck, Ingraham etc.) so once you travel from your dorm to your first class you can generally stay in the area. Lots of students have bikes on campus, UW is not a car friendly campus, and the city just enacted a ruling that treats mopeds like cars for parking, so I suspect that there will be fewer mopeds on campus now that those students will have to pay for parking at their apartments.
Thank you! This is all very helpful!
My son was accepted in December too (YAY! - OOS from Illinois). We visited the campus on a gorgeous day in June and found it to be very walkable :). I would say end-to-end is no more than a 30-minute walk. My son is planning on taking his bike tho. We saw tons of kids biking. The campus bus system is supposed to be great but can be “slow” if you don’t plan well. On-campus parking is limited/expensive. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a mild day for your tour. The campus is beautiful.
I’m worried about the extreme cold too. Especially when you couple it with other things like drinking, fraternity pranks, and just a general lack of supervision for the 1st time in their lives. I’m trying to have faith that my son’s common sense doesn’t disappear the minute he walks on campus :).
Layers, send layers with your children. Don’t worry too much about the cold. A couple of years ago there was an education student that wore shorts and a t-shirt everyday, no matter what the temperature. If it was a bitterly cold day he’d add a hat and gloves, that’s it. He survived and is now a high school teacher. I’ve seen other students without coats in the middle of winter (drive down Langdon Street on a Thursday night and you will see sorority girls in very little clothing huddled together as they make their way to the bars/parties).
@BSL119 - Your second paragraph completely sums up my feelings as well…glad to know I am not the only worried parent out there! I appreciate all the responses! 
My kid never rode the bus, even in bitter windchill. Walking from dorm to class, and later apartment to class, was about 15 min. From class to class – 5 min. Bikes have plus/minuses – the hills for one, and you need to store indoor in the winter.
A very walkable campus. Once kids commit to a school/major, they usually wind up living around that “side” of campus.
Congrats to your son, a wonderful school!
Eons ago only one semester I had to hike from one end of campus to the other and did it in the 15 minutes between classes. Walkers can use shortcuts others can’t (easily- I imagine one can portage a bike up/down stairs…). Winter doesn’t begin until second semester so plenty of time to figure out the campus. btw- don’t plan the dorm based on freshman year classes but rather on where one wants to live/spend time because you often go from classroom building to another one without returning to the dorm. Students can eat the same food in any Res Halls place so no need to return for lunch either.
Definitely a NO CAR campus. If you have a car and get one of the limited parking permits you will not be able to use your car to get around campus because you won’t find anywhere to park. State St is walkable from anywhere on campus as are the places off campus a student is likely to visit (even the state capitol building is walkable from the lakeshore dorms, a walk through the arboretum was a Labor Day all afternoon affair one year…). Plus buses.
Parents- don’t worry about your kids. You also won’t be telling them what YOU did while in college until later… After the initial getting used to things they will figure out that studying needs to be done. Remember that these are teens, not middle aged parents doing those hills et al (SOAR for parents session I did some of those hills I used to do every day- not as young as I used to be).
Most alumni love UW and everyone has a different experience. My UW definition of walkable was - no limits. Very little crossing of the main drag- University Ave and hordes of students are doing it. Choosing to go up and over or around a hill or take the lakeshore path. Those back stairs to Van Vleck… Entering a building on the 4th/6th floor because some are built into hills. Gorgeous views of the lake from Observatory Dr.
Keep in mind that Madison is, roughly peaking southern Wisconsin. So it is warmer than many places in WI, MN, MiI where many of the students live. So 0 degrees with wind whipping though the wind tunnels would not have given them a break in elementary school recess. Californians might prefer UCSD! For the rest the weather is character building.
Ha! My SoCal son has been accepted and we are visiting campus in February to see I find he can hack the cold temps! I’m laughing because he is waiting to hear from UCSD,
Back in the day outdoor recess became indoors when temps were below 20 degrees in son’s district as I recall. Kids were required to have snow pants, boots, et al. In HS son ran outdoors in winter after school instead of using the indoor track. He never wore boots after middle school- including navigating the UW campus before they had a chance to clear snow (very good at that I understand). He did his UW campus running indoors when temps were around zero I know.
People adjust to climates. What seems cold in the fall seems balmy in March. There is recent science to support this, btw. So, mom, be aware of this when you visit. Maybe you’ll catch a midwinter thaw.
It’s definitely walkable. It might take a long time though. If you go on a weekend, parking is free and you can drive to different spots.
Beyond Bascom Hill, buildings are more or less clustered in terms of the College they are associated with, so once a student knows what program they are in, the campus shrinks enormously.
UW is not a car campus, parking is not free on weekends, and one would waste a lot of time trying to drive to different spots. Just walk . . . .
For a weekend visit I would choose two different areas to pay for visitors allowed parking on campus. The first is near the Memorial Union, and there is parking underneath Helen White library across the street. Or choose a City of Madison parking ramp near State St. Then do the east end of campus walking. You then may switch to the west end of campus- Picnic Point parking or some other lot open to the public to see that end of campus. Or the public parking at Union South. Check the UW website for allowed parking areas. Yes, even on weekends there are still restricted lots. Plus- no street parking close to anything, either. Wear comfortable walking shoes!
My daughter has taken an Uber to class and she lives in the dorms. In fairness, she had a 20 minute walk followed by a 90 minute outdoor class when it was 10 degrees and windy. I gave her a pass on that one. Where else can you have an outdoor class in the middle of winter?
But a car is not very feasible. For her sophomore year apartment, parking would be $200 per month! She’ll be walking.
Perhaps it has changed, but tours used to leave from Union South, which has paid parking underneath the building. I’d suggest parking close to the info session/tours, and then if you want to explore State St on foot later, drive to City parking lots near State/Frances or Fluno Center.