<p>My son and I are making our college visit to UW Madison on Thursday..We are very excited! It will be a quick visit....flying in on Thursday, home by Saturday. We are taking a campus tour on Friday, and also taking tours of Chadbourne and Bradley Residential Dorms after the tour. We will have time on Thursday afternoon when we arrive to walk around Madison and get a feel for the town, as well as on Friday afternoon after the tours. Does anyone out there have any suggestions as to places we should definitely see on or off campus? How about dining facilities on campus, I understand we can eat in the dining halls so I was thinking we would eat lunch there on Friday after the campus tour. Any place we should definitely eat at or avoid? Thanks for any tips!</p>
<p>You could try the new Union South, Memorial Union and the lake, the student activity center in east campus mall (a lot of clubs meet here, it also has the university health in the same building), the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery, the Physics Museum. You could try touring the two gyms (Natatorium and SERF), not sure if they do tours though. Also, I recommend touring the libraries, seeing as your son might be spending a lot of time there studying. I would recommend College Library in the SE side of campus or Steenbock in Lakeshore , those are the more popular ones. Definitely try to get a meal at Rheta’s (Chadbourne’s dining hall) if you are thinking of staying in Chad, a lot of people say that Rheta’s has the best food out of all the dining halls. It is definitely the nicer of all of them. However, there might be better choices next year with the new dorm dining hall and the other SE one being remodeled. Another place to visit would be the Red Gym, which is home to a lot of programs such as the Moridge Center (volunteering), study abroad center, undergraduate research study, multicultural student center, among others. State street is usually very lively so it would be fun to stroll through there. 
hope you have a good tour!</p>
<p>Given the predicted temperatures this week you’ll want to dress warmly and include indoor places. Definitely take time to stroll State St and include University Book Store among your stops. Check out the Memorial Union Terrace views and if you feel up to it walk some on the Lakeshore path to get to Bradley. Check out the Chazen art museum. Check the Res Halls Dining website for the menus at various places- often there is one dish only served at one place.</p>
<p>I’m at UW-Madison right now! You HAVE to take a stroll along State Street, it’s my favorite part of Madison. I would also take a walk up Bascom Hill during your time on Thursday afternoon. Even if it’s somewhat of a hike, it’s pretty much a staple of campus and there will always be hundreds of students walking it in between classes so it’ll be nice to get a feel for it. Also, stop by the terrace and look out on the lake (even if it’s cold, it’s a sight to see)!</p>
<p>Get some ice cream at Babcock Dairy Bar after your Bradley tour. Just had pumpkin pie ice cream this weekend, delicious!</p>
<p>Sounds like a wonderful idea, Sinatra! Is Babcock on campus, if so, where exactly? My son loves pumpkin pie!</p>
<p>It’s in Babcock Hall on Babcock drive, see map it’s below the lakeshore dorm area and next to the Stock Pavilion. They sell Babcock ice cream at each of the Unions as well. It’s made on campus and is the best. I hope you enjoy your visit. The lakeshore area is quite beautiful.</p>
<p>here’s the map of Campus…forgot to put it in my post!</p>
<p>[University</a> of Wisconsin-Madison: Campus Map](<a href=“http://map.wisc.edu/]University”>http://map.wisc.edu/)</p>
<p>UW is a great place- the kind of campus students stay at for weekends because there is so much to do. You won’t run out of places to see/things to do if you have a good vibe from your visit. It takes 4, 5, 6 or more, years to get tired of the place- many never do, but reality forces them to graduate, get a job and leave (many stray only into the city of Madison).</p>
<p>I always liked the Lakeshore path and Picnic Point as a place to relax on campus. Right now I think they are renovating Picnic Point. Also the view from the old observatory over Liz Waters and the lake is great. Unfortunately the first cold weather seems to be moving in.</p>