The Essentials
Club: Forward Madison FC
Stadium: Breese Stevens Field — 917 E Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703. 5,000 seats. A century-old neighborhood ground with a raucous supporters’ section, open-air charm, and one of the best atmospheres in all of USL League One.
Tickets: Available at forwardmadisonfc.com.
Nearest Airport: Dane County Regional Airport (MSN), approximately 7 miles northeast of the stadium.
Driving from Fort Wayne FC Park: Approximately 320 miles via US-30 W and I-65 N to I-90 W, roughly 5 hours nonstop. The closest team in League One.
Parking & Transit: No on-site lot. The S. Livingston Street Garage is a five-minute walk. Free street parking exists in non-residential areas nearby, but avoid the residential blocks around the field. Bus Rapid Route A stops right outside Gate 1. Bike valet available at Gate 8 — this is Madison, after all.
Weather: Spring matches can be chilly — layer up for evenings in the 40s and 50s. Summers are warm and pleasant, mid-70s to mid-80s, with occasional thunderstorms. Bring a light jacket for night games regardless.
Where to Stay
The Edgewater is the splurge — an urban resort perched on Lake Mendota with rooftop views that’ll make you forget you’re in a college town. Hotel Indigo downtown is a smart mid-range pick housed in a converted paint factory, walkable to Capitol Square and full of character. For budget-friendly, the HI Madison Hostel on South Butler Street puts you steps from State Street and the lake for a fraction of the price. Stay downtown and you can walk to everything that matters, stadium included.
Eat & Drink
The Old Fashioned is non-negotiable. Right on Capitol Square, this is Wisconsin distilled into a restaurant — cheese curds, fried walleye, hand-muddled Old Fashioneds, and 50 Wisconsin beers on tap. If you skip it, you weren’t really here.
Graft on East Main Street won the 2025 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. Small plates, Midwestern ingredients, outstanding wine pairings. This is your best dinner in Madison. Make a reservation.
Mickies Dairy Bar on Monroe Street has been flipping eggs since 1946. A tiny cash-only diner with counter seating, enormous scrambles, and the kind of pancakes that ruin all other pancakes. Get there early — there will be a line.
Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. downtown is Madison’s original brewpub, open since 1994 in a gorgeous former Fess Hotel building. Solid house beers, good food, and a billiards hall upstairs if you want to settle in for the night.
Dexter’s Pub on the near east side is a neighborhood gem with one of the best craft beer programs in town — rotating taps, excellent burgers, and the kind of low-key energy that makes you stay longer than you planned.
Things to Do
The Dane County Farmers’ Market wraps around the entire Capitol Square on Saturday mornings — the largest producer-only farmers’ market in the country, with 150-plus vendors selling everything from artisan cheese to fresh-baked bread. If your match falls on a Saturday, build your morning around this.
Walk the length of State Street from the Capitol to the UW campus, then plant yourself at the Memorial Union Terrace with a pitcher of Spotted Cow overlooking Lake Mendota. It’s the most iconic hangout in Madison and it costs almost nothing.
For an outdoor day trip, Devil’s Lake State Park is 45 minutes north — bluff-top hikes with stunning views of a glacial lake. One of the best state parks in the Midwest, full stop.
The One Thing
Grab a chair at the Memorial Union Terrace at golden hour. Cold beer, lake breeze, sailboats on Mendota, the hum of a college town that actually lives up to the hype. It’s free, it’s perfect, and it’s the thing you’ll remember most.