Germantown is a Washington County village on the northwest edge of the Milwaukee area, about 16 miles from downtown Milwaukee in a straight line, and the things to do in Germantown sit in two clusters a couple of miles apart. Northwest of Main Street is Dheinsville, an 1840s crossroads settlement with a bell museum, an 1862 church and the Oktoberfest grounds. Then there is the Main Street core and the stretch of Mequon Road just south of it, where the supper club, the Irish pub and the custard stand are.
Around them you get a county park with a dog park and a skating pond, an orchard winery, a big antique mall and enough village parks to fill a summer of Saturdays. This guide starts at Dheinsville and works south.
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Dheinsville, an 1840s crossroads hamlet
Dheinsville began as a hamlet settled in 1842 by the Philip Dhein family, and it still sits where Holy Hill Road, Fond du Lac Avenue and Maple Road meet. The Germantown Historical Society runs the museums at Dheinsville Historic Park, a 9.5-acre site the village and the society bought together in 1994.
The big day here is Oktoberfest, held on the last weekend of September; in 2026 it ran on September 26 and 27, with free admission that included entry to all three museums. Outside the festival weekend the grounds still work as a park, with an archery range, a community garden, a soccer field and the Festhalle hall that the village rents out.
Dheinsville is about 2 miles northwest of Main Street, and the park pairs naturally with Homestead Hollow, about 1.5 miles to its southwest, if you want a morning that mixes old buildings with a long walk. The parks around Germantown fill in the rest of that picture.
Homestead Hollow and the village parks
Homestead Hollow County Park is the big green space, about 105 acres of prairie, open fields and woods off Freistadt Road, about 2.3 miles west of Main Street.
The village runs its own parks too, and two of them answer specific needs. Haupt Strasse Park, a 13-acre park at Main Street and Western Avenue, has the four Haupt Strasse pickleball courts and the village's only skate park. Kinderberg Park, 23 acres off Donges Bay Road, has a 1,200-square-foot sprayground that the village describes as its only aquatic facility, plus a sledding hill for winter.
Firemen's Park, 17 acres between Fond du Lac Avenue and Freistadt Road, is where the village holds its annual Fourth of July celebration.
Main Street after dark
On Main Street, the night anchor is Bubs Irish Pub, close to the middle of the street.
About 0.2 miles east along Main Street, Relish Supper Club pours a whole list of old fashioneds, including a pineapple version and a brandy or bourbon relish version, in a dining room with woodwork, a fireplace and mounted animal heads. Travel Wisconsin lists it for fish fry and outdoor dining, and it holds Germantown's place among the Milwaukee-area supper clubs.
For German beer, Von Rothenburg Bier Stube serves German food and beer with an outdoor biergarten and live music, according to an August 2026 Islands write-up on the village. Smash burgers, frozen custard and a farmstead pizza hall round out the restaurants in Germantown.
Eating and drinking off Main Street
Some of the better stops are spread along the bigger roads rather than downtown. Old Germantown, out on Pleasant View Drive about 1.7 miles northeast of Main Street, calls itself a farmstead pizza, brewery and sausage maker, with seasonal outdoor patios in a rural setting. Islands singled out its sausage and potato pancakes in 2026, and the house brews come in tasting flights.
On Mequon Road, Robert's Frozen Custard does burgers, a beer-battered cod fish fry and a flavor of the day that changes daily, with a phone hotline if you want to check it first. Farther east on the same road, House of Home Made Sausage is an old-school butcher counter for maple breakfast sausage, Hungarian sausage and garlic brats, and the staff will let you sample.
For coffee, Kaffeehaus on Fond du Lac Avenue is the one with a story: the owners bought a schoolhouse from around 1874 in 2019 to save it from demolition, restored it and opened the café in 2021, pouring Stone Creek Coffee.
The orchard winery
Apple Works Winery makes wine on what used to be the Apple Works orchard on Fond du Lac Avenue, about 1.6 miles northwest of Main Street.
Next door, Behnke Estates is the family's event venue in the orchard's original 1990s packing house, seating up to 125 for weddings and parties. If you want to make a day of wine, Apple Works is one stop on the wineries north and west of Milwaukee.
Antiques and secondhand shopping
Germantown is a good antiquing stop, and the big one sits just off Main Street.
Southeast of Main Street on Country Aire Drive, Country Aire Antiques spreads collectibles and home decor across several buildings, and its listing mentions barn sales twice a year; it has no website, so ask in the shop for sale dates. For bigger finds, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Commerce Circle sells new and gently used furniture, appliances and building materials, and the money funds Habitat's work in Washington and Dodge counties.
Classes, courts and studios
Germantown has a cluster of small studios within about half a mile of Main Street, handy if you are in town for a week with kids. Bellator Academy of Irish Dance runs Irish step classes, and J.K. Lee Black Belt Academy teaches taekwondo.
About 1.7 miles west of Main Street, Surge Martial Arts runs family classes that start with a Little Tykes program for kindergartners.
The village also has two pilates studios, The Contrology Center and Pilates With Stacers, and both turn up among the pilates and barre studios around Milwaukee.
For a pickup game, the Haupt Strasse pickleball courts are managed by the village's Parks and Recreation department and cost nothing to use.
Where to stay
The four Germantown hotels covered here are all chain properties, and none is on Main Street. Two sit on Maple Road and Commerce Circle about 2 miles southwest of Main Street, near The Florian event venue, and two sit at the south edge of the village by County Line Road, about 2.5 miles away. Pools, pet rules and breakfast differ from one to the next, so compare the Germantown hotels before you book.
Day trips from Germantown
Germantown is a good base for the towns around it. Mequon is about 4 miles east, with an observation tower, four nature preserves and the bars of historic Foxtown among the things to do in Mequon.
Cedarburg is about 8 miles northeast, and its historic mill, covered bridge and festivals sit at the center of the things to do in Cedarburg.
About 11 miles west in Erin, you can visit the Holy Hill basilica and, in season, climb its Scenic Tower. Menomonee Falls is about 3.5 miles south.
Seasons and festivals
Late September brings Oktoberfest to the Dheinsville grounds. In winter the action moves outdoors to skating at Homestead Hollow and sledding at Kinderberg Park. The village's Christmas festival has included a kids' Jingle Bell Dash, a 5K Candy Cane run and walk and a parade through downtown with Santa, finishing at Firemen's Park with hot chocolate; Islands put it in November in 2026, but check the village's dates each year. Summer is about the parks: the Fourth of July celebration at Firemen's Park and the sprayground at Kinderberg.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 28, 2026
