What are the best things to do in Monroe, WI?

Start on the Square with the 1891 courthouse, then visit Turner Hall of Monroe, the Monroe Arts Center, the National Historic Cheesemaking Center Museum and Minhas Craft Brewery. In warmer months add the farmers market, Concerts On The Square and the Sky-Vu Drive-In.

When is Green County Cheese Days?

Cheese Days is held on the third weekend of September in even-numbered years. The 2026 festival ran September 18 to 20, so the next one falls in September 2028.

Is Monroe, WI worth visiting for cheese lovers?

Yes. The Swiss Colony began in Monroe in 1926, Alp & Dell lets you watch Roth cheese being made from an observation hall, and the National Historic Cheesemaking Center Museum shows how Green County cheese was made a century ago.

What is there to do in Monroe in winter?

The cheesemaking museum closes from November through April, so winter plans lean on indoor stops such as Turner Hall, the Monroe Arts Center, Leisure Lanes and Minhas Craft Brewery. Check each one's current hours, and note that downtown holds holiday events in November and December.

Where does the Cheese Country Trail start in Monroe?

The eastern end has parking at the northwest corner of 21st Street and 4th Avenue West. The trail runs 47 miles to Mineral Point and allows ATVs, bicycles, horses, snowmobiles and hikers.

Things to Do in Monroe WI: Square, Cheese & Swiss Roots

Courthouse lawn, Swiss chalet hall, an 1845 brewery site, a 1954 drive-in and 47 miles of rail trail, plus what is open when.

Monroe built its town around a courthouse lawn, and most of the best things to do in Monroe, WI still start there. The Green County seat calls itself the Cheese Capital of the USA, and the label is earned in a dozen small ways: a Swiss chalet hall, a depot full of copper kettles, a brewery that has been making beer on the same site since 1845, and a square that fills with more than 100,000 people every other September. Between those big days the town runs quieter and more local, which suits a visit built around museums, a drive-in and a long gravel trail.

Below is a walk through the attractions worth planning around, with what each is actually like and where the limits are. Seasons matter here, so check each stop's current hours before you drive in.

Start on the Square and the 1891 courthouse

The present Green County Courthouse was built in 1891, replacing the first courthouse of 1845, and the Square around it has been the center of Monroe ever since. Travel Wisconsin describes the building as Romanesque, with a former courtroom where visitors can try on a judge's robe and pose at the bench with a gavel. The same listing says self-guided tours are available and the building has an elevator, but it gives no hours, so call 608-328-1838 before you go. The Square also hosted Cheese Days and Fourth of July celebrations, and it still does the work of a town green.

Main Street Monroe Farmers Market

The Main Street Monroe Farmers Market takes over the Square on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings in the growing season. Posted hours show noon to 3 p.m. on Wednesday and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The stalls fill the east and north inner streets of the Square, according to the Monroe Times.

Visitors call it a market with plenty of choice, and one reviewer tells newcomers to watch for the Alley Cats, a local group. It is a seasonal market, so a November visit will find the streets empty until spring.

The Square also holds the summer concert series, and Main Street Monroe presents it with Colony Brands as underwriter.

Concerts On The Square

Concerts On The Square puts live bands on the courthouse lawn, and visitors say the courthouse makes a handsome backdrop and that the shows are free. Bring your own chairs and blankets, and expect a beer garden that benefits Main Street and area nonprofits.

Main Street Monroe's events page lists a First Friday Concerts series for 2027 that runs April through October, excluding July, so check which night the summer series falls on before planning.

Eat, bowl and learn Swiss history at Turner Hall

Turner Hall of Monroe

Turner Hall of Monroe is the clearest answer to why this Wisconsin town has a Swiss accent. Swiss immigrants built the first hall in 1868 as a gymnastics center, lightning started a fire during a Labor Day dance in 1936, and the current building opened in 1938. Architect Max Hanisch designed it as a Swiss Emmental-style chalet, and it sits on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.

The hall is under half a mile from the courthouse. It holds the Ratskeller restaurant, event spaces and a lower-level bowling alley. Posted hours show the restaurant open Friday and Saturday evenings, 4:30 to 8 p.m., so treat it as a weekend dinner stop.

Visitors mention Swiss dishes on the menu, a Thanksgiving buffet and a Christmas festival over Thanksgiving weekend with handmade and baked goods. A 2020 Monroe Times history credits the hall with accordion lessons for generations of local children and monthly Swiss Heritage nights, so ask what is on before you go.

Dig into Green County history

Green County Historical Society Museum

The Green County Historical Society Museum, at 1617 9th Street, occupies a building the Monroe Times says went up in 1860 as the Universalist Church. Displays are set up as period rooms, and the museum has reorganized its collections with new signage. Reviewers call it full of local history with interesting items and many photos, and one adds that it sits next to a gas station, so look for the stop sign.

Posted hours are Saturday and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m., but a local paper reported the museum opening each year in early summer, so confirm in winter.

For cheese history, the National Historic Cheesemaking Center Museum works from a restored railroad depot on 6th Avenue, about 0.9 miles from the Square. It is open Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., from May 1 to October 31 in 2026, with admission of $5 and free entry for guests under 16. Inside you will find a century-old Imobersteg farmstead cheese factory moved from a farm where it sat untouched since 1917, plus copper kettles. The center does not sell or sample cheese, which is why a stop at the shops below follows naturally. Because the 2026 season ended October 31, the museum is closed for winter until the next season opens.

See a show in an 1869 church

Monroe Arts Center, Inc.

The Monroe Arts Center, at 1315 11th Street, is housed in a Gothic Revival church begun in 1869 and designed by Edward Townsend Mix. A 2015 addition added galleries and classrooms, and the building has four named galleries on its own site. The center lists Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for gallery visits.

Reviewers praise the acoustics, mention a concert that blended rock and Bach, and describe an International Women's Day marketplace with food and vendors. It is under half a mile west of the Square.

Taste the cheese, and know when Cheese Days comes

The Swiss Colony began in Monroe in 1926, when Ray Kubly started mailing Green County cheese from his family's basement, and it is still headquartered here. You can browse discounted catalog cheese, sausage, baked goods and chocolate at The Swiss Colony Outlet Store on 8th Street, about 0.6 miles from the Square. At Alp & Dell Cheese Store on 2nd Street you can watch Roth cheese being made from an observation hall and try samples before you buy.

Baumgartner's Cheese Store & Tavern on the Square pairs a cheese counter with a tavern, and Travel Wisconsin calls it Wisconsin's oldest cheese store.

If you are choosing where to spend a cheese-buying hour, the cheese shops in Monroe are worth comparing before you commit to a cooler bag.

Cheese Days began in 1914, is held on the third weekend of September in even-numbered years, and draws more than 100,000 people to the Square. The 2026 festival ran September 18 to 20, with a button logo inspired by a dairy goat named Ivory and Mike and Deb Hutchinson as king and queen. Past festivals have featured alphorns, copper-kettle cheesemaking, fried cheese curds, music on three stages and a parade led by Brown Swiss cows. Everything about planning a trip around Green County Cheese Days, from the parade to the food stands, is worth reading before the next one in September 2028.

Raise a glass at a brewery older than the state of Wisconsin

Minhas Craft Brewery - Wisconsin

Minhas Craft Brewery brews on a site that has made beer since 1845. The Minhas family bought it in 2006, and it is billed as the Midwest's oldest brewery. It stands on 14th Avenue, under half a mile from the Square.

Tours and tastings are part of what the brewery advertises. One May 2026 reviewer says the museum is gone, though a July 2026 regional guide still lists it. Anyone weighing a tour should read up on visiting Minhas Craft Brewery before you go, since tour and tasting offerings can change.

Spend a summer night at the Sky-Vu, and a winter one at Leisure Lanes

Goetz Historic Sky-Vu Drive-In

The Goetz Historic Sky-Vu Drive-In has screened films on State Road 69 south of town since 1954. Cinema Treasures records an opening date of May 28, 1954, a single screen with room for about 350 cars, and a switch to digital projection in 2012. It lies about 2.2 miles south of the Square.

Visitors praise the friendly gate staff, nachos and slushies, plenty of parking with a good view, and rules that keep it family friendly. A couple drive from Kenosha and a visitor from Madison drove an hour to get there. It runs in the warmer months, so in November, check the box office at 608-325-4545 before heading out.

Leisure Lanes

Leisure Lanes has been a Monroe bowling alley since 1974, with synthetic lanes and a Spirits Bar & Grill inside. The bar has twelve HDTVs and a stage for live bands. It is about 1.0 miles south of the Square.

Reviewers mention a burger with bacon jam, fast bar service, new touch-screen scoring that kids can set up themselves, and a birthday party that ran smoothly. If the night turns to drinks, see the bars in Monroe for other places to land.

Ride the Cheese Country Trail

Cheese Country Trail Head Monroe WI

The Cheese Country Trail runs 47 miles from Monroe to Mineral Point along an old railroad corridor, through Browntown, South Wayne, Gratiot, Darlington and Calamine. It allows ATVs, bicycles, horses, snowmobiles and hikers, and the eastern end has parking at the northwest corner of 21st Street and 4th Avenue West. The trailhead is about 1.4 miles southwest of the Square.

Riders describe a gravel surface, an easy and scenic afternoon, and a trail where bigger rocks can challenge motorcycles. One reviewer advises learning the detours before leaving, and another makes a burger stop in Mineral Point at the far end. The Badger State Trail from Madison also reaches Monroe, so cyclists can link the two.

An 1857 estate, for the right occasion

Ludlow Mansion Events on Mansion Drive is a wedding and event venue on an estate dated to 1857, with a banquet hall, a carriage hall for dancing and five guest bedrooms. It stands about 0.8 miles north of the Square. It is a private events venue, not a drop-in attraction, and no public tour schedule is published, so treat it as a sight to know about unless you are planning an event there. Reviewers call the grounds and the mansion itself beautiful for photographs.

Where to eat, drink and stay

For a sit-down meal, start with the restaurants in Monroe, from tavern burgers to an independent corner diner.

Tacos and fajitas have their own corner of town, covered in the Mexican restaurants in Monroe.

If you want to stay on the Square, the hotels in Monroe include the Eugene Hotel, a 1925 landmark that reopened after a renovation (the Monroe Times reports a grand reopening in August; the hotel's own pages say 2025).

For secondhand finds between stops, Thrift and Thrive is a volunteer-run shop right on the Square.

When to go

Summer gives you the widest list: the drive-in, the market, the concerts, the museums and the trail are all open. Cheese Days falls in the third weekend of September in even years, and the Square also hosts Magical and Merry downtown evenings starting November 7, 2026 and a Christmas parade on December 3, 2026. Winter narrows the list to indoor stops such as Turner Hall, the arts center and the bowling lanes, which is still plenty. Come for the courthouse, stay for the cheese, and you will understand why Monroe wears the title it gave itself.

Things to Do in Monroe, WI: Square, Cheese and Swiss Roots