(WTAQ-WLUK) — Looking to stay a bit closer to home on your summer road trip?
With gas prices remaining higher than they were a year ago, RV Windshield Replacement asked 3,002 families to find the best short summer road trips across their states.
Two of the Wisconsin routes take drivers through the northeastern part of the state.
The top most recommended route in Wisconsin is from Milwaukee to Bayfield via Green Bay.
The website writes:
Lakefront parks, public markets and busy summer streets give Milwaukee an energetic opening before the drive north gradually settles into shoreline scenery and football-town energy around Green Bay – where the Packers’ stadium tour offers families a fun ticketed stop. Farther north, forests and Lake Superior views begin taking over approaching Bayfield, where ferries, waterfront cafés and Apostle Islands scenery create a final stop that feels wonderfully removed from the cities further south. The route steadily shifts from urban lakefronts to full Northwoods atmosphere without ever demanding a particularly heavy travel budget.
Number two is Madison to Door County via Fond du Lac.
Madison opens the trip with lakeside trails, farmers markets and shaded downtown streets — including some of Wisconsin’s best free family-friendly stops — before the drive northeast moves through farmland and smaller lakeside communities around Fond du Lac. By the time the route reaches Door County, the scenery has become fully lakeshore-focused, with cherry orchards, marinas and quiet shoreline towns stretching along the peninsula. The slower pace of the final stretch makes the whole road trip feel naturally suited to summer family weekends — and comfortably within reach of most family travel budgets.
Number three is from Eau Claire to Lake Geneva via Wisconsin Dells.
River scenery and smaller-city energy shape the opening stretch around Eau Claire before the roads south gradually move toward the resort atmosphere and sandstone landscapes surrounding Wisconsin Dells – where scenic viewpoints and low-cost outdoor stops sit alongside the busier paid attractions. Farther south, Lake Geneva finishes the trip with lakeside scenery, beaches and long waterfront evenings that feel classic and nostalgic without needing especially long travel distances. The route balances outdoor scenery and summer-town atmosphere throughout, giving families the flexibility to spend as much or as little as suits them.
Persistently high gas prices are causing people to rethink their summer road trip plans, the survey found.
- 68% said they would likely take a shorter, in-state road trip.
- 47% said they are more likely to invite another family or relatives along to share costs.
- 86% believe the classic long-distance American road trip is becoming less affordable for ordinary families.
“Road trips have always been one of the most flexible ways for families to travel, but this summer that flexibility is being tested,” a spokesperson for RV Windshield Replacement said in a news release. “What we’re seeing is not that families have lost their appetite for adventure, but that they are becoming much more strategic about it. Shorter routes, shared costs, fewer overnight stops- these are the new realities for families trying to keep the summer road trip alive without letting fuel prices take the wheel.”
The biggest road trip costs are listed as:
- Gas: 67%
- Hotels: 17%
- Food: 8%
- Attractions: 6%
- Car maintenance: 3%
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