The Door County guide that plays favorites
Our favorite fish boils, the supper clubs we send friends to, and where to park in Fish Creek on a Saturday. Every page dated, every list kept current.
Best of Door County
All best-of lists →The Best Live Music in Door County
Door County Brewing's Music Hall in Baileys Harbor is the best dedicated room for live music, and the Door Community Auditorium in Fish Creek brings in the big touring names. Birch Creek's barn near Egg Harbor runs nightly student-and-faculty concerts all summer, Holiday Music Motel is the songwriters' hub, and Husby's Garage Bar in Sister Bay has bands most summer weekends. Most music is summer-heavy, so check calendars.
The Best Theater in Door County
Peninsula Players near Fish Creek is our top pick — America's oldest professional resident summer theater, with Broadway-caliber casts, a garden stroll, and a bonfire at intermission. Northern Sky stages original musicals outdoors in Peninsula State Park, Third Avenue PlayWorks runs professional plays year-round in Sturgeon Bay, and Door Shakespeare performs in the Björklunden garden. Most run summer, a couple year-round.
The Best Antiques in Door County
Koepsel's Meadow Lane near Baileys Harbor is our top pick — serious original-surface furniture, Great Lakes decoys, and folk art. Bay Trading in Egg Harbor is the place for architectural salvage, Shades of the Past has genuine estate silver and crystal, and the Olde Orchard mall is the easy multi-vendor browse. Most are seasonal, roughly May through October, so call ahead.
The Best Shops & Boutiques in Door County
On Deck Clothing is our top all-around pick — a homegrown apparel staple with shops in Fish Creek, Sister Bay, and Sturgeon Bay. Novel Bay Booksellers is the county's best bookstore, Ecology in Sister Bay is the eco-outfitter to beat, and Fragrant Isle's lavender farm and shop on Washington Island is the most only-in-Door-County stop. For antiques and galleries, see the notes at the end.
Door County with Kids
For families, The Farm north of Sturgeon Bay is the top pick — feed goat kids and lambs, watch chicks hatch, and roam pioneer buildings. Older kids gravitate to the zip lines and aerial park at Door County Adventure Center, Red Putter mini golf and the Skyway Drive-In are north-end classics, and Anclam Park's shallow beach is easy for little ones. Cap the day with a sundae at Wilson's.
The Best Boat & Water Tours in Door County
The Washington Island Ferry is the essential ride — 30 minutes across the Death's Door strait to a quieter island. For a narrated cruise, Fish Creek Scenic Boat Tours passes lighthouses and Millionaire's Row; Lakeshore Adventures paddles clear-bottom kayaks over 1800s shipwrecks; and Door County Kayak Tours threads the Cave Point sea caves. Most run late spring through fall.
Guides & itineraries
All guides →3 Days in Door County: The Full Peninsula Loop
This is the full peninsula loop for a longer trip: up the bay side (WI-42) through Fish Creek, Ephraim, and Sister Bay to the tip near Gills Rock, then back down the lake side (WI-57) through Baileys Harbor and Jacksonport to Cave Point. It covers ground our perfect weekend itinerary doesn't reach, built for visitors with three full days instead of two.
Door County with Kids: A 2-Day Itinerary
Two days built around a family's actual energy levels: a big morning at Peninsula State Park, a calmer beach for the afternoon lull, ice cream to close things out, then swimming at Whitefish Dunes on day two before the drive home. If day two turns rainy, swap the Maritime Museum in for the beach — same slot, no re-planning required.
Getting to Door County: Do You Need a Car?
Yes, plan on a car — Door County is a long, narrow peninsula in northeastern Wisconsin, and we're not aware of a public transit system that covers visitor travel between towns. There's no commercial airport in the county itself; the closest is Green Bay's Austin Straubel International Airport (GRB), roughly an hour from Sturgeon Bay, give or take. From there, two state highways (WI-42 and WI-57) split around the peninsula and get you everywhere else.
Sister Bay Fall Fest: What to Know Before You Go
Sister Bay Fall Fest is an annual fall community festival held in Sister Bay, typically over a weekend in early-to-mid October, centered around the village and waterfront park. Exact dates, vendors, and programming change year to year, so check the current schedule closer to your trip rather than relying on any general description — including this one.
Why Are There Goats on the Roof at Al Johnson's?
Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay has kept live goats grazing on its sod roof since the 1970s, a quirk that started almost by accident and has become one of the most photographed sights in Door County. The goats are on the roof seasonally, roughly spring through fall, weather and management permitting, and you don't need a reservation or purchase to walk up and look — just good timing and a little patience.
Door County in Winter: What's Actually Open
Door County isn't a ghost town in winter — Sturgeon Bay stays lively, and a handful of genuinely open attractions have a look you can't get any other season: ice-crusted rocks at Cave Point, ski-able trails at Peninsula State Park, and the Washington Island Ferry cutting its own path through the ice. Call ahead before you drive out, since hours shrink even at places that stay open.
Explore by town
Sturgeon Bay
The county seat and the biggest town by far — a real working shipbuilding city, not a resort village.
Egg Harbor
First of the bayside villages as you head north, and the most family-engineered of them — a beach with actual sand, a modern marina, mini golf, and a walkable strip of shops.
Fish Creek
The center of gravity for a Door County vacation: the main entrance to Peninsula State Park, the densest cluster of restaurants and shops, and summer theater at Northern Sky and Peninsula Players nearby.
Ephraim
The postcard: white clapboard buildings, two historic churches on the hill, and sunset over Eagle Harbor.
Sister Bay
The north end's hub, anchored by the goats on the grass roof at Al Johnson's and the best public waterfront park of any village — a real beach, a marina, and lawn space that hosts Fall Fest every October.
Ellison Bay
Quiet, arty, and easy to underestimate — home to The Clearing folk school and a couple of serious restaurants.
Gills Rock
The end of the road — a tiny fishing village at the tip of the peninsula where you catch the passenger ferry to Washington Island or eat smoked whitefish at Charlie's.
Baileys Harbor
The quiet side's main town, facing Lake Michigan instead of Green Bay — which means morning sun, cooler air, and the county's best natural areas: Ridges Sanctuary, Cana Island lighthouse, and Anclam Beach.
Jacksonport
A crossroads with a beach — and what a beach.
Carlsville
A dot on Highway 42 between Sturgeon Bay and Egg Harbor that happens to hold Door Peninsula Winery and Door County Coffee — two of the county's biggest indoor draws when the weather turns.
Washington Island
A 30-minute car ferry across Death's Door to a genuinely different pace: Schoolhouse Beach's smooth limestone stones, a lavender farm, Stavkirke church, and bars that founded the Bitters Club.