Drafting Fun: Your Ultimate Guide to NFL Draft Weekend in Green Bay! Ft. UW-Green Bay Campus Shorewood Disc Golf Course | Livability
How to do NFL Draft Weekend in Green Bay
Spending some time in Green Bay and Northeast, WI, for the NFL draft? Here are 10 things you must add to your bucket list.
Green Bay, WI, is gearing up to welcome football fans from across the country for the 2025 NFL draft.
If you’re coming to join the fun, the NFL has curated a great list of activities for fans to participate in (here’s the full list!), including player meet and greets, games and photo opportunities.
While the weekend’s excitement will undoubtedly be centered inside and around the iconic Lambeau Field and Titletown, a wealth of experiences beyond the gridiron are waiting to be had.
1. Experience a classic Wisconsin supper club.
There’s a long list of iconic dairy state foods (keep scrolling for more info on that), but if there is a singular dining experience that says Wisconsin through and through, it’s a supper club.
Supper clubs in Wisconsin feel more like a lifestyle choice than a simple meal. They’re both frozen in time and full of ambiance. Picture dark wood paneling, plush booths and dim, moody lighting. They’re about slow-moving meals that start with a drink — usually an Old Fashioned, freshly muddled and made with whiskey or brandy, sweet or sour — and include a garnish tray. Supper club meals are never dainty or small, tending more toward massive steaks, all-you-can-eat fish fries, slabs of prime rib or half a broasted chicken and ending with a throwback ice cream drink.
No words can fully capture the community and culture of a Wisconsin supper club. It’s something that has to be experienced. In the Green Bay area, that means visiting Club Chalet, Kropp’s, Union Hotel and the Redwood Inn. Slightly farther away, Out-O-Town Club, Marks East Side, Black Otter, Hotel Seymour, Cedar Ridge and Van Abel’s all offer an excellent supper club experience outside the city and a little further away from the crowds. Find a list of supper clubs in Northeast Wisconsin here.
2. Sip some suds at a local brewery.
Wisconsinites love their beer, and the state is known to be home to some of the country’s oldest and most well-known breweries. Green Bay boasts a whole host of craft breweries offering up award-winning, delicious brews for every palate.
The Green Chop Session IPA is a standard at Badger State Brewing, but the Cran-Delusion Tart Fruit Ale is a sweet-and-sour delight. Titletown Brewery is the area’s oldest craft brewer, and their 400 Honey Ale is malty with just a touch of wildflower honey. Stillmank Brewing makes some of the most easy-drinking beers in the area, with the Wisco Disco and Tailgater, and then takes a hard turn to more complex and delicious styles, like the Little Blue Pils and Perky Porter. Copper State Brewing’s Good N Ruddy is a smooth, slightly caramel-y and malty amber.
3. Take a day trip to Door County.
If you have time, schedule more than just a day on this gorgeous peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan. This area is teeming with tourists during the summer, but April is a great time to explore the scenery as spring rejuvenates everything.
There are several small towns along the peninsula that each have a slightly different vibe, but as a whole, Door County is a bit of an escape from big-city life, with local shops, cafes and restaurants, walkable town centers and gorgeous natural areas.
There are several state parks — Peninsula offers calmer waters and a beautiful beach, Newport Beach is a wilderness park, Potawatomi has limestone cliffs, and Whitefish Dunes lives up to its name with rugged, hilly shores. Cave Point County Park is an underrated gem that can’t be skipped for its craggy coastline and beautiful scenery.
Those with extra time should absolutely take the ferry to Washington Island to visit the Stavkirke, lavender fields, Nelsen’s Hall & Bitters Pub & Restaurant and Schoolhouse Beach.
4. Visit the vines at Wisconsin Ledge AVA.
The Niagara Escarpment, the same geological formation over which the Niagara River drops off at Niagara Falls, stretches all the way to Wisconsin and forms the ledge that is Door County. It provides some gorgeous cliffs and beautiful views out over Lake Michigan, and it is also home to a designated American Viticultural Area (AVA) called the Wisconsin Ledge AVA. More than 44 vineyards and wineries call the 3,800 square miles of this AVA home.
Parallel 44 Vineyard and Winery has been named Winery of the Year at the International Cold Climate Competition for three years running. Von Stiehl Winery’s Riesling was awarded 94 points and a Gold Medal at the 2024 USA Wine Ratings competition.
Captain’s Walk Winery and Mona Rose Winery are located in Green Bay, while Parallel 44, Von Stiehl Winery, Trout Spring Winery and Ledgestone Vineyards are all within 40 minutes.
5. Learn about the Packers at Lambeau.
In all the draft excitement, it could be easy to forget the reason everyone came to Green Bay in the first place. The Green Bay Packers are a legendary team dating back over 100 years. They have won the most league championships in NFL history, with nine pre-Super Bowl NFL titles and four Super Bowl victories. The third-oldest franchise in the NFL, they hold the record for the most wins in NFL history, are the only nonprofit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States, and Green Bay is the smallest major league professional sports market in North America.
Lambeau Field is the oldest continually operating NFL stadium with the second-largest seating capacity. The Packers have sold out every game since 1960, and the waiting list for season tickets has more than 150,000 names on it.
Simply put, there’s no place like Green Bay and no team like the Packers. Plan ahead and schedule a tour of the stadium and a visit to the team’s Hall of Fame. Tours usually include a walk through the players’ tunnel entrance to the field, among other options. In addition, put time in the schedule to visit the Oneida Nation Walk of Champions, a 1-mile walk east of Lambeau Field featuring 24 statues celebrating the legends and the history of the Green Bay Packers.
6. Savor the local flavor and eat like a Wisconsinite.
Most visitors know about the cheese and bratwurst, but there’s a whole array of dishes that should be sampled to get the whole Wisconsin food experience.
Fried cheese curds and brats will be available on-site at Lambeau Field, but for a different approach, visit Green Bay Distillery for the brat and beer cheese soup. Crown & Common has square cheese curds that are fried without breading, putting the cheese at the forefront. For fresh cheese curds (and a wide variety of other cheeses), check out Scray Cheese in De Pere.
Maybe the least-known area delicacy is booyah. This savory, slow-cooked stew can be traced back to Belgian immigrants in the 1800s. It’s made with chicken, vegetables and broth, and every family has a slightly different recipe. The Booyah Shed’s version is locally famous.
Asking for a Wisconsinite’s favorite fish fry is akin to asking them to choose a favorite child. Though the meal’s roots are in meatless Fridays during Lent, the tradition of indulging in a fish fry now runs year-round in Wisconsin. River Street Pier has all kinds of delicious fish dishes, plus Fox Harbor Pub & Grill has a gorgeous location on the Fox River and a tasty fish fry.
7. Become one with nature.
One of only 11 National Scenic Trails, Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail is a 1,200-mile National Scenic Trail that starts in Potawatomi State Park in Sturgeon Bay, Door County and meanders through the state to its western border on the St. Croix River. The trail roughly follows the edge of the last continental glacier during the last Ice Age.
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary is a 535-acre urban wildlife refuge home to Wisconsin’s largest wildlife rehabilitation program, caring for more than 6,500 orphaned and injured animals annually. There are live animal exhibits, nearly 5 miles of hiking trails, wildlife viewing areas and more.
8. Be a kid again with nostalgic favorites.
Remember the awe of childhood when exploring the National Railroad Museum. One of the oldest and largest institutions in the U.S. dedicated to preserving and interpreting the nation’s railroad history, the collection here takes visitors back more than a century. Located at Cooke Memorial Park, the museum sits on 33 acres and has more than 70 pieces of rolling stock showing the history of railroads.
From there, head to Seroogy’s Chocolate, a local institution since 1899. The shop in De Pere has more than 300 varieties of chocolate candies, some of which they’ve been making for over 100 years. It’s difficult to choose, but the best part of being an adult in a candy shop is being able to buy whatever you want.
Fans of old-school arcades will love spending time at District 82 pinball arcade. Only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, visitors pay an admission fee, and the more than 100 machines inside are all set to open play — no quarters, tokens or cards needed. Beyond pinball, they’ve also added several arcade video games to keep customers playing all day long.
9. Explore the escarpment.
It’s pretty much impossible to avoid the large geological formations that created this area’s topography. The ledge creates some gorgeous scenery with waterfalls, cliffs and dramatic bluffs over the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan.
Get an up-close view of the dolomitic limestone layers of the aforementioned Niagara Escarpment at Wequiock Falls County Park and Fonferek’s Glen Conservancy Area. April should be an excellent time to see both falls flow freely with the snow melt. Be careful and dress to possibly get wet. You should be able to walk behind the falls for a different view.
Cecil Depeau Bay Shore Park sits atop the escarpment, meaning walks here offer some of the best views for miles. Take the stairs down to the water’s edge or just stay on top and enjoy the windy but beautiful feeling of being at the edge of the world.
10. Hit the links (at every level!).
Whether you’re into traditional golf or disc golf, Green Bay has plenty of options within an hour’s drive.
For serious golfers, the five courses along Lake Michigan at the American Club in Kohler are some of the best in the country and have hosted PGA Championships, Ryder Cups, U.S. Senior Opens and U.S. Women’s Opens. Tee times open 30 days in advance at both Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits.
Closer to the city, Thornberry Creek at Oneida has an 18-hole championship course, while more casual golfers will enjoy the municipal Brown County Golf Course.
Disc golfers know that Wisconsin is one of the best states in the country for disc golf courses. The Shorewood Hills course on the campus of UW-Green Bay opened in August 2024 and is already being celebrated as one of the best new courses in the country. The 36-hole course at Silver Creek Park in nearby Manitowoc has been rated a top-30 free disc golf course in the world.
