This Underrated Midwestern City Is Trending on Google Flights

• Madison, Wisconsin, is a trending domestic destination according to Google Flights’ 2025 Summer Travel Trends Report.
• Wisconsin’s capital is home to thriving cheese, farmers markets, and culinary scenes.
• The city was also Frank Lloyd Wright’s hometown and architecture buffs will find plenty to see here.

When I first landed in Madison, Wisconsin, a few weeks ago, I only had faint memories of the city based on a family trip I went on nearly three decades ago. I remembered a quintessential Midwestern experience—but what I found was a well-rounded city that had grown and was now undeniably diverse in its experiences, architecture, cuisines, and people.

Now, the city landed a spot in the top 10 trending domestic destinations in Google Flights’ 2025 Summer Travel Trends Report, which is based on search data for flights scheduled to take place between June 1 and Aug. 31.

Madison is one of just two American cities built on an isthmus (Seattle is the other) and the city is sandwiched between Mendota and Monona Lakes, two of five lakes in the area—that means there are waterfront views in almost every direction you look. This city of about 280,000 people is the capital of Wisconsin, aka “America’s Dairyland,” a nickname emblazoned on every license plate.

Having recently visited Toulouse, France, I thought nothing could compare to French cheese—until I tried the bespoke tasting experience at Fromagination. If you’re down for a little road trip, drive 14 miles south to the small town of Paoli. Here, Seven Acre Dairy Company has transformed a former dairy factory into a boutique hotel, restaurant, and ice cream shop. 

But Wisconsin has a thriving agricultural scene that goes well beyond dairy. On Saturdays from April 12 to Nov. 8, the downtown Capitol Square transforms into the country’s largest producers-only farmers market. During my early March visit, I caught an abbreviated version, the Late Winter Market, held within Garver Feed Mill, a repurposed turn-of-the-century landmark.

Next door, you’ll find the Olbrich Botanical Gardens, where you can see the Royal Thai Sala, an open-air pavilion crafted in Bangkok and rebuilt here by Thai artisans without any screws or nails. And Madison’s international influences only continued to lure me through the city with its cuisine.

I started at the Laos-inspired Ahan, by James Beard nominee chef Jamie Brown-Soukaseume, where the khao poon kathi dang (coconut red curry soup) and chevre-filled wontons looked just as beautiful as they were delicious. Then I went for a nightcap at Paul’s Pel’meni, popular with the college crowd since a half order of the hearty Russian dumplings is just $7. Order them with “the works,” which includes butter, cilantro, sour cream, yellow curry, and sweet chili sauce.

I’m always searching for cuisine from my parents’ home country of Taiwan, and I was blown away by Taiwan Little Eats. Its Tainan-style braised pork over rice was hands down one of the most authentic versions of the dish I had outside of the island nation, and tasting it brought me back to my trips there.

Besides its cheese and fast-growing culinary scene, Madison is perhaps best known as the hometown of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, known for his revolutionary style of American architecture. Of the eight sites along the state’s 200-mile-long Frank Lloyd Wright Trail, two of them are in Madison: the Monona Terrace, a community center completed in 1997, and First Unitarian Society Meeting House, an icon since its 1951 completion.

And though it’s not a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building, it’s also worth checking out the Capitol Building, completed in 1917 using 43 kinds of stones from six countries and eight states. (Pro-tip: consider joining one of the free tours to hear all about its history.)

The city’s convenient location within the state puts you within easy proximity to other Wisconsin highlights, including Wisconsin Dells about an hour northwest, Milwaukee about 90 minutes east, and La Crosse about 2.5 hours west. For Wright chasers, his former home and studio, Taliesin located in Spring Green, is about an hour west.