Madison is a vibrant small city in south-central Wisconsin. The only city in North America that is situated on an isthmus, besides Seattle, Madison is defined by its four lakes: Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa. Through a combination of factors, including the state capital and the
http://www.wisc.edu/ University of Wisconsin–Madison, the city has more to offer than might be expected from a metropolitan area of about 500,000. There are many excellent restaurants, an active theater community, lots of music, and good shopping, yet Madison is just minutes from the beautiful rural countryside. National groups and magazines rank Madison highly for many things: a very bike-friendly city, a great place to raise a family, a healthy and fit population, and an overall excellent place to live. Madison is a melting pot of the Midwest. You'll find professionals, students, families, hippies, musicians and everything in between. It has a vibrant nightlife scene with lots of live music and pubs. It shares many qualities of bigger cities like Berkeley and Austin—a creative and educated population—but retains a small-town feel.Madison's weather is typical of the Midwest: warm and humid in summer, often very cold in winter, and temperate spring and fall conditions. http://wikitravel.org/en/Madison (Wisconsin)